level was a tad below top shoulder. Drank 20 minutes after opening without decanting. The nose was more floral and elegant, with notes of leather, a little smoke, and a little graphite. After a little more than an hour the wine was still holding up somewhat, with more prominent nose of smoke. About 1½ hours in the wine was really, really open and showing beautifully, with loads of leather and a big, toasty nose, along with some coffee, too. Very happy with this bottle, and in the end it turned out better than my previous bottle from 3 years ago.
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Impressive. So Ducru can actually mellow if you give it at least half a century. Tawny but not brown. Austere but friendly. Old wine sweetness. Recognizably Ducru. Immensely complex. Tannins and acidity are well integrated. Is this the best vintage for Ducru in the twentieth century?
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Good vintages of Yquem (Chicago, IL): From half-bottle. For me, more interesting than good at this point, but this was startlingly fresh for its age given the format. Very clear iron notes on the palate, with a focus on leathery tones here. Fading, and definitely one to drink up.
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A stunning example that hit all of its marks, starting with its haunting perfume loaded with tobacco, mushrooms, cedar chest, leather, currants, mint leaf, and cherries. Full-bodied, concentrated, and balanced perfectly between its regal character and layers of still vibrant, earthy, ripe, red fruits. The finish stuck its mark with close to 60 seconds of pleasure in every sip. A good bottle is a majestic tasting experience. Drink from 2023-2035.
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Not a formal note but retrospective. Drunk to celebrate my 60th (in 2021) but we were in lockdown, so it was a very small affair. The wine was sourced at auction, so we didn't know the condition. Cork was very soft and ullage was down to high shoulder. It was smoooooth, relaxed balanced silky with great flavor. At 60 it was in better shape than me! Happy to say this wine didn't disappoint. I will look for this wine again and hopefully can make a formal homage to the excellence of this wine, that today is a mere wonderful memory.
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61s at 61 (Bourbon Steak, Aventura, Florida): Ducru has always been touted as one of the most successful and longest lived second growths of the vintage and this bottle showed why. Not as mellow and sweet as it optimally can be, it nevertheless wins you over with its staggering complexity and harmony. While the core of fruit is obviously tertiary there’s enough to ensure both your nose and your palate are satisfied as you continue to sniff and sip it as the hours roll on. The group favorite of Flight 2.
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A beautiful attack, tertiary, perfectly resolved, so refined and complete but not at all big-framed; cherry and plum fruits, cigar box; fine-boned, porcelaneous, exquisite
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Tony's 60th Birthday Celebration (Republique - Los Angeles CA): 1961 Bordeaux flight. Opened an hour before serving. Also great color and fill. Cigarbox with earth and so much black cherry. Good weight, great depth and balance. I preferred this over the Cheval Blanc when first poured, and while this remained beautiful for its 30 minutes in glass, the Cheval Blanc kept improving and unfolding.
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From a three bottle selection of varying ullages. Best was really good. Still a deep shade with little aging rim. Broody nose coaxed out with airing in glass [late decanted in case of premature collapse, of which there was none]. Cedar wood and cassis. Amazingly sweet, even opulent fruit. Palate faded a tad with time in glass, but confirmed this is a serious '61, up with the best.
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Hedonism and Refinement at 60!; 5/14/2021-5/15/2021 (Joe and Kyla's Bar and Grill): From 375: cork was soaked, but the wine was not! Darker fruit and fresher than the Lafite. Add some sweet plum to that note ("Black cherry and dried currants, pencil and cigar box, finishing with floral and tea notes") and we've got it. Notable glycerin added body and "sweetness" to the palate presence. Outstanding!
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Lyon 2021 Birthday Bash; 5/14/2021-5/15/2021 (Bear Creek Woodward/Lyon Den): Second birth year Bordeaux for my buddy Grinner. Leather/saddle and fruit still there, but more muted on the nose than the Lafite. The structure and sweetness/glycerin powered it through though, with a more powerful presentation. Out of split, still really very nice.
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WOW! Soooo beautiful, soooo fragrant and open just 15 minutes after decanting. Plenty of bacon fat lots of toast, smoke, and lots of sweet fruit. After an hour this seemed to have faded, becoming leaner and showing more brett, more like a classic claret. Good acidity still. After two hours this seemed to improve and fruity notes like cherries were still around. Very, very happy with how this bottle drank tonight.
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This was certainly enjoyable and 61-ish in its affable, ripe fruit but a bit specious compared to what 61 Ducru-Beaucaillou can offer. Charming, supple, mellow, winsome but a bit diffuse. Soft fruit, subtle cedar, delicate touches of coffee and milk chocolate.
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Mid shoulder fill. Cork soaked through with mold under the foil. Decanted off sediment. It was tasting so young and slightly closed I decanted again into a larger decanter to give more air. Stunning nose. Classic Ducru weight and integrated tannins. This was a real treat.
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Still at about 90% of what the best bottles of 61 Ducru can show, but still damn tasty. Classic cedar, cigar box, leather and earth are accompanied by sweet, ripe dark red fruits and crushed rocks. After about 2 hrs the finish started to dry out a touch. It’s been a fun ride, but I have a feeling it’s time to start polishing these off in the near future.
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Love me some ‘61 Ducru. When this wine is on, its blazing 🔥🔥🔥 This bottle was at about 90% of what the best bottles can be, but it was still tasty AF. About as good as St. Julien gets. Epic wine, epic vintage.
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Slightly metallic and green, a disappointing wine consider 1961 was one of the greatest vintages of the century. Medium bodied with fully mature fruit profile. (74/100)
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This is a perfect example of why you age Bordeaux. It took about 10 minutes in the glass before the complex array of scents took charge. Lead pencil, cassis, tobacco, smoke, cigar box and woodsy aromatics were just great. On the palate, the patina of age added to the lush, round, regal textures. The fruit was ripe, sweet, fresh and kept on going. The wine delivered pleasure in the glass for at least 2 hours. Popped and poured, this is a sublime example of mature Bordeaux.
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Fully mature, the wine still shows freshness, character and loads of ripe, spicy, earthy, tobacco and forest floor notes. Decanting to remove the wine off its sediment was all it needed before it rocked.
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This bottle of '61 Château Ducru showed a glowing patina of soft crimson. Classic Bordeaux nose of tobacco, cigar wrapper, leather and gravelly soil. Flavors were tertiary with ripe cherries. This is benchmark St. Julien!
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Quick impressions from a dinner party. From a bottle at very high to top shoulder. Opened an hour prior to dinner, decanted at serving and enjoyed for about two hours
good deep purple color fully bricked throughout, on the nose aged cassis, hints of leather, dark fruits, a tiny bit of ginger and cinnamon, on the palate tranquil at first but it slowly grew to an admirable depth, an excellent richness of ripe fruit on the mid palate- black cherries, cassis and some forest notes, fine length with just a hint of bitterness on the tail end, despite the excesses of the vintage this has some classic restraint to it, by all appearances a well stored bottle and while it seemed to be on the edge of fading- it showed beautifully. ****, drink up.
