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Croix Ducru Beaucaillou 2020

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

This wine has been made since 1995, but the name has recently changed from “Croix de Beaucaillou” to “La Croix Ducru Beaucaillou”. Originally a second wine of Ducru, it has been produced since 2005 from a specific vineyard site situated on the opposite side of the D2 road from Ducru itself, between Châteaux Saint Pierre and Léoville Barton. It is regarded as being of classed growth quality but in an approachable style thanks to a higher than average proportion of Merlot for Saint Julien. It has a striking label designed by Jade Jagger.

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

Label

Tasting Notes

Unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, violets and licorice, the 2020 La Croix de Beaucaillou is medium to full-bodied, supple and fleshy, with a pure core of perfumed fruit and a charming, precise profile. 2023 - 2043

91
William Kelley, Wine Advocate, April 2023

This is really serious. It’s full-bodied, tight and linear with fantastic length. Racy, so fine and intense. Very fine tannins. One of the best Croix Ducru. 53% cabernet sauvignon, 44% merlot, and 3% petit verdot.

94/95
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2021

The 2020 La Croix de Beaucaillou is composed of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. It has 13.75% alcohol and a pH of 3.78 with an IPT of 91. It is set to age for 12 months in French oak barrels, 60% new. Deep garnet-purple in color, it leaps from the glass with vibrant scents of crushed redcurrants, black raspberries and fresh black berries, plus hints of bay leaves, lavender and damp soil. The medium-bodied palate is full of energetic red and black berry layers with a grainy texture and just enough freshness, finishing with an herbal lift. Drink 2024-2037.

89/91
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, May 2021

So much purity and definition, this is a beautiful wine with clarity of flavour. Touches of grilled almond and rosemary, mocha, smoke and coffee bean, there is so much freshness, with juice rushing in between the muscles and a mint leaf finish. 3.78pH, 60% new oak. Yields were 25-30hl/ha. In a year where second wines in the Médoc have sometimes suffered from over-concentration, La Croix de Beaucaillou is a standout success.

Drinking Window 2026 - 2042

95
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, May 2021

The 2020 is a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. The abv is 13.75%. It will be aged for 12 months in 60% new French oak. Deep ruby colour in the glass. Rich cassis fruit but also strong graphite notes on the nose here, layered with just a hint of incense. The palate is rich and chalky in tannin, showing real ambition to be a serious, ageworthy wine. The graphite note lingers, adding to the structured and savoury mouthfeel. The brooding fruit is a mix of darker brambly notes and more lifted red cherry. The spicy notes from oak are everpresent without being overpowering. A long, fine finish rounds out this impressive Croix Ducru Beaucaillou.

91/93
Farr Vintners, Farr Tasting, May 2021

(53% CS, 44% M, 3% PV; 33% harvest; 13.7% ABV; 60% new)
The second wine of Ducru-Beaucaillou. Lightly blackcurrant Cabernet, plus a Merlot-herbal, wild-rose aroma, very gently gravelly; medium-full, fresh, finely tannic, long and elegant and even, its rich, ripe red fruit enveloped in a close-grained tannin, sweet-cored, lightly mineral in aromas, a marked “fresh” impression giving it just a hint of austerity, and with a fine fruit persistence. Very Ducru, very St-Julien in its overall elegance and poise. 2027–40+.

90/92
Michael Schuster, The World of Fine Wine, May 2021
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.