The finest showing I've ever seen for this beauty (and I've been lucky enough to drink plenty), the 2008 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou offers a still youthful vibrant hue as well as sensational aromatics of pure crème de cassis, freshly sharpened cedar pencils, crushed stone, graphite, and an undeniable sense of minerality. It’s concentrated, medium to full-bodied, has beautiful tannins, and a thrilling finish. This is a magical Saint-Julien that readers should snatch up. it's going to take another 4-6 years to hit full maturity and will evolve gracefully over the following 2-3 decades if well-stored. Oct 2023

One of the stars of the vintage, and a remarkable achievement in 2008, with impressive richness, this dense purple colored wine is almost as opaque as the 2010. Spring flowers, crushed rocks, creme de cassis and some subtle oak are followed by a full-bodied, concentrated wine that transcends the vintage character in its power, richness, and aging potential. It also exhibits tremendous precision, purity, and depth of character. It is more forward than the 2010 is likely to be, but probably not as sumptuous as the 2009 will turn out to be. This is a wine to buy. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2035.

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #194, May 2011)

Firm, bright, leafy, and fresh, the wine is concentrated, and the fruits are bright, crisp, and chalky. Overall, there is a lean to the crisp, through sweet, red fruit side of the classic, style range. The wine blends 85% Cabernet Sauvignon with 15% Merlot. Drink from 2028-2048. Tasted Sept 2023

Quality 911 | Brand 993 | Economics 954 |
Quality: Predicted life of 15 years, one of the longest drinking windows in its peer group for the 2008 vintage, which averages 9 years Brand: Strong restaurant presence, featuring on 44 of the world's top wine lists, including Le Calandre Economics: More traded at auction than its peers, its top 5 vintages having seen 3,041 75cl equivalent bottles traded in the past year Production:

- www.wine-lister.com June 2017

The 2008 Ducru-Beaucaillou has a fresh and vibrant nose. Occasionally this can come across a little stemmy and maybe it does here, but it is a facet that I think lends complexity and intrigue, touches of brine combining wonderfully with the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, quite firm tannins. There is a solid backbone to this Ducru-Beaucaillou; maybe this bottle is just closing in a little and one that would have benefitted from more decanting (indeed, it develops more precision in the glass.) Very fine, but give it more time. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. July 2022

Deep garnet colored, the 2008 Ducru-Beaucaillou begins a little broody, giving up glimpses of tar, chargrill, moss covered tree bark and fungi scents over a core of baked plums, warm cassis and blackberry compote plus a touch of unsmoked cigars. Medium-bodied, the palate has firm, ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness supporting the earth laced black fruit layers, finishing minerally.

Ruby-red. Pungent, vibrant aromas of cassis, bitter chocolate and graphite. Silky and seamless, but with terrific lift to the tight core of raspberry, mineral and chocolate flavors. Strong but integrated acidity gives superb vinosity to the wine's racy fruit. Finishes brisk, perfumed and long, with suave, dusty tannins. This wine went into a shell with aeration, suggesting that it will need at least several years of bottle aging. I would not be surprised if it merited an even higher score ten years down the road.

(85% cabernet sauvignon and 15% merlot; 90% new oak) Saturated deep ruby. Complex nose begins with white flowers, then reveals fruity blackcurrant and black cherry aromas complicated by roasted coffee bean, smoke and minerals; archetypical, perfumed St. Julien. Chewy, brooding and deep, with concentrated black cherry, mineral and menthol flavors backed up by strong acids and firm tannins. Turns a touch harsh on the long, pretty finish: it will need a decade of aging, at which time it may well merit an even higher score.

Initially this shows a vegetal (orange pepper) streak next to the riper vintages, but this clears to reveal an appealingly old-school, ‘clarety’ style in beautiful proportion. The tannin is quite thick, yet still harmonious and coherent, and the wine retains that freshness crucial for buvabilité . A very fine expression of the appellation. (AH)

Tasted blind. Dark and lustrous. Very rich and round and charming with ripe fruit but also the slightly austere structure of St-Julien. Quite a bit of acidity. (JR)

‘The spring was damp and cool, requiring long hours in the vineyards to combat disease pressure. The weather turned to favourable conditions in July, but August saw a return of cooler temperatures and cloud cover. Fortuitously, the weather improved 15 September, and remained mostly sunny and warm through harvest, enabling perfect maturation of the grapes. The growing cycle lasted a record 120 days (2 weeks longer than average), giving wines of exceptional richness.’ Harvest: 2 October – 16 October. 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot. 18 months in new French oak. Deep garnet with brick rim. A marked note of vanilla. Lots of dry tannins and a bit lean overall. I am not sure if the fruit will hold out as long as the tannins will. (JH)