| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
From my cellar, the 1982 Ducru-Beaucaillou is one of the most youthful of the Médoc crus classés today. Unwinding in the decanter and glass with a rich bouquet of blackcurrants, licorice, cigar wrapper and loamy soil, it's full-bodied, fleshy and muscular, with a broad attack that segues into a deep core of fruit framed by ripe, powdery tannins and succulent acids. It's an unusually big-boned rendition of this elegant-styled wine, but it's no less compelling for that.
"The harvest lasted 16 days from the 16th September," proprietor Bruno Borie mentioned about the 1982 Ducru-Beaucaillou. Medium brick colored, it comes galloping out of the glass with bold, expressive notes of Black Forest cake, preserved plums and mincemeat pie with hints of cigar box, star anise, eucalyptus and espresso plus wafts of roasted nuts and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, generous and opulent, the palate has beautifully ripe, fine-grained tannins and tons of youthful fruit, finishing with epically long-lasting layers of preserved black fruits and exotic spices. Drink 2020 - 2037.
Still on the upside with a good 20 years of life left in it is the 1982 Ducru-Beaucaillou. This wine is firm and structured, still has a dense ruby/plum/garnet color, is full-bodied and rich with plenty of cedar wood, blackcurrants and forest floor. It is a beauty that can be drunk now, but its best days are still ahead.
The finest bottle I’ve had of this wine (which came from the estate), the 1982 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou continues to drink brilliantly and is a magical Saint-Julien. Still healthy ruby hued with a mature yet insanely complex bouquet of sweet red and black fruits, cedary herbs, graphite, tobacco, and forest floor, it’s powerful yet seamless on the palate, with resolved tannins, no hard edges, and a fabulous finish. This is mature Bordeaux in all its glory. Drink bottles any time over the coming two decades. Drink 2020-2040.
The 1982 Ducru-Beaucaillou can be a stupendous wine...or it can leave you scratching your head. On the nose, this bottle shows a little more brettanomyces than others that I have tasted, though it dissipates with aeration to reveal blackberry, mint and light herbal notes. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, a little chewy and rustic compared to recent vintages, plenty of tobacco, tea leaf and smoky notes, but just a bit stunted on the finish when you expect it to fan out. I have had better examples of the 1982 over the years, even if it has curiously never been one of my favourite examples of this feted vintage. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château.
One of the all-time great Ducrus, probably matched or eclipsed by several recent vintages (i.e., 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008). The 1982 is still 5-8 years away from full maturity, but it exhibits a dense ruby/plum/garnet color to the rim as well as a sweet perfume of forest floor, spice box, cedar, and copious quantities of black fruits. Medium to full-bodied and beautifully pure with sweet tannins, this wine has aged more slowly than I initially expected. It is the finest Ducru Beaucaillou produced after the 1961 and before the 2003.
One of the few top Médocs that seem to be close to full maturity, the 1982 Ducru-Beaucaillou shows a dense, almost inky, plum/garnet colour, a striking nose of minerals intermixed with cedar, black currant, autumnal leaves, and spice box. The wine is chewy and opulent, particularly for a Ducru-Beaucaillou, with a lot of flesh and concentration. The tannins are still there but are sweet, and the velvety finish is suggestive of a wine that has entered its plateau of maturity. A gorgeous effort and certainly the best Ducru-Beaucaillou until the mid- to late 1990s.
A wine of extraordinary aromatic complexity and finesse, this sweet effort possesses a dark ruby colour with a pink rim. Once past the gloriously complex aromatics (blueberries, blackcurrants, minerals, and underbrush), the wine reveals terrific fruit intensity, excellent harmony, medium body, sweet tannin, and a long finish. This superb, elegant 1982 has achieved full maturity, but it promises to last for another 15+ years. Drink 2000-2015