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Graciously opened by the Barton-Sartorius family in Bordeaux, this is so Ducru and so 1961. Lovely ripe, rich cassis, cedar, violets, ginger, and a little of the funky sous bois of age. At its apogee, there is not much sense in aging this further but it is such a delight now. So kindly opened by Damien. Just a lovely wine.
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Ducru Mini-Vertical (3030 Ocean, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida): Upon opening, the bouquet was truly spectacular, an apotheosis of old Bordeaux. Old oak trees in the forest, burning embers, cigar, caramel, leather, Earl Gray tea leaves and much more. Intoxicating. The palate could not live up to the preamble, being more fatigued than the aroma and fully tertiary. Good acidity, structure and drive, though, just a bit too harsh.
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A perfect bottle from the chateau, having reached full maturity, this is off the hook. The nose, with its strong, tobacco leaf, Cuban cigar, ash, smoke, lead pencil, cedar chest and crushed rock nuances that blend with the ripe red fruits could keep any taster focused. But it is the length, complexity, texture and levels of concentration in the expansive finish that leaves you with the best memory.
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Similar to the ‘59 which I like a lot ot has red berries, some more sweetness and a mid-weight palate. Some white pepper in there as well. Great elegance
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As the 1961 vintage and I age, sadly, we see less of each other every year. Even sadder, I think the best 61's are aging better than I am... What a beauty, showing the color of ruby tea, the wine is concentrated and intense. Strong notes of Cuban cigar wrapper, tobacco, wet, forest floor, spice, smoke and cherries in the perfume, one the palate, the wine has that sublime patina of age, softening and fattening the wine, allowing the palate a real taste treat.
What an ethereal wine. The sommelier had decanted this about 3 hours prior. Tannins fully resolved, leather, forest floor. There was such a silkiness to this wine.after about a couple of hours, the leather receded and the fruit came out. The finish was long and gentle. This will go on for at least a decade more. What a wine, what an occassion!
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Drank it blindly, knowing it was a flight with 1961 and one pirat. Remarkable nose and palate, silky, perfectly riped soft tannins, tar, leather and tobacco leaves, elegant and very long finish 97-98, the winner in this interesting 1961 flight
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Fabulous example of mature claret at its best. All the cedar, tobacco, cigar box, forest floor and cherry you can imagine, accompanied by a full bodied, concentrated wine with depth and complexity.
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First dinner of the L.A. wine trip (The Bazaar at SLS, Beverly Hills, California): Late release bottle ex-château. The best wine of the 1961 flight. A seductive nose that was equally matched on the palate. The nose revealed black currant, juniper berries, sous bois, pencil lead, violets, eucalyptus, and tobacco. Outstanding balance overall. A finish with good length. Much more charming, layered, and complex than the 1959 Ducru-Beaucaillou. I really loved this wine, which was one of the best of the evening.
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Mostly Older Bordeaux: Stunning intensity and complexity, loaded with fruit with some earthiness and leather buttressed by nice acidity. Showing magnificently well but with a lot of gas left in the tank.
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From a recent acquisition of a carefully curated and well stored collection, this bottle was perfectly sound even though the ullage was mid to high shoulder. The color was medium garnet with some brown at the rim, which is healthy for its age. Classical Ducru notes of dried cinnamon, cedar and some smoke led to a medium bodied very complex wine, subtle and alluring, with slightly elevated acidity. It held for 30 or 60 minutes, then gently declined, becoming a bit harsh and losing all pleasure in the experience. While I certainly enjoyed the ride, I think it was probably better 10 - 20 years ago when there was more fruit and freshness in the mix.
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Sourced directly from the Château and was in pristine condition. There was some sandalwood spice to the aroma along with green bean, sweet earth, stones, cassis and dried flowers. It had great detail on the palate and was voluminous and totally harmonious. A beautiful, aged claret.
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Beautiful bottle. Elegant and soft but with energy and great depth of flavors and aromas. Complex nose with a palate to match. Rounded dark red fruit with an umami overtone and tangy edges. Light soil tones across the midpalate. Black truffle on the finish, with light smoke and ferrous notes. Silky tannins. Quick decant and then consumed over one hour.
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Composed and mature but lacking the richness of other bottles. Dark fruit, black soil, white pepper but flat acids resulting in a less energetic finish that other recent experiences.
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Amazingly youthful. The wine opens with an arresting bouquet of smoke, truffles, tea, wet earth and ripe dark fruit. Sensual and vibrant, the palate gains substantial weight with air and turns sweeter, while the fruit is still fresh and evolve nicely with great persistency. Very little sediment.
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The Ducru-Beaucaillou is one of the great 1961s, and a benchmark for this magical terroir. The very classic nose bursts from the decanter with notes of sweet blackcurrant, gravely soil tones, cedar pencil led and just a hint of cigar ash. On the palate the wine is the definition of elegance: sappy and medium-bodied, but with lovely intensity and impeccable balance. Indeed, the wine is deceptively delicate, so don't be afraid to give this a few hours in a decanter to allow the sweet fruit to really open up. I'm confident that its balance will guarantee it another few decades of longevity. Comparisons with Château Lafite are apposite, but this wine is much greater than Lafite in 1961.
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Great funk on the nose with black cherry, toffee, mocha, earth notes, and truffles. Hints of lapsang souchong as well. Palate less complex than the nose although the dark fruit, white pepper, and slight funky tang were all there. Not quite the equal of a bottle I had earlier in the year.
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A wine that lives up to the hype of the vintage. Extraordinarily complex and vibrant, this has the classic Ducru dark fruit and berries but seemingly much younger than almost 50 years old. Morcilla, tobacco, and metallic notes also emerge and a faint but attractive background funk for the first hour or so in the glass. While there is an initial sweetness to the palate, wood flavors and nuts take over on the finish. The individual components still come off as young and fresh. Spectacular but still with more time.
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The '61 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a superbly mature wine that has developed exquisite secondary flavours and aromatics. Exhibiting a deep garnet core fading to amber on the rims, it is packed with exuberant aromas of damp earth, tobacco leaf and orange mocha. The texture remains soft and silky as the wine reveals an amazing complexity of flavours with interlaced layers of caramel coulis, cigar humidor, old leather chair, cedar wood, and surprising notes of raspberry still present. The finish is medium and herbaceous - perhaps the only slight disappointment in this otherwise near-perfect wine. This is a fine example of how a great wine from an outstanding vintage can perform overtime when properly stored - as this beauty is still going strong fifty-three years on. It probably won't improve any more but should hold its place for another five years, or so.
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Brick in color, with some, tobacco, wild strawberry, cigar box, truffle and decaying leaf notes in the hauntingly, complex set of aromatics. The palate is refined, sensuous and silky, ending with a soft, sweet, ripe and over ripe sensation of spicy red berries that remains on your palate for at least 40 seconds. Bottles with great storage, or in large formats can still age and improve!
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MNSC - Alex (Amuse Bouche): opened, decanted and served immediately. glorious perfume of tobacco and black fruits. light, elegant, almost feminine. can't really ask for a better wine as the first red of the evening.
