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

Bright, a little slim though the mid palate, but carefully expressed and finessed with appellation character, very much savoury Cabernet rose petals and cassis bud, with pencil lead and crayon character on the finish. 32hl/ yield, 50% new oak. Tasted twice.

Made from 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 6.5% Cabernet Franc, and 5.5% Petit Verdot, the 2021 Branaire-Ducru is deep garnet-purple in color. It comes bounding out of the glass with bold scents of warm cassis, blackberry preserves, and ripe black plums, followed by hints of camphor, violets, black truffles, and tapenade, with a waft of wood smoke. Light to medium-bodied, the palate delivers impressive intensity with firm, fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long with a mineral lift.

The 2021 Branaire Ducru, one of the smallest crops in recent years (32.5hL/ha) was bottled in early June. It has a clean and precise bouquet: blackberry, cedar, light pencil box scents and just a faint touch of undergrowth. It's certainly classic in style, yet displays more precision than you would have found in a Branaire a decade ago. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. Again, black fruit comes to the fore—graphite-infused black fruit, with a little more salinity than I recall from barrel. There’s a pleasing strictness here; the 2021 is linear, without the frills of the 2019 or 2020. Yet for those seeking traditional claret, this will fit the bill perfectly. Drink it over the next 20-25 years.