Château Branaire Ducru, 4ème Cru Classé, St Julien, 2014
Patrick Maroteaux, the charming owner of Branaire Ducru has transformed the fortunes of this Chateau since his family bought it in 1988. His wines are rarely flashy and don't often impress from barrel, but after elevage and a few years in bottle, they often develop into glorious, understated St Juliens. The 2014 shows crisp red berry fruit with plum, Cassis and a floral lilt. There is lovely garrigue and dried herbs, minerality and fallen leaves too, piqued by a delicate olive brine and black pepper.
critic reviews
The 2014 Branaire-Ducru has a "quieter" bouquet than its peers, a little muted at first, though well-defined with mainly black tertiary fruit laced with tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins. It's a classically styled Saint-Julien that might lack a bit of substance for some on the finish, though it conveys a sense of drinkability. It's one of the few Left Bank wines to show better now than six years earlier. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting.
The 2014 Branaire-Ducru is medium to deep garnet in color. Fragrant scents of kirsch, candied violets, and fallen leaves drift gently from the glass, with hints of Sichuan pepper and black olives in the background. The medium-bodied palate is all class, with great tension and fine-grained tannins framing the elegant perfumed fruit, finishing minerally.