Ducru Beaucaillou 1961

Pale to medium brown-brick colored, the 1961 Ducru-Beaucaillou springs from the glass with notes of kirsch, raspberry preserves and dried mulberries plus wafts of sandalwood, menthol, aniseed and dried roses with a hint of black truffles. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is laden with layers of dried red and black berries and tons of spice and floral sparks with a wonderfully plush texture and fantastically long, multilayered finish. A great bottle like this one satisfies all the style and quality expectations of a 1961, and then some. 2020 - 2046

I had drunk this vintage of Ducru only a couple of times in my life, with the last time being all the way back in 1997, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity again. It remains one of the greatest examples of this superb estate that I have ever tasted. This most recent showing was, if anything, even better than the bottle more than a quarter century ago, as it offers up a brilliant and utterly seamless bouquet of sweet cassis, black cherries, tobacco leaf, a gorgeously complex base of gravelly soil tones, cigar smoke, a touch of Latour-like sweet walnut tones and a discreet framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is sheer perfection: deep, pure, complex and utterly seamless, with a stunning core of fruit, great soil inflection and grip, still a wisp of backend tannins and an endless, very, very complex and beautiful finish. Pure magic, the ’61 Ducru still has decades of life ahead of it. (Drink between 2024-2065)