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2012 - Old: En magnum. A legendary Ducru, many said so. PnP, reveal some funky note with some dried dark fruits, mint and cedar. On the palate it was quite tannic and tight, not really reveal the legendary status, at least I'm not convince. However, the wine improves drastically over the next 60-90mins. The fruits is alive again, become fresher, sweeter and not as dried as the 1st serving. Utterly complex and seductive bouquet here: mint, cedar, floral, sweet blackcurrant fruits as well as mineral and cigar box, elegance and fine, hard not to like it. WOW, the palate is even more captivating. Finesse and harmony comes to mind. Still going strong with excellent intensity, energy as well as detail layer of complexity. The tannin grip at the back end keep the finish going on and on, with juicy sweet dark fruits and dried tea leaves aftertaste.
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From a bottle with a top shoulder fill, this wine had a medium red center with orange rims. The high- intensity nose was a bit musty a first but developed nicely over the course of 3 hours to show black cherries, roses, soil, and some tobacco.
In the mouth it was medium bodied and refined but at the same time showed excellent richness and length. The light, integrated tannin was perfectly balanced with the fruit and acidity to delight all those who are not seeking a overpowering fruit bomb.
While this wine should last for a number of years, I suggest finding your earliest opportunity to enjoy.
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Seventh Annual White Truffle Dinner (Chez Weber - Chicago IL): Served in Ducru flight alongside 66, 70 and 82 vintages. Bottle with good very high shoulder fill. Aromas of leather, cedar and good barnyard character with some remaining ripe fruit. Palate shows fully evolved ripe fruit flavors, highlighting the good mushroom and barnyard flavors.
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Leaner-styled and quite elegant with lovely mature flavors of roasted nuts and cedar. Really balanced and smooth but perhaps past its best in terms of complexity. A bottle in really good condition.
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From 750 Decanted Initial impression was that this wine was seriously past prime. Nose mute, fruit faded, but showing interesting secondary and tertiary flavors. Still an 85 at best. After two hours, a magical transformation came about, the nose blossomed, and the fruit appeared. Very similar experience with this wine a couple of years ago. Still, I wouldn't push my luck. Drink up.
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Low shoulder and cork somewhat soft. Deep color. Fabulously complex nose, and surprisingly rich fruit, truly a special wine experience. Drank with '61 Branaire (which was also good) to celebrate several in our group turning 50!
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Truffles, tobacco, ripe cherries, earth, spice, cedar and leather notes pop from your glass. The wine is still concentrated with a soft, elegant, complex, palate filling finish. This fully mature Bordeaux is a finesse style of traditional St. Julien, The long cherry, cassis finish remains on your palate for over :40 seconds. The memory of drinking it that night at the Chateau stays for a lifetime!
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LdC 4th Annual Truffle Dinner (Primehouse): Soft crimson color. Full nose of red cherry and barnyard with a nice spiciness. Lovely floral red currant palate with a firm long finish remaining. Nice. 94+ pts.
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This was the star of the show on a bad night for Bordeaux at the Cataldo's wine and food weekend blowout. Since the eight Bordeaux were presented single blind, this was a minor surprise, besting such stars as '70 Latour, '70 Trotanoy and '70 Palmer. The almost unanimous favorite, it was so lush, fruity and intense (not words usually used when referring to Ducru) that even Arlette, who claims to hate Ducru, voted it first. Amazingly deep in color and youthful on the palate. Thanks to John DuBois for bring this beauty and ignoring the embargo against Ducru.
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This bottle was drinking very nicely and showing classic traits of a Saint Julien - a bit green, grassy and "farmy". However, it was a bit muted and the sweet fruit never showed.
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Drank at Cordeillan Bages on our honeymoon. Beautiful wine. Thankfully this wine had been keep in great condition. I write this note over a decade later and I expect today this bottle would have been past its best. The wine was brownish at the rim. Extremely delicate wine that needed only 15 minutes in the decanter to blow off the years of bottle age. Multiple layer of complexity and reminiscent of a great burgundy in style. A real treat.
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Steaks, Burgundies, and Free T-Shirts at Brad England's (The Lake of the Isles Retreat in Minneapolis): This was a surprising little bottle (literally from a 375ml) that showed surprisingly well. With a bouquet of a cedar dresser, leather, and a hint of tobacco this wine waxed nostalgic of a bygone era of wine, leather, and smoking. There was good mouth-feel with no signs of dryness or astringency. This wine is probably at it is peak and close to going into decline, but drinking fine tonight.
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A fun bottle out of 375ml, which showed surprisingly well. But for the cedar, could have been mistaken for a burg. Clear, with lots of pencil, cedar, a bit of tobacco, and good fruit. Fun.
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My first try at a wine with Francois Audouze's slow oxygenation method. Stood the wine in my cellar for 2 days and then opened at lunchtime and recorked immediately based on initial bouquet. Drank the wine without decanting from 8-9.30pm. Very noticeable difference between initial and later glasses. First pour was quite disappointing - nothing on the nose, punchy acid with minimal fruit and quite a thin colour. However, amazing improvement as further glasses were poured over the next 90 mins. Increasingly dark and vibrant colour with more and more complex nose. Acid was ever present but fruit began to show up and wine became a full on lush, vibrant baby - simply incredible for a 45 year old wine. Layers of complex aromas and tastes on the palate including hints of chocolate, tobacco, very sweet (slightly acidic) berry fruits. Alwyas vibrant rather than powerful and finish was rather short. All in all, excellent wine and my score may have done it a disservice relative to what it could have achieved with more time after opening.
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61/82 Bordeaux Dinner (Luxor in Marunouchi): Color more youthful than expected. Core almost the same as the ’82, but rim has more orange/pink. Initial nose shows an almost Graves-like character of blood/iron and earth but is otherwise closed. Very quickly opens into a complex of forest floor, more earth, tobacco, and an elegant sweet lilting center of cassis and blackberry. On the palate, acid manages to make sweet fruit center light and deft without being dilute – beautiful St. Julien delicacy. Beautifully elegant and still picking up richness after an hour as a richer, more plummy extract note comes out on the nose.
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Claret that's considrably older than me, 1959-1961; 11/15/2005-12/15/2005: Lunch at Pied a Terre with The Lawman. A lunch in honour of a bottle of 1961 Petrus that was bequeathed to me by my wine mentor. Not wanting to go in cold, we had the 1961 Ducru first. It was my second 1961. This lived up to the hype. One of the most complex noses yet, hints of its youthful past with notes of ripe blackcurrants, allied to the smell of ages; earth and rocks. There were lovely exotic notes, sandalwood and bergamot, and every sniff revealed another layer. The palate was another journey through its evolution. Fruit upfront, still remarkably persistent and ever-so slightly heady. Then came the years, graphite, cigars, more earth and mineral. My first great old wine, the experience makes me want more, its not about power, its about complexity.
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Still surprisingly youthful, barely browning at the rim, nose exudes sandalwood, spices, freshly turned earth and tobacco, spectacular really, on the palate, still somewhat brooding and not as mature as other bottles from the same lot, over the course of two hours, developed a slightly edgy acidity.
