CHÂTEAU DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU

Plush depth to the savoury black fruit, with the highest ever level of Cabernet Sauvignon in this wine, and it's a stand out in the vintage. Not the exuberance that you find in the most recent years of Ducru, but it is excellent, with a creaminess to the cassis fruit alongside rose petal and peony aromatics. Sculpted and seductive, with the austere tannins that are a signature of the year. 100% new oak, IPT 100. Drinking range: 2027 - 2044 Rating: 96 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (May 2022)

98 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2 Merlot | 100% new oak – matured for 18 months. | 12.5% alc | 3.88pH | 102 IPT They battled with frost across the Bruno Borie portfolio, but while it was not a problem at Ducru, it was definitely a huge headache at Madame where they lit bougis and used fans for four or five nights. Merlot was most affected with coulure and some millerandange, and then in June and July, they were subjected to record incidences of mildew. Predictive modelling helped the viticulture teams to treat every facet of the vines, and they doubled the squad for eight weeks to around 80 people. This ‘vine cleaning’ significantly reduced volume potential, yet they managed to harvest perfectly ripe grapes. There was no need to green harvest because much of the foliage and some of the bunches had already been removed. 2021 is, in essence, an ode to Cabernet. While Merlot was more problematic up and down the Left Bank, Cabernet proved to be more resistant to all of the climatic challenges at Ducru. Tracey Dobbin MW took me through the range. Her knowledge of the behind-the-scenes decisions was invaluable in understanding why this is such a strong portfolio in this vintage. For example, a small heat spike at the beginning of September knocked out any potential pyrazine, or green, notes that so many of the lesser wines show. They were cautious to avoid any botrytis-affected grapes by forensic sorting. They did this our times – at picking, then manually, then at de-stemming, and finally with an optical sorting machine. The new R&D team even trialled UV treatments in three distinct zones in the vineyard, and who knows whether this worked, but either way, the wines are stunningly pure, so perhaps it had some effect. Extraction had to be very carefully managed because the skins were packed with flavour, but they were still relatively fragile and so supersoft handling was essential, and they only performed remontage in early phases. This background information supports the beguiling perfume and exquisite intensity found in this wine. Pure, long and upright, and built of amazingly ingredients, this is a catwalk confident Cabernet, staring straight ahead and striding down the catwalk with intent. The fruit on the palate is astonishingly mouth-filling and sumptuous, and yet with only 12.5% alcohol on board, it is also lithe, shape-shifting, refreshing and chillingly bright. Insanely attractive, amazingly concentrated and brutally elegant, this is one of only a handful of wines that seems to have accepted every challenge thrown at it in 2021 and come back even stronger and more determined to impress. Rating: 19 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Jun 2022)

Firm, structured and pure with a cool and solid core of dark currants, blackberries, tar, pencil lead and bitter chocolate. Hints of tobacco, too. Firm but silky tannins. Very pure, with a long, mineral finish. Intense and very focused. 98% cabernet sauvignon and 2% merlot. Rating: 96-97 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2022)