2016 Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou - 2eme Cru Classe St. Julien

Decanter.com – 99 pts – YC: *The 2016 Ducru-Beaucaillou is extraordinary, illustrating Bruno Borie's connection with his terroir. Exhibiting aromas of cedar, graphite, dark berries, spices aromas and mineral-driven notes, it's full-bodied, incredibly elegant and tense with a velvety texture, yet sappy and fresh. Exquisitely balanced with fine-grained tannins, a few years of cellaring will be needed for the terroir expression to hit its stride.* - 06/2021

Falstaff Magazin - 97pts - PM: *Leuchtendes Rubingranat, opak, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Reife Kirschenfrucht, feine dunkle Beerennoten unterlegt, feine Edelholzwürze, zart nach Orangenzesten, süße Gewürze im Hintergrund. Komplex, feine Schokonote, reife Pflaumenfrucht, perfekt reife Tannine, finessenreich strukturiert, angenehme Extraktsüße im Abgang, mineralisch und anhaltend, minutenlanger Abgang.* - 05/2017

Vinum Magazin – 18/20pts: *Knackig, saftig, dicht, herrlich dichter Bau, Klassetannin, immense Tiefe und Spannkraft.* - 06/2017

Weinwisser - 19/20pts - GL: *85 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 15 % Merlot, 13,63 vol %, IPT 80 (Tanninkonzentration). Tiefes Purpur mit schwarzer Mitte und Granatschimmer am Rand. Was für eine Delikatesse! Blaubeerige Frucht gepaart mit opulentem Veilchenduft, dahinter Cassis und Nougatpraline, sehr konzentriert und geradlinig. Am kräftigen Gaumen mit viel schwarzer Johannisbeere sowie Lakritze im Rückaroma, langes nicht enden wollendes Finale mit Pflaumenhaut und Schlehensaft. Das Ganze muss sich noch finden. Potenzialwertung.*

JancisRobinson.com - 18/20pts - JH: *85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot. 18 months in new French oak. A new team in the winery and a new technical manager, Emmanuel Bonneau, joined the estate in this vintage. Deep and richly coloured. Beautifully fragrant with black fruit. A lovely freshness and sense of refinement, not fully open but much more precise and refined than the 2015. Perfect balance between fruit and structure. Powerful and long, lovely shape.* - 04/2023

JamesSuckling.com - (97-98)pts - JS: *Very focused and reserved with a mineral, blackberry, licorice and blackcurrant character. Full and refined. Walking a tightrope between steely tannins and and dark fruit. This is highly intellectual and unique. Great finish. Remake of the extraordinary 2014? Stronger than the 2015, for sure.* - 04/2017
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JamesSuckling.com – 99 pts – JS: *Super perfumed, attractive violets with a thread of fresh blueberries, cassis, blackberries and dark plums, delivering a very enticing impression. Beautiful ripeness here. The tannins are perfectly ripe and layers meld into each other, carrying deep, graceful and plush, velvety dark fruit long into the vibrant and seductive, chocolate-laced finish. Great potential. Try from 2024.* - 12/2019

Vinous.com – 98 pts - AG: *The 2016 Ducru-Beaucaillou is an arrestingly beautiful wine. Powerful and sensual in the glass, the 2016 exudes remarkable concentration from start to finish. Red cherry fruit, pomegranate, blood orange, menthol and sweet tobacco all race across the palate. Vivid, sumptuous and impeccable in its balance, Ducru is one of the wines of the vintage in 2016. It has been unforgettable on both occasions I have tasted it from bottle so far.* Januar 2019

Vinous.com - 97+pts - NM: *The 2016 Ducru Beaucaillou is blessed with one of the finest aromatics you will find within the appellation, delivering pixelated, mineral-driven black fruit laced with cedar and sous-bois and seeming so natural and effortless. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a fine bead of acidity. Taut and crisp, leading into a detailed, quite persistent finish that, again, just comes across as effortless. This is a sophisticated and quite enthralling Saint-Julien. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting.* - 08/2020

Thewinecellarinsider.com – 99 pts – JL: * Powerful, intense, rich, long, full-bodied, and concentrated, the wine is almost off the charts. From start to finish, this is a wow wine! As good as the nose is, on the palate, the wine explodes. The fruit is expansive, building and moving as it coats your palate. The seamless finish hits every nook and cranny in your mouth with layer after layer of lush, opulent, complex fruits. Drink from 2030-2065.* - 07/2022