Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

La Croix Ducru Beaucaillou, St Julien, 2022

Name: La Croix Ducru Beaucaillou, St Julien
Brand: Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
Price: 278.42 GBP

93/100

Inside Bordeaux

90-92/100

The Wine Independent

93-95/100

Vinous

Available Vintages

delivery

in bond

portfolio

Last Few
2022
6x75cl
DP
£278.42

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

This is another second wine with grand vin pretentions. The best Croix we can recall, this is aromatically complex, beautifully textured, and encased in alluring tannins. The nose displays hints of iodine and citrus rind alongside blackcurrant, damson, bramble and spearmint, crushed rock, truffle and griotte cherry. This has real presence on the mid-palate with lots of floral raspberry, boysenberry and Chambord flavours supported by large-scale but perfectly ripe, nuanced tannins. Persistent and layered, this grows in stature, fanning out over the long and distinguished finish. A very sophisticated second label.

delivery information

GUARANTEED PROVENANCE

Provenance in fine wine

When it comes to purchasing wine, provenance is of upmost importance. A wine’s history – where it’s sourced from and how it’s been stored – can have an enormous influence on the eventual enjoyment it provides. At Justerini & Brooks, we can trace nearly every case back to the domaine, estate or Château it originally came from; we ship from over 200 wine producers throughout the world.

Wines not bought directly from the vineyard are either sourced from trusted suppliers, with whom we share the same philosophy and rigour in buying, or from our own network of Cellarers customers. These customers’ wines are stored in optimal conditions in Octavian Corsham and, in the vast majority of cases, have been stored by us since the wine was first shipped. We do not purchase wine from auctions.

We feel it is equally important to for our customers that the case they buy and leave in storage with us is exactly the same case they subsequently have delivered. This may sound obvious and straightforward, yet we are one of very few merchants to have taken measures to ensure this.

We have created a system where every case is independent, thereby ensuring a trail of ownership and peace of mind for every customer.

The Journey

Justerinis ensures that every case of wine stored with Cellarers (Wines) Ltd has a unique identifier and customer’s name, almost unheard of in the industry as it is expensive to administer. These details are printed and placed on every case which is logged and recorded under your account name and kept in the world’s most renowned storage facility, Octavian Corsham.

This information is sent from our systems to the warehouse every day to ensure the trail of ownership is verified and upheld.

While customer reserves are stored in Corsham, our physical stocks are kept in Hoddesdon, further providing a geographical separation between customers’ wines with Cellarers and Justerinis’ own stock.

Further Reassurance

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is a legally separate limited company from Justerini & Brooks which currently holds approximately £450 million worth of customer reserves. It is fully insured to catastrophic loss. Many merchants will state that wine in their care is fully insured, but in reality this is on an individual case basis with insufficient cover for total loss as this is prohibitively expensive. The cover provided by Octavian and Justerini & Brooks is unmatched.

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is audited by PwC every year.

Critic Reviews

93-95/100

Neal Martin,

Vinous

The 2022 La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou contains a lot more Merlot this year as they were compensating for the lack of Cabernet Sauvignon, this Deuxième Vin raised in 80% new oak. It has a delineated bouquet with a mixture of red and black fruit. The briary and smoky aromas feel more understated compared to its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins and seamlessly integrated oak that lends a silky texture. Very harmonious with an insistent grip (the IPT is 93), it lacquers the mouth long after it has departed. That Pauillac tincture is displayed and defines its precise finish. Excellent, but be warned that the oak will require several years to assimilate fully. Not so far behind the Grand Vin because of the growing season.

drinking window 2030 - 2058

date of review 05/2023

90-92/100

Lisa Perrotti-Brown,

The Wine Independent

The 2022 La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou is a blend of 66% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a swirl or two to reveal very pure, evocative notes of baked plums, boysenberries, and pencil shavings, leading to suggestions of sauteed herbs and forest floor. The medium-bodied palate is intensely fruity and tightly wound with loads of savory layers and a firm backbone of grainy tannins, leading to a long, mineral-laced finish. This is impressive! pH 3.75, TPI 93.

drinking window 2027 - 2045

date of review 05/2023

93/100

Jane Anson,

Inside Bordeaux

Sculpted, with muscular tannins, keeps things strictly controlled on the opening beats, then opens to show creamy damson and blackberry fruits, grilled vanilla bean, peony, iris, bitter chocolate, lifted aromatics of peony and crushed rose petals, and clear salinity on the finish. This is intense and impressive, aged in 80% new oak. Harvest September 7 to October 4, almost an entire month of harvesting, unusual for the vintage. Tasted twice

drinking window 2028 - 2042

date of review 05/2023

product details

Specifications

Country:

France

Region:

Bordeaux

Appellation:

St Julien

Producer:

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

style:

Red Wine

Grape Variety:

Cab Sauvignon Merlot

abv:

13%

allergen information

This product may contain sulphites. Full allergen information is available upon request, please call our Customer Relations Team on +44 (0)20 7484 6430.