Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou St. Julien 2009 - 750ml

100pts Jeb Dunnuck

Probably one of my most consistent 100 pointers, I've been lucky enough to taste through close to a case of this beauty and it's never failed to just utterly blow me away. Still purple-hued with maybe just a hint of lightening around the edges, the 2009 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou offers an incredible bouquet of black currants, white truffle, cassis, lead pencil shavings, tobacco, and a hint of flowers. A good portion of its baby fat has melted away, and it's full-bodied and elegant on the palate, with silky tannins, incredible depth of fruit, and a gorgeous finish. This is pure elegance and finesse paired with richness and texture. A quintessential Bordeaux, drink bottles any time over the coming 40-50 years. It actually reminds me of the 1982, only better!

98pts Decanter

Rich, powerful and intense, this is still inky in colour at 10 years, barely out of the starting gate. It's a wonderful wine, full of pleasure, still fresh and young, with cinnamon and saffron spice, eucalyptus, menthol-edging, and drenched in dark, juicy fruits. Great stuff, with the clear ability to power on for decades.

98pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Ducru-Beaucaillou bursts from the glass with bombastic crème de cassis, black cherry compote and preserved plums notes followed by hints of menthol, hoisin, dusty soil and incense plus fragrant wafts of candied violets and baker’s chocolate. Full bodied, rich and spicy in the mouth, the palate offers a beautifully plush texture and bags of freshness, finishing long and layered. An absolute powerhouse!

97pts Wine Enthusiast

Big and powerful; structured, with bitter chocolate and blackberry flavors. The wine is dense, the fruit enormous, keeping its essential freshness.

96pts Wine Spectator

Features plenty of flash and sizzle, with gorgeous, inviting mocha, espresso and chocolate notes up front, backed by a dense core of plum sauce, cassis, blackberry puree and blueberry reduction accents. Long, showing terrific polish, with a lovely lingering loam note and a buried singed apple wood edge that keeps everything driving through the finish.

95pts James Suckling

This is a rich, powerful, concentrated and well-structured wine, but in comparison to recent vintages (from 2014) this comes off slightly heavy on the mid-palate. However, I love the balance at the ripe and generous finish. Drink or hold.

Winemaker Notes

The 2009 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a rich, generous, and luscious wine. Solid and voluptuously built around ripe and dense tannins, it is fruity and fresh, with a perfect acidity. Its finale is unending and sensual. To poetically describe this wine, one could compare it, if it were music, to a beautiful piece of “languorous soul”; were it an icon, it would evoke Beyoncé Knowles in a gold and deep red satin evening dress.