2012 Château Branaire-Ducru, St Julien, Bordeaux

2012 Château Branaire-Ducru, St Julien, Bordeaux

Product: 20128003230
Prices start from £195.00 per case Buying options
2012 Château Branaire-Ducru, 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
12 x 75cl bottle
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £400.00
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £410.00
6 x 75cl bottle
BBX marketplace BBX 2 cases £195.00
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £195.00
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £210.00
BBX marketplace BBX 2 cases £210.00
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £225.00
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £225.00
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £240.00
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £250.00
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £280.00
See more listings+
See more listings
You can place a bid for this wine on BBX

Description

There is a perfumed nose here, with linear aromas and a real scent of pure Cabernet Sauvignon fruit. The subtleties of accompanying grapes ably fill in the gaps to make a wholly complete wine, with ripe and grippy tannins supporting the juicy fruit flavours. The wine has real depth, energy and length. It is a very good effort indeed. 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Laura Atkinson, Private Account Manager

wine at a glance

Delivery and quality guarantee

Critics reviews

Wine Advocate90/100
Deep ruby/purple, with sweet cranberry, mulberry and raspberry/blueberry fruit, this is always a distinctive St.-Julien and the 2012 has managed to avoid any of the hollowness or harsh tannins that can afflict some of the Mdocs. It is elegant, well-made and an outstanding effort in this vintage. Drink it over the next 15 or more years.
Robert M. Parker, Jr. - 30/04/2015 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW17/20
Dark crimson. Sweet, fragrant, rather floral nose. Opulent. Not at all typical of the vintage! Round and flattering. Some real energy here but not that true to type, though there are some nice dry appetising tannins on the finish.
Jancis Robinson MW, jancisrobinson.com, 23 Apr 2013 Read more
Wine Spectator90-93/100
Light, racy and pure, with red currant and cherry pit notes driving a solid hint of rooibos tea on the finish. The finely beaded acidity keeps this going. Not big, but persistent and showing considerable finesse.
James Molesworth, Wine Spectator, April 8 2013 Read more
Decanter17/20
Bright Cabernet fruit, a polished smoothness to match the slight greeeness, needs time and will show elegance and class. Read more

About this WINE

Château Branaire-Ducru

Château Branaire-Ducru

Classified as a fourth growth in 1855, Ch. Branaire-Ducru makes pure and classic St Julien. The estate has recently passed from father to son: the widely respected Patrick Maroteaux – who had served at various times as president of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux and the St Julien appellation – sadly passed away in 2017. His son François-Xavier has picked up the baton and continues his father’s legacy. The Maroteaux family bought the property in 1988 and have invested considerably in the vineyard and winery since. Superstar consultant Eric Boissenot advises here, as he does with many of the Left Bank’s top estates, including the Médoc’s four first growths.

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