Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou 2009

The 2009 Ducru Beaucaillou will eclipse the brilliant wines produced in 2005, 2003 and 2000. It will be interesting to see how the 2009 fares against the 2010 after twenty years of aging, but my money is on the 2009. A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot that achieved 13.5% natural alcohol, this inky purple, unctuous wine possesses classic aromas of graphite, crème de cassis, blueberries, violets, licorice and Christmas fruitcake. Full-bodied and intense with Ducru’s inimitable elegance and purity, it should firm up in the bottle after 7-10 years of cellaring and last for 40-50 years. Magnificent! Bruno Borie has done a remarkable job at Ducru Beaucaillou.

Features plenty of flash and sizzle, with gorgeous, inviting mocha, espresso and chocolate notes up front, backed by a dense core of plum sauce, cassis, blackberry purée and blueberry reduction accents. Long, showing terrific polish, with a lovely lingering loam note and a buried singed apple wood edge that keeps everything driving through the finish. Best from 2016 through 2035.

Remarkably fresh and delicate nose, yet classic and aromatic, full of spicy and graphite notes with liquorice, blackcurrant, cedar, tobacco, and cherry. Very fresh and elegant, the palate is formidable and shows the classic style of Ducru-Beaucaillou with its characteristic tension and upright structure and the powerful personality of a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant wine from one of the great terroirs of the Médoc. Bravo!

This is a rich, powerful, concentrated and well-structured wine, but in comparison to recent vintages (from 2014) this comes off slightly heavy on the mid-palate. However, I love the balance at the ripe and generous finish. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)

This is a wine with a split personality. The nose is luxurious, bordering on sappy, yet open and lots of fun, with typically overripe aromas of dried apricot and blackberry jam. The palate, however, is packed with tannin and drying oak, as well as surprising, disjointed acidity (something I noticed in the second wine too in this vintage). Good concentration and length, but will it ever knit? (AH)

The 2009 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a fantastic wine. Here it bursts from the glass, perhaps less Pauillac-like than previous bottles, beautifully defined with a smorgasbord of red and black fruit laced with cedar and tobacco. There is no hedonism here, just wonderful intensity and focus. The palate is fresh on the entry with a fine bead of acidity, very poised yet powerful, with a multi-layered finish that just lacquers the mouth. It probably needs another 5–6 years in bottle, but what a wine. Stunning. Tasted at the Ducru-Beaucaillou vertical at the château.

Concentrated, opulent, deep, ripe, sensuous, and mouthcoating, this is a majestic vintage with incredibly creamy, silky tannins, length, purity, and density, with a mouth-filling finish that is close to seamless from start to finish. The wine blends 85% Cabernet Sauvignon with 15% Merlot. Drink from 2025–2055.

Dark ruby garnet with purple reflections and a delicate brightening at the rim suggesting some maturity. The nose is still somewhat closed, with hints of fine woody savouriness, ripe wild berry fruit and orange zest. With air, dark cherries and a touch of nougat slowly emerge. The palate is complex – juicy and pronounced in fruit, particularly ripe cherry, with fine and very well-integrated tannins. A mineral-salty finish has very good length. There’s clear further ageing potential here, for decades even, but already it seems relatively light-footed thanks to its perfect balance. It can already be opened, but should ideally be allowed to age for another five to ten years.

Starting a duo of magical vintages, the 2009 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is one of those wines that always seems to deliver the goods. A normal blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot that hit 13.5% natural alcohol, it has a soaring bouquet of sweet blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, minty herbs, graphite, and assorted spicy nuances. It's full-bodied, broad, expansive, and flawlessly balanced, and has still present yet sweet, fine-grained tannins. It's in a much sexier, more showy style compared to the 2010, but I suspect it will nevertheless be just about as long-lived. This is pure perfection in wine.

85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot. Extremely dark purple with lilac and violet highlights. Surprisingly powerful bouquet of black cherries, blackberry jelly, truffles, cedar and blackcurrant, with a noble sweetness and a very refined entry. A perfect, finely silky palate with plenty of flesh and a delicate peppery liveliness, lots of liquorice and Sichuan pepper in the thick, opulent extract, with “black” aromas on the finish. The full tannin frame supports an unusually high alcohol level of 13.5% vol. for a Beaucaillou.

