Drink 2009- 2026
-Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide No 7

Proprietor Patrick Maroteaux, president of Unions des Grands Crus Classes, is pulling out all the stops to make Branaire as alluring as several of the Leovilles and Ducru Beaucaillou. 2003 and 2004 may be the finest back-to-back vintages ever produced at Branaire. Even better than the 1982, the profound 2003 Branaire Ducru boasts a saturated plum/purple color as well as an extraordinarily complex nose of black currants, blackberries, espresso roast, white chocolate, minerals, and truffles. It displays amazing freshness and definition for such a complex, complete, and full-bodied wine. A brilliant effort in the vintage, it will undoubtedly close down in several years and need more time, but perhaps its low acidity and huge, extravagant fruit-forwardness will keep it drinking well over the next two decades. A brilliant wine!

Tasted at Bordeaux Index’s “10-Year On” tasting in London. Once again, there is a touch of brettanomyces on the nose of the Branaire Ducru, though not as much as the Talbot. It offers light cedar and undergrowth scents, wild mint and sage. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. It is comparatively (for the vintages) classic in style, quite conservative in many ways, but there is a sense of refinement on the finish that is unusual for the vintage. Fine. Tasted March 2013.