There has always been a lot of variation with this wine, with a lot of badly stored bottles on the market over the years, and I have personally suffered. However, if you find the right provenance, this is the greatest Ducru-Beaucaillou I've tasted, (I have to state I've never had the opportunity to taste the legendary 1959,). Paulliac and St. Julien ruled the vintage with the exception of the mediocre Léoville Poyferre. It is glorious, tertiary, and decadent and the embodiment of mature Bordeaux. I personally think 30 minutes in the decanter helps to blow off any residual funk.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
A slightly more generous version of ‘82 Ducru with a tight core of hard cranberry and red fruit. Intense and compelling. Excellent balance of tannin and acidity. Classic Ducru. Rewarding on its own terms.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Pretty spectacular. This bottle was still dark purple with no bricking or browning on the edges. Perfect structure with dried fruit and lots of spice. Silky texture just glides over the palate. I don’t think this is going to improve, but this bottle (with the $29.99 price tag still on it) did not feel like it was in any sort of decline.
I had hoped to taste this at Christmas next to a fantastic 2007 Raffault Picasses, but in retrospect, this was so much more powerful and polished that it wouldn’t have been a fair comparison.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Last bottle was just shy of 8 years ago. Both bottles were moved 2 times during their existence. Perfect cork. Initial pour revealed a copious amount of fruit. I let the wine sit in the bottle for 45 min and then poured into the glass. For this bottle, that wasn’t nearly enough. After aggressive swirling throughout dinner which was 2.5 hours after the cork was pulled, this finally started to open up with light and bright fruit emerging. This particular bottle deserved a 45 min decant based on the initial fruit forward first sip. This has to be in its prime and if you have a perfectly stored bottle like this one, I can see this drinking well for 5 plus years with ease. This really is a complete wine that is perfectly balanced with a long finish. This paired well with pure bred wagyu filets and sweet potato.
3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Improved with decanting for 45 min. Ruby color, light floral nose, probably 5-7 years past its prime but still drinking nicely it with diminished tannins and fruit. Score 86
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.
5/7/2024 - djhammond Likes this wine: 97 Points
There has always been a lot of variation with this wine, with a lot of badly stored bottles on the market over the years, and I have personally suffered. However, if you find the right provenance, this is the greatest Ducru-Beaucaillou I've tasted, (I have to state I've never had the opportunity to taste the legendary 1959,). Paulliac and St. Julien ruled the vintage with the exception of the mediocre Léoville Poyferre. It is glorious, tertiary, and decadent and the embodiment of mature Bordeaux. I personally think 30 minutes in the decanter helps to blow off any residual funk.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
2/17/2024 - sdr Likes this wine: 93 Points
A slightly more generous version of ‘82 Ducru with a tight core of hard cranberry and red fruit. Intense and compelling. Excellent balance of tannin and acidity. Classic Ducru. Rewarding on its own terms.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
2/4/2024 - MrOctoberfest Likes this wine:
Pretty spectacular. This bottle was still dark purple with no bricking or browning on the edges. Perfect structure with dried fruit and lots of spice. Silky texture just glides over the palate. I don’t think this is going to improve, but this bottle (with the $29.99 price tag still on it) did not feel like it was in any sort of decline.
I had hoped to taste this at Christmas next to a fantastic 2007 Raffault Picasses, but in retrospect, this was so much more powerful and polished that it wouldn’t have been a fair comparison.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
1/19/2024 - N.Bonaparte wrote: 94 Points
Last bottle was just shy of 8 years ago. Both bottles were moved 2 times during their existence. Perfect cork. Initial pour revealed a copious amount of fruit. I let the wine sit in the bottle for 45 min and then poured into the glass. For this bottle, that wasn’t nearly enough. After aggressive swirling throughout dinner which was 2.5 hours after the cork was pulled, this finally started to open up with light and bright fruit emerging. This particular bottle deserved a 45 min decant based on the initial fruit forward first sip. This has to be in its prime and if you have a perfectly stored bottle like this one, I can see this drinking well for 5 plus years with ease. This really is a complete wine that is perfectly balanced with a long finish. This paired well with pure bred wagyu filets and sweet potato.
3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
1/11/2024 - crutherford Likes this wine: 86 Points
Improved with decanting for 45 min. Ruby color, light floral nose, probably 5-7 years past its prime but still drinking nicely it with diminished tannins and fruit. Score 86
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment