1986 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, St Julien, Bordeaux

1986 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, St Julien, Bordeaux

Product: 19868008844
Prices start from £950.00 per case Buying options
1986 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, St Julien, Bordeaux

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
Case format
Availability
Price per case
6 x 75cl bottle
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £950.00
New To BBX
New To BBX
You can place a bid for this wine on BBX

Description

From the bottle, it has an attractive bouquet with plush blackberry and wild strawberry fruit, indeed, showing more fruité than I was expecting. There is a roundness to these aromatics, perhaps a little more like 1985 in some ways. The palate is medium-bodied and here the seriousness and structure of the 1986 vintages shows through. There is impressive body and though it felt firm and masculine on the finish, there is clearly sufficient fruit that counterbalances the backbone. The decanted version showed a little more volatility on the nose, but here I discerned more complexity on the palate. The 1986 Ducru poured directly from bottle felt a little more savory and strangely, more cohesive, with more of the terroir coming through on the slightly loamy, brown sugar-tinged finish.

Drink 2016 - 2036

Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (Dec 2016)

wine at a glance

Delivery and quality guarantee

Critics reviews

Wine Advocate91/100
The 1986 Ducru Beaucaillou was served by Bruno Borie both decanted and directly from bottle, poured blind. From the bottle, it has an attractive bouquet with plush blackberry and wild strawberry fruit, indeed, showing more fruit than I was expecting. There is a roundness to these aromatics, perhaps a little more like 1985 in some ways. The palate is medium-bodied and here the seriousness and structure of the 1986 vintages shows through. There is impressive body and though it felt firm and masculine on the finish, there is clearly sufficient fruit that counterbalances the backbone. The decanted version showed a little more volatility on the nose, but here I discerned more complexity on the palate. The 1986 Ducru poured directly from bottle felt a little more savory and strangely, more cohesive, with more of the terroir coming through on the slightly loamy, brown sugar-tinged finish. Tasted July 2016.
Neal Martin - 30/12/2016 Read more
Robert Parker90+/100
This wine continues to taste more like a 5 to 7-year-old Bordeaux. The color is a handsome dark ruby with just a bit of pink at the edge. The wine exhibits sweet red and black currant fruit intermixed with wet stones, spice, and flowers. Medium-bodied and still moderately tannic, but very concentrated, this firmly structured, slightly austere wine has tremendous upside to it.
Robert Parker Bordeaux Book, 4th Edition - Jan 2003 Read more

About this WINE

Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou

Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is a St-Julien property that today is one of the leading Super Seconds. It is owned by the Borie family and is situated in the south-east of the St-Julien appellation. Ducru-Beaucaillou's 50 hectares of vineyards (Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, Merlot 25%, Cabernet Franc 5% and Petit Verdot 5%) lie on deep, large-stone gravel beds enriched with alluvial soil deposits and with a high clay content. The wines are matured in oak barriques (50-60% new) for 18 months.

For many, Ducru-Beaucaillou is the quintessential St-Julien - deep-coloured, powerful, ripe, exquisitely well-balanced and perfectly harmonious. It requires a minimum of 10 years of bottle ageing before it should be approached and the best vintages will continue improving for many more years. Ducru-Beaucaillou is classified as a 2ème Cru Classé.

Find out more
St Julien

St Julien

St Julien is the smallest of the "Big Four" Médoc communes. Although, without any First Growths, St Julien is recognised to be the most consistent of the main communes, with several châteaux turning out impressive wines year after year. 

St Julien itself is much more of a village than Pauillac and almost all of the notable properties lie to its south. Its most northerly château is Ch. Léoville Las Cases (whose vineyards actually adjoin those of Latour in Pauillac) but,  further south, suitable vineyard land gives way to arable farming and livestock until the Margaux appellation is reached.  

The soil is gravelly and finer than that of Pauillac, and without the iron content which gives Pauillac its stature. The homogeneous soils in the vineyards (which extend over a relatively small area of just over 700 hectares) give the commune a unified character.

The wines can be assessed as much by texture as flavour, and there is a sleek, wholesome character to the best. Elegance, harmony and perfect balance and weight, with hints of cassis and cedar, are what epitomise classic St Julien wines. At their very best they combine Margaux’s elegance and refinement with Pauillac’s power and substance.

Ch. Léoville Las Cases produces arguably the most sought-after St Julien, and in any reassessment of the 1855 Classification it would almost certainly warrant being elevated to First Growth status.

Recommended Châteaux: Ch. Léoville Las CasesCh.Léoville Barton, Ch Léoville Poyferré, Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou, Ch Langoa Barton, Ch Gruaud Larose, Ch. Branaire-Ducru, Ch. Beychevelle

Find out more
Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.

Find out more