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Dark red only slight hint of browning at the rim. Incredible nose! Stupendously complex on notes of camphor, cedar, créme de cassis, coffee, tobacco, leather, forest floor , lead pencil?..you name it - it was there. 1 for the bouquet alone. Fortunately the wine was almost just as good to taste. Large bodied with a huge, powerful, intense core of fruit with a perfectly ripe and mature flavour profile. The wine did not fade one bit over the course of 3 hours. It was just brooding in the glass. Chewy, fleshy, and juicy with ever evolving layers of fruit and nuances, and a perfectly balanced aftertaste.
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Great Wine Seminar. Very mature healthy color. Intense concentration. Very lively. Beautiful balance. A step up from the other vintages of Ducru this day. Ex-Château provenance matters.
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Hand carried to Masa’s (San Francisco) and about as fine as it can be. Medium ruby garnet. It’s not perfectly clear despite decanting, given the handling it endured. Extremely fragrant. Berry, cinnamon and spice. Just lacking a little grip but the lovely fruit is true to the finish. Delicate, elegant, delicious. Just beginning to slip down hill.
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Chicago Wine Company bottle, very top shoulder fill. Mature bricky rim. No label and the cork a little dry. A great wine. At the end of its peak plateau. Superb gentle and complex nose faded after about 20 minutes. Hint of cinnamon and cloves. Very elegant. Intensity of flavor without weight. Finishes true. Classic ‘61 Bordeaux. What a beauty but drink ASAP.
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Chicago Wine Company bottle, top shoulder ullage. Simply splendid. The reason to age Bordeaux. Medium color. Beautiful nose of cedar and cinnamon. Excellent grip. Long. Very elegant. Surely at peak.
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Wonderful mature spicy Médoc nose. More earthy and powerful than usual. Great grip. Still some tannin. Slightly dry finish. Is it just starting to decline?
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Marin Wine Cellar bottle. Medium garnet, orange rim. Crystal clear beautiful old wine color. Gorgeous expressive complex old Bordeaux bouquet. The Merlot shows. Medium weight, almost light. Extremely elegant and full of finesse and sheer beauty of fruit. Long sweet luscious finish. Lacks a little grip for perfection. Died abruptly after 45 minutes in the glass, though. Drink now.
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After drinking wine critically for about a dozen years, this is the first bottle I can rate a perfect score. High shoulder fill. Ruby garnet very mature color but crystal clear with no orange or brown. Gorgeous highly perfumed nose, cedar, cassis, rose, plum, cinnamon. Indescribably complex. In the mouth, smooth, luscious and sweet. Soft, not weak. Tannins have completely melted into a savory whole. Long warm lingering finish. Almost too good for food. The grilled squab at Café Maxx was much too coarse. Lasted for 2 hours. Perfect now and over the next 5-7 years.
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Great Wine Seminar. Advanced color. Sweet but watery nose. Good but not great fruit. Maybe just slightly corked. Michael Broadbent thought it was sound, though “singed, autumnal, getting overmature, sweet lovely texture and fruit.” A backup bottle was much better; I rated it 94.
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Summer 1988 with MPL at the office. Tasted after the '62 Lynch-Bages. Lighter in color, but still quite dark and even opaque. Orange rim. Nose is fragrant and good, but a bit shy. Violets, port-like bouquet. Flavors good, but nondescript. Medium-full body. Certainly good, but the Lynch Bages is cheaper and a better wine. 5-12-15-8: 90/100.
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Slightly musty at first, then cleared up. Then, a gorgeous flowery cedary and minty bouquet which held well. Sweet perfectly ripe fruit. Gorgeous long lingering finish. Not fading at all.
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Great bouquet of the finest claret, cedar and flowers. Luminous medium ruby color shading to amber rim. Perfectly mature. Tannins resolved but no hint of age. K thought it was Lafite, which it resembles. A terrific ‘61, especially if it can last on this elevated plateau.
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3/15/2024 - Peech Likes this wine: 97 Points
level was a tad below top shoulder. Drank 20 minutes after opening without decanting. The nose was more floral and elegant, with notes of leather, a little smoke, and a little graphite. After a little more than an hour the wine was still holding up somewhat, with more prominent nose of smoke. About 1½ hours in the wine was really, really open and showing beautifully, with loads of leather and a big, toasty nose, along with some coffee, too. Very happy with this bottle, and in the end it turned out better than my previous bottle from 3 years ago.
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2/17/2024 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Impressive. So Ducru can actually mellow if you give it at least half a century. Tawny but not brown. Austere but friendly. Old wine sweetness. Recognizably Ducru. Immensely complex. Tannins and acidity are well integrated. Is this the best vintage for Ducru in the twentieth century?
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12/5/2023 - acyso wrote: 90 Points
Good vintages of Yquem (Chicago, IL): From half-bottle. For me, more interesting than good at this point, but this was startlingly fresh for its age given the format. Very clear iron notes on the palate, with a focus on leathery tones here. Fading, and definitely one to drink up.
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9/25/2023 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
A stunning example that hit all of its marks, starting with its haunting perfume loaded with tobacco, mushrooms, cedar chest, leather, currants, mint leaf, and cherries. Full-bodied, concentrated, and balanced perfectly between its regal character and layers of still vibrant, earthy, ripe, red fruits. The finish stuck its mark with close to 60 seconds of pleasure in every sip. A good bottle is a majestic tasting experience. Drink from 2023-2035.
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3/31/2023 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 93 Points
In magnum. Fresh and vibrant with nutmeg, truffle and dried red fruit. Very enjoyable.
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1/30/2023 - Vintage1961 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Not a formal note but retrospective.
Drunk to celebrate my 60th (in 2021) but we were in lockdown, so it was a very small affair.
The wine was sourced at auction, so we didn't know the condition.
Cork was very soft and ullage was down to high shoulder. It was smoooooth, relaxed balanced silky with great flavor.
At 60 it was in better shape than me! Happy to say this wine didn't disappoint.
I will look for this wine again and hopefully can make a formal homage to the excellence of this wine, that today is a mere wonderful memory.
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2/5/2022 - sdr Likes this wine: 93 Points
61s at 61 (Bourbon Steak, Aventura, Florida): Ducru has always been touted as one of the most successful and longest lived second growths of the vintage and this bottle showed why. Not as mellow and sweet as it optimally can be, it nevertheless wins you over with its staggering complexity and harmony. While the core of fruit is obviously tertiary there’s enough to ensure both your nose and your palate are satisfied as you continue to sniff and sip it as the hours roll on. The group favorite of Flight 2.
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10/22/2021 - Comte Flaneur wrote: 95 Points
A beautiful attack, tertiary, perfectly resolved, so refined and complete but not at all big-framed; cherry and plum fruits, cigar box; fine-boned, porcelaneous, exquisite
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10/16/2021 - Burgundy Al wrote: 95 Points
Tony's 60th Birthday Celebration (Republique - Los Angeles CA): 1961 Bordeaux flight. Opened an hour before serving. Also great color and fill. Cigarbox with earth and so much black cherry. Good weight, great depth and balance. I preferred this over the Cheval Blanc when first poured, and while this remained beautiful for its 30 minutes in glass, the Cheval Blanc kept improving and unfolding.
