Harvest took place this year from 11th to 24th September. The wine was aged for around 12 months in two-thirds new oak. Pale to medium brick colored, the 1989 Ducru-Beaucaillou sashays out of the glass with pretty notes of dried flowers, fallen leaves and dusty soil over a core of warm figs, dried cherries, prunes and spice cake plus wafts of unsmoked cigars and powdered cinnamon. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is still seductively rich with a lively line of soft, silt-like tannins, finishing long and wonderfully savory. Readers should note that this vintage fell within a notoriously patchy period at Ducru, where the cellar is likely to have fallen victim to TCA or a TCA-like taint, and it appears some bottles were impacted from 1986 to 1994. By 1995, the chateau had a completely new vat room/cellar and the problem ceased. Therefore, there could be some bottle variation to be had with this vintage. This bottle, however, was pristine, tasted at the chateau.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 28/02/1997 Ducru's 1989 was one of the more tannic, backward wines in the blind tasting. It is cleanly made, and well-crafted, with plenty of black-raspberry and cassis fruit nicely touched by minerals and a fragrant, floral component. Medium-bodied, elegant, and well-endowed, this is a potentially outstanding wine if all the tannin melts away over the next 5-6 years. One of the least flattering 1989s to drink at present, it requires 4-5 more years of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2001-2020. ()

Given the mass taint problems that blighted Ducru in the late 1980s and 1990, we were either very lucky or a great many bottles were opened to find enough of this quality to serve 280 diners. It’s a real charmer, sublimating the heat of the vintage into a plush but still defined texture, and holding on well to its fruit. (AH)

Very deep colour, deeper than the 2000. But more evolved. Not that concentrated but very round and supple before a little drying sensation on the end. Not for keeping. (JR)