2001 Château Branaire (Duluc-Ducru)

Community Tasting Notes (159) Avg Score: 90.2 points

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  3/29/2024 - melvinyeowq wrote: 92 Points

  Bordeaux night: Slightly darker fruit and more extracted than the ‘96 but without being overdone. Still resolutely old-school and its austerity suggests that this wine has some way to go yet.

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  8/2/2023 - Wine Diplomats Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Branaire-Ducru Mini-Vertical
  
  05 Perfect cork. Darkest, deepest color of them all. Balanced at this point but still young in flavor profile. Ripe fruit, good acidity with integrated and sweet and savory oak notes but the age and style of the chateau gives it an elegance. Still need to wait to reach tertiary notes. 94+ On the second day, the fruit is starting to taste like dried fruit, but other tertiary notes haven't arrived yet.
  
  01 Still dark youthful color. Less expressive nose than the 86 but more on the primary and secondary notes. Dark fruit and spice. Baking spice. Palate is round. More dark fruit and good acid. Better after revisiting in an hour later, more expressive on the palate and nose, but still more primary and secondary. 91+ On the second day, tertiary notes start to emerge on the nose and palate.
  
  86 - Moldy cork that broke but only slightly soaked. Lightest color, show age but not excessive bricking given the age. Nose of mushrooms, pepper, leather. Still plenty of acidity on the palate, still plenty of fruit too but more on the dried fruit side. With touch of licorice with some of earthy and tobacco notes. Smooth but still some tannins left. After an hour, there's even more fruit and a touch of floral notes with softer texture but rather youthful given the age but it still doesn't have the balance of 2005 overall. But the mature nose and texture with still vibrant fruit make it an excellent wine that has a nice balance of primary, secondary and tertiary notes. 93
  
  All of them are on the classic, feminine side of Bordeaux. Good acidity. Low alcohol (12 for 86 and 13 for the 2001 and 2005) and balance of oak and ripeness of fruit. 05 and 01 had about 30+ minutes of being opened while the 86 was essentially a pop and pour. In terms of price, anyone that bought these en primeur should be happy. They've developed nicely. It's always an inflated price getting them at this stage, but I'd say 2005 is still worth it given the price of classified Bordeaux these days. The 2001 is a little more than it should be while the 86 is about what it should cost at this age given it's still drinking well.
  
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  3/4/2023 - pilatus88 Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Very enjoyable with all the treats of mature Bordeaux. Cedar wood, dark fruit, plum and refined softness at this point. Smooth and harmonic. Long finish with some bitternotes. It lacks in power to score higher.

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  1/25/2023 - Vinumming & Ahhing Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Branaire Ducru Vertical (The Market Brasserie at the Intercontinental at the O2, London): Rich and slightly exotic, this is another dinner where I slightly prefer the greater freshness of a 2001 compared with a 2000 of the same chateau. The nose is more comely than the palate here as you might expect with a youngster like this. Has great potential and well priced in the market.

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  11/24/2022 - Coastalnative Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Nice amount of earth and secondary aromas wrapped in cedar, cassis and bright bing cherry. Very similar to the 89 we had not long ago. Still tannic and fairly youthful. About as good as it's going to get. Enjoy

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