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7/3/2021 - RayOB Likes this wine: 95 Points
Drank at 67
A perfect bottle. Still fresh with fruit. A beauty
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5/15/2021 - JOHN DEE wrote: 94 Points
From a three bottle selection of varying ullages.
Best was really good. Still a deep shade with little aging rim.
Broody nose coaxed out with airing in glass [late decanted in case of premature collapse, of which there was none]. Cedar wood and cassis. Amazingly sweet, even opulent fruit. Palate faded a tad with time in glass, but confirmed this is a serious '61, up with the best.
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5/15/2021 - Grinner wrote: 95 Points
Hedonism and Refinement at 60!; 5/14/2021-5/15/2021 (Joe and Kyla's Bar and Grill): From 375: cork was soaked, but the wine was not! Darker fruit and fresher than the Lafite. Add some sweet plum to that note ("Black cherry and dried currants, pencil and cigar box, finishing with floral and tea notes") and we've got it. Notable glycerin added body and "sweetness" to the palate presence. Outstanding!
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5/15/2021 - jkwoodward Likes this wine: 95 Points
Lyon 2021 Birthday Bash; 5/14/2021-5/15/2021 (Bear Creek Woodward/Lyon Den): Second birth year Bordeaux for my buddy Grinner. Leather/saddle and fruit still there, but more muted on the nose than the Lafite. The structure and sweetness/glycerin powered it through though, with a more powerful presentation. Out of split, still really very nice.
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4/1/2021 - Peech Likes this wine: 96 Points
WOW! Soooo beautiful, soooo fragrant and open just 15 minutes after decanting. Plenty of bacon fat lots of toast, smoke, and lots of sweet fruit. After an hour this seemed to have faded, becoming leaner and showing more brett, more like a classic claret. Good acidity still. After two hours this seemed to improve and fruity notes like cherries were still around. Very, very happy with how this bottle drank tonight.
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10/26/2020 - englishman's claret wrote: 91 Points
This was certainly enjoyable and 61-ish in its affable, ripe fruit but a bit specious compared to what 61 Ducru-Beaucaillou can offer. Charming, supple, mellow, winsome but a bit diffuse. Soft fruit, subtle cedar, delicate touches of coffee and milk chocolate.
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10/9/2020 - shifter wrote:
Mid shoulder fill. Cork soaked through with mold under the foil. Decanted off sediment. It was tasting so young and slightly closed I decanted again into a larger decanter to give more air. Stunning nose. Classic Ducru weight and integrated tannins. This was a real treat.
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9/28/2020 - La Flama Blanca Likes this wine: 95 Points
Still at about 90% of what the best bottles of 61 Ducru can show, but still damn tasty. Classic cedar, cigar box, leather and earth are accompanied by sweet, ripe dark red fruits and crushed rocks. After about 2 hrs the finish started to dry out a touch. It’s been a fun ride, but I have a feeling it’s time to start polishing these off in the near future.
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6/12/2020 - La Flama Blanca Likes this wine: 96 Points
Love me some ‘61 Ducru. When this wine is on, its blazing 🔥🔥🔥 This bottle was at about 90% of what the best bottles can be, but it was still tasty AF. About as good as St. Julien gets. Epic wine, epic vintage.
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4/29/2020 - Jammy Wine wrote: 74 Points
Slightly metallic and green, a disappointing wine consider 1961 was one of the greatest vintages of the century. Medium bodied with fully mature fruit profile. (74/100)
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4/27/2020 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
This is a perfect example of why you age Bordeaux. It took about 10 minutes in the glass before the complex array of scents took charge. Lead pencil, cassis, tobacco, smoke, cigar box and woodsy aromatics were just great. On the palate, the patina of age added to the lush, round, regal textures. The fruit was ripe, sweet, fresh and kept on going. The wine delivered pleasure in the glass for at least 2 hours. Popped and poured, this is a sublime example of mature Bordeaux.
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1/21/2020 - mattiasjansson wrote: 95 Points
1961 vs 1982 Bordeaux (Boston): Fruit and tannins in great balance. Great 60+ second finish.
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11/15/2019 - RayOB Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drank at 67
Perfect bottle with a wonderful tertiery notes of leather, forest floor and spice.
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8/15/2019 - RayOB wrote: flawed
Not really drinking like it should be but not completely dead
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8/15/2019 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Fully mature, the wine still shows freshness, character and loads of ripe, spicy, earthy, tobacco and forest floor notes. Decanting to remove the wine off its sediment was all it needed before it rocked.
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4/25/2019 - La Flama Blanca Likes this wine: 97 Points
This bottle of '61 Château Ducru showed a glowing patina of soft crimson. Classic Bordeaux nose of tobacco, cigar wrapper, leather and gravelly soil. Flavors were tertiary with ripe cherries. This is benchmark St. Julien!
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4/13/2019 - Elpaninaro Likes this wine:
Quick impressions from a dinner party. From a bottle at very high to top shoulder. Opened an hour prior to dinner, decanted at serving and enjoyed for about two hours
good deep purple color fully bricked throughout, on the nose aged cassis, hints of leather, dark fruits, a tiny bit of ginger and cinnamon, on the palate tranquil at first but it slowly grew to an admirable depth, an excellent richness of ripe fruit on the mid palate- black cherries, cassis and some forest notes, fine length with just a hint of bitterness on the tail end, despite the excesses of the vintage this has some classic restraint to it, by all appearances a well stored bottle and while it seemed to be on the edge of fading- it showed beautifully. ****, drink up.
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9/25/2018 - englishman's claret wrote: 98 Points
Graciously opened by the Barton-Sartorius family in Bordeaux, this is so Ducru and so 1961. Lovely ripe, rich cassis, cedar, violets, ginger, and a little of the funky sous bois of age. At its apogee, there is not much sense in aging this further but it is such a delight now. So kindly opened by Damien. Just a lovely wine.
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6/15/2018 - SimonG wrote: 93 Points
Paul & Keith’s Old World v New World Chardonnay Challenge (La Trompette, London): Blind. Got as far as old St Julian. Mid to pale garnet. Quite rich on the nose. Sweet fruited. Savoury, a touch smoky. Some cedar too. ****
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6/3/2018 - sdr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Ducru Mini-Vertical (3030 Ocean, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida): Upon opening, the bouquet was truly spectacular, an apotheosis of old Bordeaux. Old oak trees in the forest, burning embers, cigar, caramel, leather, Earl Gray tea leaves and much more. Intoxicating. The palate could not live up to the preamble, being more fatigued than the aroma and fully tertiary. Good acidity, structure and drive, though, just a bit too harsh.
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5/31/2018 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
A perfect bottle from the chateau, having reached full maturity, this is off the hook. The nose, with its strong, tobacco leaf, Cuban cigar, ash, smoke, lead pencil, cedar chest and crushed rock nuances that blend with the ripe red fruits could keep any taster focused. But it is the length, complexity, texture and levels of concentration in the expansive finish that leaves you with the best memory.
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1/23/2018 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 93 Points
More rustic in profile than this wine can often show. Required more than one hour to open.
