2016 Ducru Beaucaillou

One of the top Second Growths, Ducru has been run with great success by the inimtiable Bruno Borie since 2004. dark and tightly wound - needs work. Dark, dense fruit, black tea, saline, vineyard character. Sumptuous, ripe, round tannins, such a textured plush mouthfeel - then wham, big hit of ripe, sweet fruit, tannins keep giving up more and more fruit… great mid-palate, complexity, fruit... the finish is exceptional. Best ever? - April 2017

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Ducru-Beaucaillou features a wonderfully savory, earthy/meaty nose, delivering well-defined notes of tapenade, truffles, charcuterie and sautéed herbs over crème de cassis, wild blueberries and kirsch with wafts of pencil lead and menthol. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is built like a brick house with the taut, muscular fruit well framed by very firm yet very ripe and finely grained tannins, offering a quiet intensity of red fruit and mineral sparks and finishing with epic length.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Nov 2018

The 2016 Ducru-Beaucaillou, bottled in August 2018, is very deep in color. It has a tightly wound bouquet of blackberry, boysenberry and minerals and a faint estuarine tang of oyster shells. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannin, layers of pure blackberry and wild strawberry, and veins of blue fruit tinged with a conspicuous graphite note that becomes more pronounced with aeration. This is almost a Pauillac-like Ducru-Beaucaillou, quite noble and blue-blooded. A wine that should give 40 to 50 years of drinking pleasure.
Vinous, Jan 2019

Offers a scintillating display of roasted apple wood, incense and warm ganache before the core of cassis, plum preserves and raspberry reduction starts to step forward. The finish, loaded with grip but remarkably polished, pulls everything together. A huge, undeniable wine, overt in style. - James Molesworth (WineSpectator.com, April 2017)

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.

Very dark. Racy and sinewy with lots of richness and energy. Smooth and supple and quite sweet – arguably too sweet? – but with masses of tannins buried down there. Blackberry compote mixed with health juice. Drink 2026-2046. - jancisrobinson.com, April 2017

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. - vinous.com, January 2019

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. July 2022

Reminding me of the 2010 with its incredible stature and class (as opposed to the more opulently styled 2009), the 2016 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is a legendary wine from the genius of Bruno Borie, who has managed this estate brilliantly since he arrived in 2003. A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot brought up all in new oak, the 2016 has a mammoth bouquet of crème de cassis, espresso, camphor, crushed violets, toasty oak, and graphite. Full-bodied, concentrated, and backward on the palate, it nevertheless has perfectly integrated acidity and building tannins, a concentrated, layered texture, off-the-charts purity of fruit, and a finish that won't quit. Give this powerful, concentrated wine a solid 7-8 years of bottle age and enjoy it over the following 50 years or more. - jebdunnuck.com, February 2019

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. Drinking Window: 2022 - 2040
Tasted by: Yohan Castaing (at Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, 01 Jun 2021)
Part of Château Ducru-Beaucaillou vertical tasting: 1953-2018