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Branaire Ducru 2008

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Branaire-Ducru

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Tasting Notes

A stunning success for the vintage, this enticing St.-Julien reveals notes of lead pencil shavings, sweet raspberries and black currants and a subtle touch of oak. Elegant, restrained yet authoritative and impressively intense, it is a medium to full-bodied, lightly tannic effort will be even better with 1-2 years of bottle age and will keep for 15-20 years.

91
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (194), May 2011

Currants and blackberries, with hints of black licorice. Medium- to full-bodied, with firm tannins and lots of pretty fruit. Love the nose. Tight and structured, but refined

88/91
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, April 2009

Quite brutal and vegetal on the nose. Great density and extreme youth. Just a hint of oak. Thick and pretty earthbound at the moment with marked acidity.

16.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2009

Sweet black raspberry and blueberry fruit intermixed with hints of acacia flowers and crushed rocks always provide Branaire with a distinctive perfume. In the mouth, there is impressive purity, a powerful yet elegant style, noticeable but sweet tannin, and nicely integrated acidity. The wood component is not apparent given the density and richness of the fruit. The 2008 should come close to rivaling the 2005, 2003, and 2000. Consume it over the next 20+ years.

91/93+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (182), April 2009

Like the Beychevelle '08, this is tight on the nose, a touch of dried leaves and tobacco. Quite light compared to other vintages. The palate has a sharp, slightly angular entry, firm tannins; this needs to mellow out during élevage. A little black pepper, sharp acidity, good weight on the tannic finish. Possibly the dark horse as it should improve. Tasted April 2009

88/90
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, April 2009
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.