Wine Advocate
byRobert Parkerthe4/30/1997
On the plane ride back home from France, I was reflecting on the extraordinary job Xavier Borie, his brother Bruno, and their father Jean-Eugene, have accomplished in both the 1995 and 1996 vintages. At Haut-Batailley, Grand-Puy-Lacoste, and Ducru-Beaucaillou, they have produced 1996s that are the finest wines since 1982. I had all three wines on three different occasions during my two weeks in Bordeaux, and the resulting tasting notes were identical.
At Ducru-Beaucaillou a second wine has now been introduced, and, as Xavier Borie said, a new chef de culture, who was hired in 1993, has done wonders in the vineyard, and proved to be adept at working well with the cellar people. Where do I start describing Ducru-Beaucaillou's 1996? In a year that produced wines with high tannin levels and very ripe Cabernet Sauvignon fruit, Ducru-Beaucaillou's 1996 is undoubtedly a classic. The wine exhibits an opaque, dense, thick-looking purple color, an already complex, huge nose of flowers, minerals, and enormous quantities of black and red fruits. An important indication of the fruit's high quality in 1996 is the fact that this wine reveals no evidence of oak cask aging (it spent 3 months in primarily new oak) because the fruit is so powerful and deep! While Ducru is less massive than its more virile sibling, Grand-Puy-Lacoste, it is a gorgeously rich, layered, multi-dimensional wine that coats the palate with flavor, yet never comes across as heavy or intrusive. The acid, alcohol, and tannin mesh beautifully with the wine's framework. This will prove to be one of the most profound wines ever made at Ducru-Beaucaillou, possibly eclipsing the 1982. The bad news is that this wine will require 8-12 years of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2030.