Region | |
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Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien |
Colour | Red |
Type | Still |
A classic Saint Julien Chateau that produces wines of real St Julien class and structure. 60 hectares of vines planted with 65%Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot.
View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Branaire-Ducru
The Branaire-Ducru 2017 has a medium to deep garnet-purple color. It springs with savory notions of dried herbs, black olives, and beef drippings, over a core of cassis and black raspberries, plus a waft of cedar. Light to medium-bodied, the palate is tightly wound with black and red berry layers, supported by ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing long and minerally.
Notes of raspberries and orange peel with tar on the nose and palate. Medium body, firm and silky tannins and a fresh, lively finish. Pleasing young red. Better after 2021.
Tasted blind. Deep ruby-purple colour. Pure blackcurrant fruit with an edge of vanilla and cinnamon. Silky, plump fruit on the palate, there is a sense of easy ripeness here. Soft and fleshy, this is a moreish example that still has enough tannin to prop up the fruit and add needed bite. Should offer good drinking pleasure for a decade or more.
Drink 2023 – 2034
A little tight, austere and hard to read. I tasted this on several occasions and each time it needed to be taken slowly, giving it time to unwind and to come out of its shell. There is a lovely richness to it that builds through the mid-palate, and the well expressed plum and blackberry fruit is soft. It's a balanced and elegant St-Julien, but just a touch underpowered.
Drinking Window 2024 - 2038
Very deep crimson, one of the deepest. Looks very healthy! Some silkiness on the nose – quite a surprise! A tribute to the late Patrick Maroteaux? So polished and fine. Really rather beautiful. Umami, unforced but definitely St-Julien. I seem to like this much more than Julia liked the sample she tasted. There’s a slight suggestion of leafiness but not excessively so.
Drink 2023-2032
Deep cherry red. Fragrant with pure, pretty cassis on the nose. Slightly leafy. But a little dilute on the palate. The tannins are light enough to give balance but it's pretty lightweight overall, hence the rather early drinking date.
Drink 2022-2030
A rather closed and edgy Branaire with some green highlights adding bitterness and drama. The fruit is glossy and juicy and aside from the taut notes which make the mouth-water such is their attack - this is a successful wine. Will this bitterness subside? Yes, I have a feeling that the fruit will managed to rehydrate the palate perfectly. I would rarely bet against this Château.
This is very tight and focused with a precise depth of blackberry and blueberry fruit. Full body, melted tannins and a fresh and vivid finish. Shows a compacted style.
Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2017 Branaire-Ducru gives up plum preserves, baked blackcurrants, kirsch and boysenberries with hints of earth, tobacco, herbs and pencil lead. Medium-bodied, the palate is fresh and clean with herbal sparks and a slight chew to the texture, finishing savory. 2020 - 2030
The deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Branaire-Ducru gives up notes of baked black berries, red cherries and mulberries with touches of potpourri and smoked meats. Medium-bodied with a lively line lifting the good concentration of red and black fruits, it has a chewy frame and grippy finish.