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10/14/2017 - G_H wrote: 96 Points
Similar to the ‘59 which I like a lot ot has red berries, some more sweetness and a mid-weight palate. Some white pepper in there as well. Great elegance
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9/6/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
As the 1961 vintage and I age, sadly, we see less of each other every year. Even sadder, I think the best 61's are aging better than I am... What a beauty, showing the color of ruby tea, the wine is concentrated and intense. Strong notes of Cuban cigar wrapper, tobacco, wet, forest floor, spice, smoke and cherries in the perfume, one the palate, the wine has that sublime patina of age, softening and fattening the wine, allowing the palate a real taste treat.
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7/8/2017 - muehlemann wrote: 94 Points
Alt aber Ducru
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12/16/2016 - asparagus Likes this wine: 96 Points
What an ethereal wine. The sommelier had decanted this about 3 hours prior. Tannins fully resolved, leather, forest floor. There was such a silkiness to this wine.after about a couple of hours, the leather receded and the fruit came out. The finish was long and gentle. This will go on for at least a decade more. What a wine, what an occassion!
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11/19/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 97 Points
Deep and dark with spice, tar, coal dust, and dried marigold notes. A compelling bottle.
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11/16/2016 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 98 Points
Drank it blindly, knowing it was a flight with 1961 and one pirat.
Remarkable nose and palate, silky, perfectly riped soft tannins, tar, leather and tobacco leaves, elegant and very long finish 97-98,
the winner in this interesting 1961 flight
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11/13/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Fabulous example of mature claret at its best. All the cedar, tobacco, cigar box, forest floor and cherry you can imagine, accompanied by a full bodied, concentrated wine with depth and complexity.
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11/9/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 96 Points
White pepper, black plum, dry dark soil, roasted meat on the nose. Deep and pure palate.
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11/5/2016 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 97 Points
First dinner of the L.A. wine trip (The Bazaar at SLS, Beverly Hills, California): Late release bottle ex-château. The best wine of the 1961 flight. A seductive nose that was equally matched on the palate. The nose revealed black currant, juniper berries, sous bois, pencil lead, violets, eucalyptus, and tobacco. Outstanding balance overall. A finish with good length. Much more charming, layered, and complex than the 1959 Ducru-Beaucaillou. I really loved this wine, which was one of the best of the evening.
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11/5/2016 - MikeATL Likes this wine: 97 Points
Mostly Older Bordeaux: Stunning intensity and complexity, loaded with fruit with some earthiness and leather buttressed by nice acidity. Showing magnificently well but with a lot of gas left in the tank.
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10/22/2016 - sdr Likes this wine: 90 Points
From a recent acquisition of a carefully curated and well stored collection, this bottle was perfectly sound even though the ullage was mid to high shoulder. The color was medium garnet with some brown at the rim, which is healthy for its age. Classical Ducru notes of dried cinnamon, cedar and some smoke led to a medium bodied very complex wine, subtle and alluring, with slightly elevated acidity. It held for 30 or 60 minutes, then gently declined, becoming a bit harsh and losing all pleasure in the experience. While I certainly enjoyed the ride, I think it was probably better 10 - 20 years ago when there was more fruit and freshness in the mix.
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9/12/2016 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
Sourced directly from the Château and was in pristine condition. There was some sandalwood spice to the aroma along with green bean, sweet earth, stones, cassis and dried flowers. It had great detail on the palate and was voluminous and totally harmonious. A beautiful, aged claret.
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8/4/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 97 Points
Beautiful bottle. Elegant and soft but with energy and great depth of flavors and aromas. Complex nose with a palate to match. Rounded dark red fruit with an umami overtone and tangy edges. Light soil tones across the midpalate. Black truffle on the finish, with light smoke and ferrous notes. Silky tannins. Quick decant and then consumed over one hour.
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6/4/2016 - Thejaaysog wrote: 90 Points
Half bottle,
Still very enjoyable but the body had somewhat fallen away, a little flat.
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5/8/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 94 Points
Composed and mature but lacking the richness of other bottles. Dark fruit, black soil, white pepper but flat acids resulting in a less energetic finish that other recent experiences.
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11/1/2015 - panda drinks burgundy wrote: 96 Points
Amazingly youthful. The wine opens with an arresting bouquet of smoke, truffles, tea, wet earth and ripe dark fruit. Sensual and vibrant, the palate gains substantial weight with air and turns sweeter, while the fruit is still fresh and evolve nicely with great persistency. Very little sediment.
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7/7/2015 - William Kelley Likes this wine: 98 Points
The Ducru-Beaucaillou is one of the great 1961s, and a benchmark for this magical terroir. The very classic nose bursts from the decanter with notes of sweet blackcurrant, gravely soil tones, cedar pencil led and just a hint of cigar ash. On the palate the wine is the definition of elegance: sappy and medium-bodied, but with lovely intensity and impeccable balance. Indeed, the wine is deceptively delicate, so don't be afraid to give this a few hours in a decanter to allow the sweet fruit to really open up. I'm confident that its balance will guarantee it another few decades of longevity. Comparisons with Château Lafite are apposite, but this wine is much greater than Lafite in 1961.
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6/29/2015 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 96 Points
Great funk on the nose with black cherry, toffee, mocha, earth notes, and truffles. Hints of lapsang souchong as well. Palate less complex than the nose although the dark fruit, white pepper, and slight funky tang were all there. Not quite the equal of a bottle I had earlier in the year.
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2/19/2015 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 97 Points
A wine that lives up to the hype of the vintage. Extraordinarily complex and vibrant, this has the classic Ducru dark fruit and berries but seemingly much younger than almost 50 years old. Morcilla, tobacco, and metallic notes also emerge and a faint but attractive background funk for the first hour or so in the glass. While there is an initial sweetness to the palate, wood flavors and nuts take over on the finish. The individual components still come off as young and fresh. Spectacular but still with more time.
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11/29/2014 - johnh1001 wrote: flawed
Unfortunately, this was gone.
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11/3/2014 - Wineguy76 Likes this wine: 96 Points
The '61 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a superbly mature wine that has developed exquisite secondary flavours and aromatics. Exhibiting a deep garnet core fading to amber on the rims, it is packed with exuberant aromas of damp earth, tobacco leaf and orange mocha. The texture remains soft and silky as the wine reveals an amazing complexity of flavours with interlaced layers of caramel coulis, cigar humidor, old leather chair, cedar wood, and surprising notes of raspberry still present. The finish is medium and herbaceous - perhaps the only slight disappointment in this otherwise near-perfect wine. This is a fine example of how a great wine from an outstanding vintage can perform overtime when properly stored - as this beauty is still going strong fifty-three years on. It probably won't improve any more but should hold its place for another five years, or so.
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5/18/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Brick in color, with some, tobacco, wild strawberry, cigar box, truffle and decaying leaf notes in the hauntingly, complex set of aromatics. The palate is refined, sensuous and silky, ending with a soft, sweet, ripe and over ripe sensation of spicy red berries that remains on your palate for at least 40 seconds. Bottles with great storage, or in large formats can still age and improve!
