La Croix Ducru Beaucaillou, St Julien, 2023
A nice bouquet of forest fruits, liquorice, and cassis greets the nose of the 2024 Croix de Beaucaillou. Generous and juicy on the mid-palate, it offers plenty of substance with dark fruit inflected with gravelly minerals and a touch of kirsch. Powerful tannins provide a frame, but there's ample mid-palate fruit to support them. There’s good tension and length here. Polished and juicy, with quite an exotic and ripe character.
critic reviews
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2023 La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou comes bounding out with notes of Morello cherries, wild blueberries, and fresh blackberries followed by hints of iris, pencil lead, and fragrant earth. The medium-bodied palate is light on its feet and refreshing, with soft, approachable tannins and plenty of bright blue and black fruit, finishing with a skip in its step. The blend is 58% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Petit Verdot.
Inky plum colour, high tannic count (91IPT) but with a cushion of air running underneath, this delivers a contrast of light and shade, and captures an effortless St Julien character, coulpled with floral and savoury Cabernet, and the kick of gourmet cocoa bean that is a signature of the wine. 60% new oak.
The 2023 La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou has a very perfumed and floral bouquet: plush red berry fruit, vanilla, cedar and blood orange, well-defined with deftly integrated new oak (60%). The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins that lend this La Croix a bit more backbone than recent vintages. It’s very fresh; white pepper and thyme complement the bright red fruit, leading to an overtly peppery finish, with a touch of graphite on the aftertaste.