CHÂTEAU DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU
2012 2ème Cru Classé Saint Julien
91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot. This is the highest-ever proporton of CS. Bruno Borie eulogised about the similarities between the 2012 and classic older styles of Ducru. Elegant and fine - he compared it to the '59 which is a delight and has almost exactly the same levels of tannin. Very fine, dense and leanly concentrated with Cabernet. There is lovely gloss and beautiful texture to the fruit. All is in perfect balance, the poise is so impressive. Pure and persistent. Rating: 93 L&S (Apr 2013)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
Deep ruby in colour, with a seductive smoky, campfire crackle on the aromatics and plentiful black fruits that are softening to autumnal berries but still so full of expressive liqourice, sage, crayon, eucalyptus and creamy tarte tartin. Balanced, delicious, with supple tannic architecture that is ready to release the fruits. No rush to drink but moving into its drinking window. 100% new oak. Harvest October 3 to 10. Eric Boissenot consultant, Virginie Sallette technical director. Drinking range: 2024 - 2042 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2023)
A touch of tertiary evolution, the fruit and cedar are dense and integrated but what really stands out is the grilled leather, cigar box and liquorice. A mint and ecuyptus-infused body, with well-paced velvety tannins, chewy and muscular. The finish majors on sweet spices and a medium plus length. 60% new oak, Bruno Borie owner, harvest October 3-10 Drinking range: 2022 - 2040 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (Nov 2022)
The 2012 Ducru-Beaucaillou, which was matured in 95% new oak rather than 100%, was always a bit stubborn on the nose. Here, I feel it has opened marginally. Black olives and blood orange scents infuse the black fruit, just a hint of lavender develop with aeration. Very perfumed after 5-10 minutes. The palate is medium-bodied with smooth saturated tannins, fine acidity, quite intense and pastille-like. The finish feels monochromatic compared to the superior 2014, maybe the wood is just singing from a different hymn sheet. Quite exuberant, maybe even flashy, it does not quite deliver the complexity of a Ducru firing on all cylinders. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. Drinking range: 2025 - 2045 Rating: 92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jul 2022)
A big wine for the year, the 2012 Ducru-Beaucaillou possesses striking depth and intensity from start to finish. Sweet tobacco, cedar, smoke and savory herb overtones add intrigue to this deep, fleshy Saint-Julien. I imagine the 2012 will age for several decades based on its fruit density. Whether the tannins ever become noble is another question. Still, it is impossible not to admire the wine's pure depth. Drinking range: 2020 - 2037 Rating: 94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jan 2016)
The Grand Vin is a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot, delivering 13% alcohol and a pH of 3.68 (IPT of 70.) The Merlot was picked between 3rd and 5th October and the Cabernet Sauvignon between 6th and 10th October. It is being aged in 95% new oak for 18 months. It has a very pure bouquet with small black cherries, blackcurrant with a pleasing mineral component and fine delineation. The palate is well balanced with fine tannins. It is not a powerful Ducru but there is good degree of finesse and freshness thanks to the earlier picked grapes, plus there is a pleasant spice/black pepper note right on the finish. This is one of the finest Saint Julien wines Rating: 92-94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2013)
(a blend of 91% cabernet sauvignon and 9% merlot; 5.5 g/l total acidity, 3.7 pH; IPT 70; 13% alcohol; 60% new oak): Dark ruby-red. Perfumed aromas of blackcurrant, violet, licorice and graphite, plus a whiff of minerals. The flavors of blackcurrant, graphite and minerals are delicate, pure and refined. Finishes fine-grained, suave and firm, with excellent breadth. It's also one of the longest wines of the vintage, and for my money one of the top four or five from the Left Bank in 2012. When I asked Bruno Borie how this could be, given the very high percentage of cabernet sauvignon in the blend, he mentioned the intensive work required to achieve this result: he added two sorting tables directly in the vineyards and installed an optical sorting system in the cellar. He also noted that the cabernet sauvignon vines are very precocious in his terroir (gravelly clay right next to the river, where daily temperatures can average roughly 3°C more than vineyards in Saint-Julien's interior. Moreover, he harvested between October 3 and 5 and from October 6 through 10, escaping the brunt of the rain showers. According to Borie, the 2012 reminds him of the estate's 1964, an excellent vintage for those properties that harvested before the rains. Rating: 90-93 Ian d'Agata, www.vinousmedia.com (May 2013)