85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot. For a Ducru, the bouquet is quite powerful, not to imply excessive force; even as a barrel sample it offers black cherries, blackberry jelly, truffles, cedar and black currant, with noble sweetness and great refinement from the outset. Perfect, finely silky palate, plenty of glycerol on the outside, a delicately peppery drive within, lots of licorice and Sichuan pepper in the thick, rich extract; the finish turns entirely “black” in aromatic profile. A full package of tannins, yet it somehow digests them thanks to an alcohol level never seen here before. It’s “only” 13.5%, but such a figure has never occurred in this estate’s history. Even cellar master René Lucceau can’t recall a harvest of such quality. And he has been at Ducru for 31 years. A Beaucaillou legend! (20/20). 12: Deep, dark wine-red, still with a violet shimmer. The bouquet was initially a bit reserved, then it took off. As dramatic as a young Ducru has rarely shown, a wheel of aromas: plums, Assam tea, vanilla bean, dark fine woods, all wrapped in intoxicating Cabernet sweetness. On the palate, sheathed on the outside with the vintage-typical richness, underscoring perfect harmony. The finish is focused and extremely long. This is the fattest Ducru I’ve ever had on the palate. It sells today around 300 Swiss francs. You can pay much more for other Bordeaux. But this one unquestionably earns the maximum score. (20/20). 13: Medium-dark, a touch lighter than directly comparable wines of the vintage, plenty of garnet, faint violet at the rim. The nose is quintessential Ducru: ripe plums, cedarwood, fine pepper notes and noble woods, with a plush backdrop from a nuance of café au lait. A bouquet with royal conversation—subtle, cultivated, persistent. On the palate, harmony beyond compare; everything is in its place, tannins of delicate maturity and perfection. A dream ballerina; you’d never think to call this an overblown vintage. Is this the possible “best Ducru ever”? It’s to be suspected! 20/20

Cabernet Sauvignon 85%, Merlot 15%. Dense, elegant, fresh, deep and complex bouquet with blue and black berries, tobacco, fine woods, mint, currants, cassis. Dense, layered, elegant, powerful palate with compressed fruit, lots of fine tannins, dense, superb aromatics with cassis, black currant, fine woods. Endless, fresh, dense finish with superb afteraromas. Incredibly aromatic wine. 20/20 2017 - 2050

Such confidence and character on display in this wine, and these were the years when all the work of the new team under Bruno Borie began to seriously come on line. Sculpted and richly spiced, with cloves, aniseed, fennel, edges of crème de cassis, beautiful depth to the fruit, walking the line of full ripeness that is such a signature of the generous 2009 vintage without sacrificing mint leaf and slate freshness. Harvest September 23 to October 9. 100% new oak.

The 2009 Ducru-Beaucaillou, 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot, is deep garnet in color. It bursts from the glass with bold notes of creme de cassis, boysenberry preserves, black cherry compote, and new leather followed by hints of tapenade, wood smoke, and truffles. The full-bodied palate is rich and densely laden with black fruit and savory layers, framed by firm, grainy tannins and impressive tension, finishing long and earthy.

Still as astonishing for its breadth and concentration, yet also for its clarity and transparency in expressing the terroir, this wonderful 2009 is one of the peaks of the vintage in Bordeaux.

Ducru 2009 shows a sensible alcohol level for the vintage, at just 13.5%. It stands out for its freshness and how easy it is to drink. Very “Saint-Julien” in its structure, it offers an enchanting nose of fresh dark fruits. The palate is vigorous, yet wrapped in superb flesh. The mid-palate is striking for its explosive character. The finish is immense.

A great deal of elegance and class, long and refined, fresher and denser than the 2005, it surpasses the legendary 1961. An airy colossus.

Ducru 2009 can be compared to 2013. I can imagine some people blinking at this, but let’s put things back into their respective contexts. Both wines know what they can do, and both know what is expected of them. In this sense, 2013 has an advantage; generally, it exceeds expectations. 2009 doesn’t really have a choice: it must be not only very good, but brilliant, exceptional. It handles this with impressive serenity. It steps on stage and simply tells the story of the many elements that make up its bouquet. It reveals inviting notes of dark chocolate, cigar box, and blackberry. The wine creates an exceptional symbiosis of roundness, power, freshness, and delicacy. It is complete, accomplished, serene, generous, lively, and persistent. The tannins provide perfect support and offer invaluable vigor, while very fine bitters stretch the finish, making it persistent, almost interminable. A mythical wine.

Logo on the cork: JL (Lafitte Liège) Dark, intense color, beautiful and youthful. Intense, delicate nose, fruity, ripe and subtle. Notes of spice and honey. A bit discreet on the attack, then very refined on the palate; the wine develops a slightly smoky ink-like flavor, with plenty of taste and fine tannins. Very long persistence followed by lingering resonance. Impossible to spit out!

95-97 Barrel sample. Big and powerful, structured, with bitter chocolate and blackberry flavors. The wine is dense, the fruit enormous. But it does manage to keep freshness.