Ducru Beaucaillou 2023

The 2023 Ducru-Beaucaillou, matured in 100% new oak for a planned 18 months, has a less forceful bouquet than the 2022 last year and, consequently, shows more refinement and poise. The scents don't come barging out of the blocks, but they creep up on you. The palate is medium-bodied with a fresh entry. Showing moderate depth, it’s quite linear in style and grippy. A faint touch of bell pepper emerges on the classically styled finish that reminds me of some of the old vintages of Ducru-Beaucaillou. This is the strictest vintage I have encountered in some time.

This has aromas of blackberries and blackcurrant, as well as graphite and flint. Some gunpowder. It’s full-bodied with extremely refined tannins, a creamy character and al-dente fruit at the finish. Crunchy, succulent and linear. Mineral edge to it, like licking a stone. Energetic. 83% cabernet sauvignon and 17% merlot.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2023 Ducru-Beaucaillou opens with classic great Cabernet notes of blackcurrants, mulberries, and ripe plums leading to a perfume of lilacs, lavender, and pencil shavings with a touch of cardamom. The light to medium-bodied palate is very tightly wound and so, so elegant, with a firm backbone of grainy tannins and wonderful tension giving definition to the black and red berry layers, finishing long and fragrant. This is more structured than most Médoc wines this year and very impressive. The blend is 83% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot, with pH 3.70 and TPI 89.

Glass-staining violet. A serious Ducru, delivered with precision and balance, with plenty of concentration and a slow, long build, layered, fine and sappy tannins. Proof again that this is a great Cabernet year in this corner of Bordeaux, less velvet concentration than the 2022 Ducru perhaps, but more finesse and packed full of nuance, and a saline mouthwatering finish. 41hl/h yield, 100% new oak, with long seasoning of up to five years, nine different coopers.