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Croix Ducru Beaucaillou 2019

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 Chateaux Saint Pierre and Leoville 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

The 2019 La Croix Ducru Beaucaillou is matured for 12 months in 60% new oak. Interestingly, that Earl Grey tincture continues to define this very classically styled wine, enhancing the black fruit. Hints of ash emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins and plenty of graphite-infused black fruit that render this quite Pauillac in style. Impressively persistent on the tobacco-tinged finish. Leave this for 4–5 years in bottle just to smooth its edges. 2025 - 2045

94
Neal Martin, vinous.com, February 2022

Fantastic aromas of blackberries, blackcurrants, licorice and walnuts. So St.-Julien. Full-bodied with a solid core of fruit and chewy tannins that are really long and serious. Like the 1995 Ducru! One for the cellar. Needs at least until after 2028.

96
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, February 2022

Where you can drink Le Petit Ducru relatively soon, with La Croix you need to wait a few years for the structure to soften. The tannins are silky, the black fruits drenched in espresso, liquorice root spice and smoked oak. An extremely successful La Croix, sexy and powerful while still elegant and sculpted. Give it five or six years from now, and expect a drinking window of at least 15 years. Almost entirely from specific plots within the Ducru vineyard, plus a few young vines of the Grand Vin. 60% new oak.

95
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, January 2022

The second wine of this great château is the 2019 La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou, which is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot that was raised in 60% new barrels. It fits into the lineup beautifully and sits nicely between the Le Petit Ducru and the Grand Vin. Deep purple-hued, with full-bodied aromas and flavors of pure cassis, crushed stone, graphite, lead pencil, and smoked tobacco, it has building yet fine tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish. It shows the more regal, classy, elegant, yet still concentrated style of this vintage perfectly. Give bottles a healthy decant if drinking any time soon, and it will have upwards of two decades of prime drinking.

94
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, April 2022

Rich aromas of cassis, licorice, cigar wrapper, loamy soil and creamy new oak introduce Bruno Borie's 2019 La Croix de Beaucaillou, a full-bodied, deep and concentrated wine that's rich and lively, with a fleshy core of fruit and plenty of fine, chalky tannin. Like for example Clos du Marquis and Les Forts de Latour, La Croix de Beaucaillou isn't a second wine per se, but rather a cuvée produced from dedicated parcels. Drink 2025-2045

91+
William Kelley, RobertParker.com (April 2022), April 2022

In 2019 it is composed of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. Deep ruby in colour with sweet aromatics of blueberry and morello cherries. The fruit is matched with the sweet spice of liquorice on the palate, with fine and fresh tannins giving a velveteen texture. Fine and forward, this is a juicy, approachable and lightly exotic wine.

91/93
Farr Vintners, Farr Tasting, May 2020
Read more tasting notes...

The 2019 La Croix Ducru Beaucaillou is endowed with a gorgeous, quite sumptuous bouquet loaded with black plum, tobacco, smoke and Earl Grey aromas that burst from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with very pliant tannin, harmonious and velvety in texture, gradually building towards a detailed and mineral-driven finish. Maybe less opulent than the 2018 by comparison, yet a Deuxième Vin full of breeding. 2024 - 2044

94/96
Neal Martin, vinous.com, June 2020

A young red with very pretty blackberries, blueberries and stone. Hints of currant leaf. Full with firm yet polished tannins. Slightly austere, in a good sense. Persistent at the end. Linear and bright.

93/94
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, June 2020

Deep damson colour and mouthfilling from the start, this expands outwards through the palate, filling up with concentrated yet plush berry fruits, notes of smoked oak, hazelnut, grilled liquorice. A real presence, approaches the 2016 but with more evident approachability. Appealing now but sure that it will close down pretty tightly for a while as this has a high tannin count of 88IPT. Drinking Window 2026 - 2042

94
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, June 2020
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.