Nebuchadnezzar Château Ducru Beaucaillou - Saint-Julien 2016 4df5d4d9d819b397555d03cedf085f48

Wine Spectator

97 / 100

byJames Molesworththe2/5/2019

Offers exotic, cashmere-textured, mocha-infused blackberry, cassis and plum puree flavors, with smoldering incense and warm fruitcake notes and a swath of plush yet serious grip too boot, showing ample depth and breath. As distinctive a Bordeaux as there is these days. Best from 2025 through 2040. 7,500 cases made.  –JM

Jamessuckling.com

99 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe2/4/2019

Super perfumed, attractive violets with a thread of fresh blueberries, cassis, blackberries and dark plums, delivering a very enticing impression. Beautiful ripeness here. The tannins are perfectly ripe and layers meld into each other, carrying deep, graceful and plush, velvety dark fruit long into the vibrant and seductive, chocolate-laced finish. Great potential. Try from 2024.

Vinous

97 / 100

byNeal Martinthe1/24/2019

The 2016 Ducru-Beaucaillou, bottled in August 2018, is very deep in color. It has a tightly wound bouquet of blackberry, boysenberry and minerals and a faint estuarine tang of oyster shells. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannin, layers of pure blackberry and wild strawberry, and veins of blue fruit tinged with a conspicuous graphite note that becomes more pronounced with aeration. This is almost a Pauillac-like Ducru-Beaucaillou, quite noble and blue-blooded. A wine that should give 40 to 50 years of drinking pleasure.

Vinous

98 / 100

byAntonio Gallonithe1/21/2019

The 2016 Ducru-Beaucaillou is an arrestingly beautiful wine. Powerful and sensual in the glass, the 2016 exudes remarkable concentration from start to finish. Red cherry fruit, pomegranate, blood orange, menthol and sweet tobacco all race across the pa Vivid, sumptuous and impeccable in its balance, Ducru is one of the wines of the vintage in 2016. It has been unforgettable on both occasions I have tasted it from bottle so far.

Wine Advocate

98 / 100

byLisa Perrotti-Brownthe11/30/2018

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Ducru-Beaucaillou features a wonderfully savory, earthy/meaty nose, delivering well-defined notes of tapenade, truffles, charcuterie and sautéed herbs over crème de cassis, wild blueberries and kirsch with wafts of pencil lead and menthol. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is built like a brick house with the taut, muscular fruit well framed by very firm yet very ripe and finely grained tannins, offering a quiet intensity of red fruit and mineral sparks and finishing with epic length.

Decanter.com

97 / 100

byJane Ansonthe10/31/2018

Bruno suggests the 2018 might be a little like the 1961, but instead of frost at flowering they had mildew. Yields were average at 20hl/ha, the stunning summer helping to produce incredible concentration. This is a whole other level of richness and tightness, with very fine, taut tannins and concentrated, utterly gorgeous fruit with touches of violet and a silky, spun-lace texture. This is one of the best wines I've tasted today, just supremely elegant with depth and verticality. It's still knitted up and only unrolls extremely slowly; linear and laser-like. It has the concentrated signature of 2016 with lift, but again in St-Julien I can also see the hand of 2010, more so than in other appellations.

Drinking Window 2026 - 2045

Jeb DUNNUCK

96-99 / 100

byJeb Dunnuckthe11/30/2017

Wein Wisser

19 / 20

the5/22/2017

85 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 15 % Merlot, 13,63 vol %, IPT 80 (Tanninkonzentration). Tiefes Purpur mit schwarzer Mitte und Granatschimmer am Rand. Was für eine Delikatesse! Blaubeerige Frucht gepaart mit opulentem Veilchenduft,dahinter Cassis und Nougatpraline, sehr konzentriert und geradlinig. Am kräftigen Gaumen mit viel schwarzer  ohannisbeere sowie Lakritze im Rückaroma, langes nicht enden wollendes Finale mit Pflaumenhaut und Schlehensaft. Das Ganze muss sich noch finden. Potenzialwertung.

Bettane & Desseauve

98 / 100

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/3/2017

Arôme parfait de cèdre, texture d’une race de premier cru, finale précise, un des sommets du millésime en Médoc.