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4/29/2013 - Lord Rayas Likes this wine: 97 Points
MNSC - Alex (Amuse Bouche): opened, decanted and served immediately. glorious perfume of tobacco and black fruits. light, elegant, almost feminine. can't really ask for a better wine as the first red of the evening.
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9/26/2012 - Sleepy Dave wrote: 95 Points
2012 - Old: En magnum. A legendary Ducru, many said so. PnP, reveal some funky note with some dried dark fruits, mint and cedar. On the palate it was quite tannic and tight, not really reveal the legendary status, at least I'm not convince. However, the wine improves drastically over the next 60-90mins. The fruits is alive again, become fresher, sweeter and not as dried as the 1st serving. Utterly complex and seductive bouquet here: mint, cedar, floral, sweet blackcurrant fruits as well as mineral and cigar box, elegance and fine, hard not to like it. WOW, the palate is even more captivating. Finesse and harmony comes to mind. Still going strong with excellent intensity, energy as well as detail layer of complexity. The tannin grip at the back end keep the finish going on and on, with juicy sweet dark fruits and dried tea leaves aftertaste.
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4/30/2012 - canan wrote: flawed
Bordeaux 1961 - Mini Horisontal (Le Sommelier, Copenhagen): Watery and complete dead...
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12/11/2011 - fclarity wrote: 95 Points
From a bottle with a top shoulder fill, this wine had a medium red center with orange rims. The high- intensity nose was a bit musty a first but developed nicely over the course of 3 hours to show black cherries, roses, soil, and some tobacco.
In the mouth it was medium bodied and refined but at the same time showed excellent richness and length. The light, integrated tannin was perfectly balanced with the fruit and acidity to delight all those who are not seeking a overpowering fruit bomb.
While this wine should last for a number of years, I suggest finding your earliest opportunity to enjoy.
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12/2/2011 - Burgundy Al wrote: 94 Points
Seventh Annual White Truffle Dinner (Chez Weber - Chicago IL): Served in Ducru flight alongside 66, 70 and 82 vintages. Bottle with good very high shoulder fill. Aromas of leather, cedar and good barnyard character with some remaining ripe fruit. Palate shows fully evolved ripe fruit flavors, highlighting the good mushroom and barnyard flavors.
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9/11/2011 - dream wrote: 90 Points
Leaner-styled and quite elegant with lovely mature flavors of roasted nuts and cedar. Really balanced and smooth but perhaps past its best in terms of complexity. A bottle in really good condition.
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8/6/2011 - melzar wrote: 91 Points
From 750 Decanted Initial impression was that this wine was seriously past prime. Nose mute, fruit faded, but showing interesting secondary and tertiary flavors. Still an 85 at best. After two hours, a magical transformation came about, the nose blossomed, and the fruit appeared. Very similar experience with this wine a couple of years ago. Still, I wouldn't push my luck. Drink up.
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6/12/2011 - rufuswashere wrote: 94 Points
Low shoulder and cork somewhat soft. Deep color. Fabulously complex nose, and surprisingly rich fruit, truly a special wine experience. Drank with '61 Branaire (which was also good) to celebrate several in our group turning 50!
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12/14/2009 - pablopilot wrote: 97 Points
Superb, very young-tasting. Smoky and full of dark fruits. Grafite and mushrooms on the nose. Just what an old claret should be
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9/29/2009 - Rupert wrote: flawed
Ducru-Beaucaillou 1961 to 2004 over dinner (Hawksmoor, Spitalfields, London): Murky and oxidised
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6/27/2009 - no leashes wrote: 92 Points
very much alive, with dark berry fruit, earth, mineral flavors, good texture.
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6/25/2009 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Truffles, tobacco, ripe cherries, earth, spice, cedar and leather notes pop from your glass. The wine is still concentrated with a soft, elegant, complex, palate filling finish. This fully mature Bordeaux is a finesse style of traditional St. Julien, The long cherry, cassis finish remains on your palate for over :40 seconds. The memory of drinking it that night at the Chateau stays for a lifetime!
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1/9/2009 - Burgundy Al wrote: 94 Points
Fourth Annual White Truffle Dinner (David Burke's Primehouse - Chicago IL): Very nice mature aromas of cigarbox, leather, black cherry and leather hints. Mature, ripe black fruit also on palate with good spice behind the enticing mushroom and earthy flavors.
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1/9/2009 - winefool wrote: 94 Points
LdC 4th Annual Truffle Dinner (Primehouse): Soft crimson color. Full nose of red cherry and barnyard with a nice spiciness. Lovely floral red currant palate with a firm long finish remaining. Nice. 94+ pts.
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5/9/2008 - sdr wrote: 93 Points
This was the star of the show on a bad night for Bordeaux at the Cataldo's wine and food weekend blowout. Since the eight Bordeaux were presented single blind, this was a minor surprise, besting such stars as '70 Latour, '70 Trotanoy and '70 Palmer. The almost unanimous favorite, it was so lush, fruity and intense (not words usually used when referring to Ducru) that even Arlette, who claims to hate Ducru, voted it first. Amazingly deep in color and youthful on the palate. Thanks to John DuBois for bring this beauty and ignoring the embargo against Ducru.
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2/12/2008 - Rupert wrote: 91 Points
Ducru-Beaucaillou vertical (Institute of Directors, London): Browning, but on the palate vigorous and savoury, silky texture, all going nicely and then it suddently disappeared
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12/23/2007 - Peech wrote:
This bottle was drinking very nicely and showing classic traits of a Saint Julien - a bit green, grassy and "farmy". However, it was a bit muted and the sweet fruit never showed.
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10/16/2007 - Whistler wrote: 95 Points
Drank at Cordeillan Bages on our honeymoon. Beautiful wine. Thankfully this wine had been keep in great condition. I write this note over a decade later and I expect today this bottle would have been past its best. The wine was brownish at the rim. Extremely delicate wine that needed only 15 minutes in the decanter to blow off the years of bottle age. Multiple layer of complexity and reminiscent of a great burgundy in style. A real treat.
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2/26/2007 - lars1014 wrote: 90 Points
Steaks, Burgundies, and Free T-Shirts at Brad England's (The Lake of the Isles Retreat in Minneapolis): This was a surprising little bottle (literally from a 375ml) that showed surprisingly well. With a bouquet of a cedar dresser, leather, and a hint of tobacco this wine waxed nostalgic of a bygone era of wine, leather, and smoking. There was good mouth-feel with no signs of dryness or astringency. This wine is probably at it is peak and close to going into decline, but drinking fine tonight.
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2/26/2007 - BradE wrote:
A fun bottle out of 375ml, which showed surprisingly well. But for the cedar, could have been mistaken for a burg. Clear, with lots of pencil, cedar, a bit of tobacco, and good fruit. Fun.
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6/15/2006 - Jeff Leve wrote: 90 Points
With its bricky color gave up notes of wood, coffee, earth, tobacco and cassis. Decent weight, but the finish was almost light.
