The First of 3 St Julien Tastings
This was our first of three (so far) ‘vertical’ tastings of the great chateaux of St. Julien, Bordeaux. Ten of the very best vintages Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou have produced were assembled for a small group of 17 of us, led by the very knowledgeable and entertaining Richard Brazier.
1995 or 1996?
Following a bad run in the late 1980s / early 1990s, when quantities of the wines were affected by bad corks and other microbial spoilage, the property had a moment in the spotlight in 1998 when Wine Spectator named the 1995 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou its number one wine in its annual Top 100 survey. ‘Not only is this wine one of the five best of the vintage, it is the greatest wine produced at Ducru in this century’, it asserted.
I certainly thought the 1995 excellent (and some in our group ranked it favourite), but I preferred the 1996, which was my top wine on the night. While the 1995 (and the very similar 1982) had power, they lacked a little in complexity – something the 1996 had in abundance.
A dependable St Julien
The very good 1998 proved that François-Xavier Borie and his team have got things right at this property since the mid-1990s, and the wonderfully fragrant 1970, and the fading, but glorious 1961 prove the potential of this dependable 2nd growth.
My tasting notes are linked below, and you can also read Neal Martin’s review of this tasting here
