Château Ducru-Beaucaillou boasts some of the most perfect growing conditions in the whole of Bordeaux.
The winery, and the eponymous wine it produces, benefit from steeply sloping vineyards on the bank of the Gironde river, consisting of Günzian gravel: quartz pebbles, interspersed with everything from jasper and flint, to quartz and agatoids. The gravel has been there for about two million years and inspires the “Beaucaillou” of the winery’s name, meaning “beautiful pebble” in French.
Pebbles, of course, don’t provide many nutrients, which is why the grapes grown at Château Ducru-Beaucaillou ripen slowly, helping to create the powerful, complex flavour profile that characterises the grand cru wine.
This terroir has been the soul of Château Ducru-Beaucaillou for 300 years, but there have been vineyards on the site since as long ago as the 13th century, and it’s among the oldest in the prestigious Medoc region of Bordeaux. Even with such an illustrious history, though, the 2020 vintage of Ducru-Beaucaillou represents a spectacular highlight.
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The estate’s 300th anniversary was blessed with magnificent growing conditions, which brought forth a wine of particular distinction. Ideal levels of rain – falling mostly at night – guaranteed freshness, while clear days and cool nights in September, together with a heatwave in the middle of the month, helped to concentrate the fruit and ripen the very fine tannins. These combined with the quality control department led by renowned oenological engineers that the winery added in 2019 to create magic in a bottle.
Remarkably, this was the third consecutive year that Château Ducru-Beaucaillou had produced an exceptional vintage. The particularly warm conditions of 2020, though, gave the vintage a particular richness, power and elegance that are sure to see it recognised as a classic. They also resulted in reduced volumes being produced, making Ducru-Beaucaillou 2020 precious for its rarity as well as its quality.
It comes in an opaque colour and features a dazzling combination of powerful flavours of great persistence, including rich black fruits, crushed gravel and exotic oak spices, along with an intoxicating floral nose. Its powerful, silky, finely polished tannins lend it a succulent texture, complemented by acidity that provides perfect freshness and balance.
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To celebrate its 300th anniversary, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou has also introduced a special commemorative label for the 2020 vintage. Striking the perfect balance between tradition and modernity, the new label is built on the classic design that has remained unaltered on bottles of the wine since 1870. It’s embellished, though, with a collage featuring three representations of the Victorian tower from the southern facade of the chateau itself, symbolising both the winery’s three centuries of existence and the three generations of the Borie family who have run it.
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