Château Branaire Ducru, 4ème Cru Classé, St Julien, 2023

Name: Château Branaire Ducru, 4ème Cru Classé, St Julien
Brand: Château Branaire Ducru
Price: 193 GBP

Available Vintages

all 2009 2012 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024

justerini & brooks tasting note

Branaire Ducru has been on great form in recent years. We tasted this bottle at the St Julien UGC and were impressed by its ease and flow. It doesn't seem to be the most ambitious Branaire, it's rather genteel with a brightness and charm to its fruit and a dollop of toasty oak on the finish. We expect this to bulk out during élevage. 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5.5% Cabernet Franc and 3.5% Petit Verdot.

critic reviews

92-94/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Independent

The 2023 Branaire-Ducru is deep garnet-purple in color. It reveals fragrant scents of crushed blackcurrants, Morello cherries, and lavender oil, giving way to hints of graphite, tar, and aniseed. The medium-bodied palate delivers a good amount of black berry flavors, with savory accents and ripe, grainy tannins to support, finishing with an herbal lift.

DRINKING WINDOW 2028 - 2042

date of review 05/2024

94/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

Bright fruits, slate tannins, peony florals, black tea, tobacco and tons of St Julien finesse. Cabernet dominant in aroamtics and fruit character, a delicious Branaire. 53hl/ha yields.

DRINKING WINDOW 2029 - 2040

date of review 05/2024

92-94/100Neal Martin,Vinous

The 2023 Branaire Ducru was picked from September 12, on the same day as last year, albeit with a longer harvest, as they finished on October 4. Yields were 53hL/ha, and the blend is almost the same as the 2022. This is the second vintage made in the new winery. My sample came from a new-oak barrel, but the final blend will include 60%. Lucid purple in color, it has a charming, very pure bouquet, perhaps less opulent than some of its Saint-Julien peers, yet precise. Delicate floral scents permeate the predominant red fruit, never bursting from the glass but unfurling with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly edgy tannins that impart tension, veering slightly more to black fruit on the mid-palate. This is certainly one of the most elegant Branaire-Ducru vintages to date, but it has more weight on the finish (something that has been addressed in recent years.) Understated and sapid, it should be open for business a little earlier than others, but it will age well over 20 to 25 years.

DRINKING WINDOW 2028 - 2050

date of review 04/2024

93-94/100William Kelley,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2023 Branaire-Ducru has turned out beautifully, wafting from the glass with classy aromas of dark berries, plums, pencil shavings and licorice, followed by a medium to full-bodied, cool and layered palate that's seamless, complete and enveloping, with terrific depth and vibrancy of fruit, refined tannins and a long, suave finish. At 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5.5% Cabernet Franc and 3.5% Petit Verdot, it's almost the same blend as the 2022, though at 13.1% alcohol and a pH of 3.63, it's more classically proportioned. Harvest began on September 12 and dragged on through October 4, parcel by parcel, with the vintage's healthy yields meaning the team could use their new winery, equipped with 63 smaller tanks, to keep all those components separate.

date of review 04/2024