2022 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
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Tasting notes
Polished and bold, the 2022 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot. It is immensely concentrated, not offering much on the nose at present, with hints of florals and cedar from 100% new oak, but it’s the depth of fruit which impresses. There is layer upon layer of deep, dark black berry fruit, with a savoury intensity and twist of fresher red fruit and salinity on the firm finish.
Critic scores
James Suckling
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2022 Ducru-Beaucaillou is the most backward on the nose among the Saint-Julien flight: blackberry, cedar and a touch of fireside hearth. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins, quite firm in the mouth but focused, and it segues into a more classical, restrained finish. This is absolute class. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.
The Grand Vin 2022 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou checks in as 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot that was raised all in new barrels. Its deep ruby/purple/plum hue is followed by an utterly heavenly Saint-Julien that has pure cassis and darker berry fruits, a core of violets, spring flowers, graphite, and spicy oak, full-bodied richness, and ultra-fine, polished tannins. It's as seamless, pure, and elegant as they come, while at the same time being intense, powerful, and concentrated. It reminds me of the 2010 and is going to warrant a decade of cellaring, and have a solid half-century of prime drinking. For the tech geeks out there, the 2022 hit 14% alcohol with a pH of 3.8 and an IPT of 95. It’s an absolute sensational Saint-Julien from this talented team.
The 2022 Ducru-Beaucaillou was a "Leviathan" when I tasted it from barrel, to use my own vernacular. In bottle since the second week of July 2024, it has calmed down a little aromatically, with blackberry, bilberry, crushed stone and freshly rolled tobacco scents that emerge with time. Fine tannins frame the palate. This is far more linear than it showed out of barrel. It's stricter, with an almost Pauillac-like tannic structure (Ducru-Beaucaillou can sometimes bear this trait). Full of energy and quite persistent, with a grippy finish, this is a long-term prospect that is uncompromising in nature—I mean that in a good way.
About the producer
Second Growth estate Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou in Saint-Julien is one of the Super Seconds, an elite group of properties producing wines that regularly compete with the finest in the Médoc.