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2/4/2006 - DAN BAILEY wrote: 92 Points
My first try at a wine with Francois Audouze's slow oxygenation method. Stood the wine in my cellar for 2 days and then opened at lunchtime and recorked immediately based on initial bouquet. Drank the wine without decanting from 8-9.30pm. Very noticeable difference between initial and later glasses. First pour was quite disappointing - nothing on the nose, punchy acid with minimal fruit and quite a thin colour. However, amazing improvement as further glasses were poured over the next 90 mins. Increasingly dark and vibrant colour with more and more complex nose. Acid was ever present but fruit began to show up and wine became a full on lush, vibrant baby - simply incredible for a 45 year old wine. Layers of complex aromas and tastes on the palate including hints of chocolate, tobacco, very sweet (slightly acidic) berry fruits. Alwyas vibrant rather than powerful and finish was rather short. All in all, excellent wine and my score may have done it a disservice relative to what it could have achieved with more time after opening.
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1/20/2006 - jrufusj wrote:
61/82 Bordeaux Dinner (Luxor in Marunouchi): Color more youthful than expected. Core almost the same as the ’82, but rim has more orange/pink. Initial nose shows an almost Graves-like character of blood/iron and earth but is otherwise closed. Very quickly opens into a complex of forest floor, more earth, tobacco, and an elegant sweet lilting center of cassis and blackberry. On the palate, acid manages to make sweet fruit center light and deft without being dilute – beautiful St. Julien delicacy. Beautifully elegant and still picking up richness after an hour as a richer, more plummy extract note comes out on the nose.
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12/2/2005 - The Wine Bum wrote:
Claret that's considrably older than me, 1959-1961; 11/15/2005-12/15/2005: Lunch at Pied a Terre with The Lawman. A lunch in honour of a bottle of 1961 Petrus that was bequeathed to me by my wine mentor. Not wanting to go in cold, we had the 1961 Ducru first. It was my second 1961. This lived up to the hype. One of the most complex noses yet, hints of its youthful past with notes of ripe blackcurrants, allied to the smell of ages; earth and rocks. There were lovely exotic notes, sandalwood and bergamot, and every sniff revealed another layer. The palate was another journey through its evolution. Fruit upfront, still remarkably persistent and ever-so slightly heady. Then came the years, graphite, cigars, more earth and mineral. My first great old wine, the experience makes me want more, its not about power, its about complexity.
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7/12/2005 - ssd wrote:
Still surprisingly youthful, barely browning at the rim, nose exudes sandalwood, spices, freshly turned earth and tobacco, spectacular really, on the palate, still somewhat brooding and not as mature as other bottles from the same lot, over the course of two hours, developed a slightly edgy acidity.
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6/18/2004 - Joe Belmaati wrote: 98 Points
Dark red only slight hint of browning at the rim. Incredible nose! Stupendously complex on notes of camphor, cedar, créme de cassis, coffee, tobacco, leather, forest floor , lead pencil?..you name it - it was there. 1 for the bouquet alone. Fortunately the wine was almost just as good to taste. Large bodied with a huge, powerful, intense core of fruit with a perfectly ripe and mature flavour profile. The wine did not fade one bit over the course of 3 hours. It was just brooding in the glass. Chewy, fleshy, and juicy with ever evolving layers of fruit and nuances, and a perfectly balanced aftertaste.
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3/1/2000 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Great Wine Seminar. Very mature healthy color. Intense concentration. Very lively. Beautiful balance. A step up from the other vintages of Ducru this day. Ex-Château provenance matters.
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10/1/1996 - sdr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Hand carried to Masa’s (San Francisco) and about as fine as it can be. Medium ruby garnet. It’s not perfectly clear despite decanting, given the handling it endured. Extremely fragrant. Berry, cinnamon and spice. Just lacking a little grip but the lovely fruit is true to the finish. Delicate, elegant, delicious. Just beginning to slip down hill.
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4/1/1996 - sdr Likes this wine: 95 Points
Chicago Wine Company bottle, very top shoulder fill. Mature bricky rim. No label and the cork a little dry. A great wine. At the end of its peak plateau. Superb gentle and complex nose faded after about 20 minutes. Hint of cinnamon and cloves. Very elegant. Intensity of flavor without weight. Finishes true. Classic ‘61 Bordeaux. What a beauty but drink ASAP.
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12/1/1995 - sdr Likes this wine: 95 Points
Chicago Wine Company bottle, top shoulder ullage. Simply splendid. The reason to age Bordeaux. Medium color. Beautiful nose of cedar and cinnamon. Excellent grip. Long. Very elegant. Surely at peak.
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10/1/1994 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Wonderful mature spicy Médoc nose. More earthy and powerful than usual. Great grip. Still some tannin. Slightly dry finish. Is it just starting to decline?
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9/1/1994 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Marin Wine Cellar bottle. Medium garnet, orange rim. Crystal clear beautiful old wine color. Gorgeous expressive complex old Bordeaux bouquet. The Merlot shows. Medium weight, almost light. Extremely elegant and full of finesse and sheer beauty of fruit. Long sweet luscious finish. Lacks a little grip for perfection. Died abruptly after 45 minutes in the glass, though. Drink now.
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9/1/1993 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Classic cedar Médoc bouquet. Great depth and persistence. Long warm finish. Marvelous. Still tannic.
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12/1/1991 - sdr Likes this wine: 100 Points
After drinking wine critically for about a dozen years, this is the first bottle I can rate a perfect score. High shoulder fill. Ruby garnet very mature color but crystal clear with no orange or brown. Gorgeous highly perfumed nose, cedar, cassis, rose, plum, cinnamon. Indescribably complex. In the mouth, smooth, luscious and sweet. Soft, not weak. Tannins have completely melted into a savory whole. Long warm lingering finish. Almost too good for food. The grilled squab at Café Maxx was much too coarse. Lasted for 2 hours. Perfect now and over the next 5-7 years.
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9/1/1990 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Superb elegance and balance. Classic claret. Cedar and flowers.
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2/1/1989 - sdr wrote: 83 Points
Great Wine Seminar. Advanced color. Sweet but watery nose. Good but not great fruit. Maybe just slightly corked. Michael Broadbent thought it was sound, though “singed, autumnal, getting overmature, sweet lovely texture and fruit.” A backup bottle was much better; I rated it 94.
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6/1/1988 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 90 Points
Summer 1988 with MPL at the office. Tasted after the '62 Lynch-Bages. Lighter in color, but still quite dark and even opaque. Orange rim. Nose is fragrant and good, but a bit shy. Violets, port-like bouquet. Flavors good, but nondescript. Medium-full body. Certainly good, but the Lynch Bages is cheaper and a better wine. 5-12-15-8: 90/100.
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1/1/1988 - sdr Likes this wine: 95 Points
Slightly musty at first, then cleared up. Then, a gorgeous flowery cedary and minty bouquet which held well. Sweet perfectly ripe fruit. Gorgeous long lingering finish. Not fading at all.
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1/1/1987 - sdr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Great bouquet of the finest claret, cedar and flowers. Luminous medium ruby color shading to amber rim. Perfectly mature. Tannins resolved but no hint of age. K thought it was Lafite, which it resembles. A terrific ‘61, especially if it can last on this elevated plateau.
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