Wine Advocate

96-98 / 100

byNeal Martinthe5/2/2017

The 2016 Ducru Beaucaillou is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot cropped at 36 hectoliters per hectare between 24 September and 14 October and matured in 100% new oak barrels (for a total of 18 months). The alcohol level comes in at 13.63% with a pH of 3.71. The bouquet is very closed at first, and so I aerated the Grand Vin by transferring from one glass to another. It gradually unfurls to reveal scents of blackberry, bilberry, cedar and a touch of pencil lead. The palate is medium-bodied with a firm backbone cloaked in layers of black fruit. The new oak is probably more present here than some of its peers, but there is more than sufficient substance to absorb that. The mineralité surfaces right towards the persistent finish, completing what is a Ducru Beaucaillou built for the long term.

The Wine Cellar Insider

98-100 / 100

byJeff Levethe4/27/2017

Opaque with shiny, purple highlights, this creation is brimming with flowers, licorice, dark berries, boysenberry, black cherry, smoke, espresso and a spot of wet earth on the nose. With velvet textures, density of fruit and a finish that remains with you for close to 60 seconds, this is a seldom-encountered purity of fruit, which is pulling ahead in the competition for the best Ducru Beaucaillou ever! Produced from 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot, the wine reached 13.63% alcohol with a pH of 3.71 and is aging in 100% new French oak barrels. The Merlot was harvested from September 26 to September 30 and the Cabernet Sauvignon from October 7 to October 14. Yields were only 30 hectoliters per hectare. 

Vinous

94-97 / 100

byAntonio Gallonithe4/26/2017

One of the highlights of the vintage, the 2016 Ducru-Beaucaillou is simply magnificent. Vertical structure and intensity in all of its dimensions make a strong opening statement. Dark blue and black fruit, spice, new leather and smoke run through this superb, spectacularly rich, voluptuous Saint-Julien. The tannins are present, but they are nearly buried by the sheer intensity of the fruit. Nothing really stands out. In the end, the 2016 is a wine of spectacular balance and pure class. The natural richness comes through in the gravitas and profoundness of the finish. Even with all of its intensity, the 2016 comes in at just 13.5% alcohol. Tasted two times.

matthewjukes.com

18,5 / 20

byMatthew Jukesthe4/25/2017

(85 Cabernet Sauvignon, 15 Merlot) | 100% new oak – matured for 18 months | 13.6% alc. | 80 IPT Ducru has a magnificent nose with layers of fruit and there is some wonderful density here with admirable focus. The tannins are bright and they lift the wine superbly. The tone is not quite as dark as the Pauillacs and it is also more red-fruited in spite of the high Cabernet Sauvignon percentage and yet this is a more sensual style. Lovely and pure, this is a more forward wine than many but it will also keep for a long time because the tannins are so refined. 18.5+

Decanter.com

97 / 100

byJane Ansonthe4/24/2017

Another exceptional success for St-Julien in 2016, following the longest growing season in the recorded history of the property. Reasonable alcohols, because of the slow maturation, emphasise the juiciness of the fruit. Hugely intense and concentrated black brambly fruits, with layer upon layer of stunning liquorice, dark chocolate, rich black cherry and graphite. This is an utterly beautiful wine and it approaches the essence of what owner Bruno Borie must want for this estate, I am sure. It is easy to imagine uncorking this with excitement in 10 or 15 years. The final blend is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot, with a high tannin index of 80IPT and a 3.71pH, aged in 100% new oak for 18 months. Drinking Window 2027 - 2050

Jancis Robinson

17 / 20

byJancis Robinsonthe4/21/2017

85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 100% new oak. Yields were the lowest in the commune: just 37 hl/ha because of poor flowering, esca pruning and selection. Still, 7,500 cases made! Very dark. Racy and sinewy with lots of richness and energy. Smooth and supple and quite sweet – arguably too sweet? – but with masses of tannins buried down there. Blackberry compote mixed with health juice. 

Wine Enthusiast

97-99 / 100

byRoger Vossthe4/19/2017

Barrel Sample. This wine is so stylish, with a great future that is all balance and elegance. There are structured tannins as well as ample acidity that will allow the wine to age gracefully. A great Ducru with restrained power for long-term aging.

Wine Spectator

97-100 / 100

byJames Molesworththe4/10/2017

Offers a scintillating display of roasted apple wood, incense and warm ganache before the core of cassis, plum preserves and raspberry reduction starts to step forward. The finish, loaded with grip but remarkably polished, pulls everything together. A huge, undeniable wine, overt in style.—J.M.

Jamessuckling.com

97-98 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe4/5/2017

Very focused and reserved with a mineral, blackberry, licorice and blackcurrant character. Full and refined. Walking a tightrope between steely tannins and and dark fruit. This is highly intellectual and unique. Great finish. Remake of the extraordinary 2014? Stronger than the 2015, for sure.