2022 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou Grand Cru Classé St Julien Magnum

The Borie family has owned this stately château, overlooking the Gironde Estuary, for three generations now. Since taking over the château in 2003, Bruno Borie has had only one goal: to make Ducru-Beaucaillou one of the finest wines in the Médoc. The vineyards are planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (70%) and Merlot (30%). As the château's name suggests, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is blessed with a magnificent, gravelly terroir that produces perfect Cabernet Sauvignon. Château Ducru-Beaucaillou owes its name to its "beautiful pebbles" ("beaux Cailloux" in French), which geologists less romantically refer to as Gunzian gravel. These quartz pebbles were deposited by the ancient Garonne River at the beginning of the early Quaternary Period, some two million years ago. A stroll through the vineyards is enough to reveal rich lithological finds. Lydian jasper from the Pyrenees, flint, quartz, agatoids... This Gunzian gravel produces soils poor in plant nutrients. But precisely their agricultural scarcity guarantees the qualitative excellence of the wines. A choice from nature. At Ducru-Beaucaillou, excellence is shaped inch by inch through a thorough understanding of what the vines have to offer. Experience, intuition, and questioning are essential for a symbiosis with Mother Earth; people are the only ones who travel through these noble terroirs. Because nature is "a subject of law," every vineyard procedure respects the entire ecosystem: herbicides have been abandoned in favor of mechanical weeding and judicious turf; chemical fertilizers have been replaced by manure and high-quality compost; insecticides with pheromones are used to combat vine moths, or kaolin clay is used to attract green leafhoppers. Measures are taken to facilitate aeration and sun exposure of the bunches to prevent Botrytis and, where applicable, bacilli. Pre-harvest, constant monitoring of available nitrogen is carried out. This respectable viticulture earned ISO 14001 certification in 2016, supplemented by HVE3 certification (High Environmental Value Level 3) in 2017. The 2022 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot. The wine has been aged for 18 months in French barrels. The wine opens in the glass with aromas of dark cherries and berries intertwined with pencil shavings, vanilla pod, and spices. Full-bodied, broad-shouldered, and muscular, it boasts a core of ripe yet vibrant fruit, supported by a chassis of powdery, generously extracted tannins that linger on the finish. This is a 1.5 litre magnum – even tastier, more festive and with a longer drinking window. FACT : In the "Tab: Attachment" you'll find the official fact sheet for this fine wine. We'll automatically send it to you when you order this wine. The wine is stored in our climate-controlled Wine Warehouse, and if you pick it up, you'll often receive a nice discount. You'll see the potential discount immediately if you select "Pickup" at the Checkout page. We're located almost next to the Rijksweg with ample parking. Click here for the address