2020 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou La Croix de Beaucaillou
De specificaties zoals vermeld bij de wijn (o.a. wijnjaar) en in de titel zijn leidend en er kunnen geen rechten worden ontleend aan de afbeelding die wordt getoond. Lees meer in onze Frequenty asked questions
| Type of Wine | Red |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | |
| Appellation | |
| Winery | |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Grape | |
| Content (Alc) | 0.75 ltr (14%) |
| Drink window | 2024 - 2054 |
Description
The wines of La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou come from the vineyard of Château Ducru-Beaucaillou. This exceptional terroir of the Médoc is located between the Gironde river in the east, the center and the west of the Saint-Julien appellation. The estate owes its name to its "beautiful pebbles" ("beaux cailloux", in French) which, due to their high quartz content, create soils that are poor in nutrients for plants.
It is precisely this "agrological" scarcity, as the late Bordeaux professor and geographer René Pijassou described it, that makes them so suitable for the production of good wine. In the east, the plots are planted along the rolling Médoc ridges, just above the estuary, while those in the epicentre benefit from a microclimate fed by the small stream of La Mouline that meanders through the centre of the appellation from west to east before disappearing into the Gironde.
La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou is a fine wine that perfectly expresses its exceptional terroir. This is not a second wine as such, as it comes from a dedicated part of the vineyard, located on the south bank of La Mouline. Matured in 60% new oak for an expected duration of 12 months, the 2020 La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou is initially pleasantly reduced on the nose. After some time in the glass, the wine opens up with intense aromas of black fruit, interwoven with notes of black olive and subtle brackish, coastal scents. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied with a pleasantly powdery texture. It is a structured Saint-Julien with a clear backbone and grip on the finish. Yet the wine remains extremely refined in balance, with a noticeable saltiness on the aftertaste. Excellent and is the perfect introduction to the Borie signature.
Specifications
| Type of Wine | Red |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Bordeaux |
| Appellation | Saint-Julien |
| Winery | Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou |
| Grape | Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot |
| Biological certified | No |
| Natural wine | No |
| Vegan | No |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Drinking as of | 2024 |
| Drinking till | 2054 |
| Alcohol % | 14 |
| Alcohol free/low | No |
| Content | 0.75 ltr |
| Oak aging | Yes |
| Sparkling | No |
| Dessert wine | No |
| Closure | Cork |
| Parker rating | 91 |
| James Suckling rating | 95 |
| Vinous rating | 94 |
| Tasting Profiles | Complex, Dark fruit, Dry, Aged on wood, Powerful, Mineral, Tannines |
| Drink moments | Indruk maken, Lekker luxe, Open haard |
Wijnhuis
The Borie family has now owned this stately château for three generations, overlooking the Gironde. Since he took over the château in 2003, Bruno Borie has had only one goal: to make Ducru-Beaucaillou one of the best wines in the Médoc. The vineyards are planted with cabernet sauvignon (70%) and merlot (30%). As the name of the château implies, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is blessed with a grand pebble-rich terroir that produces perfect cabernet sauvignon. Château Ducru-Beaucaillou takes its name from its "beautiful pebbles" ("beaux Cailloux", in French) which geologists less romantically refer to as Gunzian gravel. These quartz pebbles were deposited by the ancient Garonne at the beginning of the early Quaternary, some two million years ago. It is enough to take a walk through the vineyards to find rich lithological finds. Lydian jasper from the Pyrenees, flint, quartz, agatoids ... This Gunzian gravel creates soils poor in plant nutrients. But it is precisely their agricultural scarcity that guarantees the qualitative excellence of the wines. A choice from nature.
At Ducru-Beaucaillou, excellence is formed inch by inch thanks to an understanding of what the vines have to offer. Experience, intuition, asking questions, for a symbiosis with Mother Earth; people only pass through these noble terroirs. Since nature is a "subject of law", every procedure in the vineyard respects the entire ecosystem: herbicides have been abandoned in favor of mechanical weeds and judicious turf; replacing chemical fertilizers with manure and quality compost; insecticides with pheromones to control vine moths or kaolin clay to lure the green locust. Measures to facilitate aeration and sun exposure of the bunches, to avoid Botrytis and, if applicable, bacilli. Constant monitoring of available nitrogen before harvest. Reasonable viticulture, which earned the property ISO 14001 certification in 2016, supplemented with HVE3 certification (high environmental value level 3) since 2017.