Château Ducru-Beaucaillou - St.-Julien 2009

The origins of Château Ducru-Beaucaillou lie in the 18th century, specifically 1720. It owes its name to the ‘beautiful large pebbles / stones’ that characterise its terroir, which offers exceptional wine-making conditions that translate into the finesse and elegance of its wines.

This has an impressive powerful and hearty structure, with seductive floral, currant and licorice aromas and flavors, showing powerful tannins at the end. This sneaks up on you at the end. Structured and very, very powerful. The blockbuster tannins are sweet and fruit-coated. This is a classic, powerful style of Ducru. May be best yet. Wow. Barretl tasting. ?James Suckling,

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. ?Roger Voss,