The color is a healthy deep ruby/purple and the wine smells beautiful, exhibiting lots of floral, creme de cassis, licorice and graphite notes. Medium-bodied but slightly deficient in the mid-palate at present, it picks up speed and finishes with serious authority and power. This 2012 should be outstanding, but it is difficult to favorably compare the 2012 to the prodigious wines produced at Ducru in 2009 and 2010. The 2012 will require 4-6 years of cellaring and should drink well for 15-20 years. The charismatic Bruno Borie has produced a 2012 Ducru Beaucaillou made from 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot (about 50% of the total production). The harvest began right after the deluge that occurred the weekend of October 7, 8 and 9. A lot of dry tannins were present the day I tasted this wine, but I think they will soften and become manageable as the wine continues its upbringing in barrel for another 12-14 months. 2017 - 2037 Rating: 90-92 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, www.RobertParker.com (Apr 2013)
“An English vintage that needed gentle handling” is how Bruno Borie describes 2012. If so, it was all for the good, for this is a pretty, elegant, carefully defined Ducru, that’s stylish and well balanced, with leafy, cassis fruit and a touch of St Julien structure and tannin on the finish. Comparatively forward in style. Drink: 2020-35 Rating: 94 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2013)
91% Cabernet Sauvignon! Bruno Borie had a vat that represented 0.75% of the total blend and Bruno claims you could taste the difference between whether it was included. Brilliant crimson. Just a hint of green leaves. A bit of meat extract. Great texture. Transparent. Really rather delicate – more so than other St-Juliens. Chapeau! Very distinctive. Fresh and delicate. Good interpretation of the vintage. 2022 - 2038. Rating: 18 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2013)
Superb colour, vibrant and velvety, perfectly expressed 91% Cabernet fruit, a beautifully "feminine" St-Julien with finely-grained tannins for the future. Drink: 2017 - 2035 Rating: 18.25 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2013)
Three cheers for classically-shaped Ducru. I adore this style - clean lines, deft fruit & devastating purity. Rating: 18 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Apr 2013)
The plum, currant and blackberry fruit is well-integrated already, with taut anise, singed spice and apple wood notes. Sleek and refined, lacking the telltale sinew of the vintage. Very stylish through the finish, revealing a persistent anise note. Rating: 93-96 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2013)
Château Ducru Beaucaillou
St Julien Deuxième cru 1855 When the Beychevelle estate was broken up in 1642, in order to pay off the debts of the deceased owner, it gave birth to three Châteaux - Beychevelle, Branaire-Ducru and Ducru-Beaucaillou. Château Ducru Beaucaillou was so named because of the quality lent to the wine by the large pebbles in the soil - the "good pebbles" being "beau caillou" (although it was originally "Maucaillou", "bad pebbles" not being much use for any other kind of agriculture). In 1795, the estate was purchased by Bertrand Ducru, and the name was complete. The early years on the 20th Century were not kind to Ducru-Beaucaillou, but salvation was on hand with its purchase by Francis Borie in 1941. Apart from some problems with TCA during the late 1980's, the tenure of the Borie family has been a time of continuing improvement at Ducru-Beaucaillou. Today, Francis' grandson Bruno Borie heads up the estate. The Borie family also own Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Château Haut Batailley. The 75ha of vineyard are planted to 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot have, apparently, left the blend. The Grand Vin spends 18 to 20 months in wood, with the proportion of new wood varying between vintages. A second wine was introduced in 1995 - La Croix de Beaucaillou. Also produced at Ducru-Beaucaillou is Château Lalande-Borie from vineyard purchased from Château Lagrange in 1970 which, although it could perfectly legally be absorbed into Château Ducru Beaucaillou, has always been produced as a seperate wine.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.