Ducru Beaucaillou 1996

St Julien, Second Growth

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Tasting Notes
The 1996 Ducru Beaucaillou was picked from 23 September until 8 October, a blend of 25% Merlot and 75% Cabernet Sauvignon. It has evolved a very pure bouquet, almost Burgundy-like, with macerated red cherries and red plum, tobacco, leather and bay leaf. This 1996 seems a little more forward than others, perhaps more 1995 in style, but it is bestowed one of the most seductive and sensual aromatics of the vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp acidity, moving firmly into secondary stage with hints of leather, game and allspice. This is a Ducru Beaucaillou that has resolved to give pleasure at 20 years and not sooner. Hints of Hoisin develop on the finish with Chinese Five-Spice and leave you wanting more. Enjoy this now and over the next 15-20 years. (Incidentally, Bruno Borie poured another bottle that had been decanted and it was astonishingly different. The decanted version, perhaps against expectation, seemed firmer, sharper and more masculine, more "1996" if you like, perhaps revealing the true Ducru Beaucaillou.) Tasted July 2016. Score: 93 Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2016-2040 28 October 2016
Served at the Ducru offline in London. Like many 1996s, this is very 'masculine on the nose' with dark broody fruit, black plum, smoke, cigar box and earth. Then with aeration there is a touch of wild mint and it gains better definition. The palate is medium-bodied, well balanced with black cherry and iodine, much more delineation on the entry than the nose would suggest with wild strawberry, tart cherry and cedar towards the finish. It still comes across as a little overdone, a Ducru that tried to hard in the winery, but it has a nice sense of tension. Fine. Drink now-2030. Tasted September 2009. Score: 91 Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2010-2030 01 July 2010
Intense aromas of cedar, vanilla, leather and blackberry. Full-bodied, with coffee, vanilla, ripe fruit and a medium finish. Just about ready. The 1995 is certainly better.--'95/'96 Bordeaux retrospective. Drink now. 18,000 cases made. Score: 91 James Suckling, Wine Spectator 01 January 2007
First bottle: Transparent ruby - looks unusually developed. Oxidising on the nose. Very hard work indeed. The fruit seems to have been left somewhere??? Second bottle: Much fruitier. My mark is for this second bottle which is quite beguiling. Score: 16 Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2006-2016 18 October 2006
Bright medium ruby. Deep, superripe aromas of dark berries, black cherry and bitter chocolate; slightly exotic crystallized fruit aspect. Dense, sweet and wonderfully rich; a lovely combination of palate-caressing chocolatey fruit and firm underlying structure. Finishes with excellent grip and great palate-saturating sweetness. Another outstanding 1996 Medoc wine in the making. Drink 2010 through 2030. (94+ points) Score: 94 Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar Maturity: 2010-2030 01 July 2002
I tasted the 1996 Ducru Beaucaillou on four separate occasions from bottle in January. The 1996 is long, with a deep mid-palate. It also reveals tannin in the finish. This wine is remarkable. It is muscular, concentrated, and classic. Bottled in late June, 1998, it exhibits a saturated ruby/purple color, as well as a knock-out nose of minerals, licorice, cassis, and an unmistakable lead pencil smell that I often associate with top vintages of Lafite-Rothschild. It is sweet and full-bodied, yet unbelievably rich with no sense of heaviness or flabbiness. The wine possesses high tannin, but it is extremely ripe, and the sweetness of the black currant, spice-tinged Cabernet Sauvignon fruit is pronounced. This profound, backward Ducru-Beaucaillou is a must purchase. It will be fascinating for readers who own the 1996 to follow the evolution of this exceptional vintage. Score: 96 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2008-2035 30 April 1999

Tasting Notes

The 1996 Ducru Beaucaillou was picked from 23 September until 8 October, a blend of 25% Merlot and 75% Cabernet Sauvignon. It has evolved a very pure bouquet, almost Burgundy-like, with macerated red cherries and red plum, tobacco, leather and bay leaf. This 1996 seems a little more forward than others, perhaps more 1995 in style, but it is bestowed one of the most seductive and sensual aromatics of the vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp acidity, moving firmly into secondary stage with hints of leather, game and allspice. This is a Ducru Beaucaillou that has resolved to give pleasure at 20 years and not sooner. Hints of Hoisin develop on the finish with Chinese Five-Spice and leave you wanting more. Enjoy this now and over the next 15-20 years. (Incidentally, Bruno Borie poured another bottle that had been decanted and it was astonishingly different. The decanted version, perhaps against expectation, seemed firmer, sharper and more masculine, more "1996" if you like, perhaps revealing the true Ducru Beaucaillou.) Tasted July 2016.

Score: 93

Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2016-2040 28 October 2016

Served at the Ducru offline in London. Like many 1996s, this is very 'masculine on the nose' with dark broody fruit, black plum, smoke, cigar box and earth. Then with aeration there is a touch of wild mint and it gains better definition. The palate is medium-bodied, well balanced with black cherry and iodine, much more delineation on the entry than the nose would suggest with wild strawberry, tart cherry and cedar towards the finish. It still comes across as a little overdone, a Ducru that tried to hard in the winery, but it has a nice sense of tension. Fine. Drink now-2030. Tasted September 2009.

Score: 91

Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2010-2030 01 July 2010

Intense aromas of cedar, vanilla, leather and blackberry. Full-bodied, with coffee, vanilla, ripe fruit and a medium finish. Just about ready. The 1995 is certainly better.--'95/'96 Bordeaux retrospective. Drink now. 18,000 cases made.

Score: 91

James Suckling, Wine Spectator 01 January 2007

First bottle: Transparent ruby - looks unusually developed. Oxidising on the nose. Very hard work indeed. The fruit seems to have been left somewhere??? Second bottle: Much fruitier. My mark is for this second bottle which is quite beguiling.

Score: 16

Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2006-2016 18 October 2006

Bright medium ruby. Deep, superripe aromas of dark berries, black cherry and bitter chocolate; slightly exotic crystallized fruit aspect. Dense, sweet and wonderfully rich; a lovely combination of palate-caressing chocolatey fruit and firm underlying structure. Finishes with excellent grip and great palate-saturating sweetness. Another outstanding 1996 Medoc wine in the making. Drink 2010 through 2030. (94+ points)

Score: 94

Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar Maturity: 2010-2030 01 July 2002

I tasted the 1996 Ducru Beaucaillou on four separate occasions from bottle in January. The 1996 is long, with a deep mid-palate. It also reveals tannin in the finish. This wine is remarkable. It is muscular, concentrated, and classic. Bottled in late June, 1998, it exhibits a saturated ruby/purple color, as well as a knock-out nose of minerals, licorice, cassis, and an unmistakable lead pencil smell that I often associate with top vintages of Lafite-Rothschild. It is sweet and full-bodied, yet unbelievably rich with no sense of heaviness or flabbiness. The wine possesses high tannin, but it is extremely ripe, and the sweetness of the black currant, spice-tinged Cabernet Sauvignon fruit is pronounced. This profound, backward Ducru-Beaucaillou is a must purchase. It will be fascinating for readers who own the 1996 to follow the evolution of this exceptional vintage.

Score: 96

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2008-2035 30 April 1999

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