Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 1999

The deep purple-colored 1999 Ducru Beaucaillou, which represents 60% of the crop, offers aromas of crushed stones, raspberry liqueur, and black currants. This sweet, pure, and harmonious wine possesses elegance, finesse, and multiple nuances rather than power, concentration, and structure. This is Bordeaux at its finest. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2018.

I love the aromas of chocolate, walnut, dark berries and flowers. Full-bodied, with supersilky tannins and a fresh, fruity finish. The mouthfeel is wonderful. Really silky. Just coming around now. Yes. -- '89/'99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now. 17,500 cases made.

The 1999 Ducru-Beaucaillou offers aromas of raspberry, plum, black cherry, and mocha intertwined with grilled notes. This juicy wine has a sappy texture, firm tannins, and a long, penetrating finish with sous-bois aromas. Fine-grained tannins will allow for five more years in the cellar.

73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot. 18 months in French oak (66% new). Rainy vintage meant strict selection of only 60% of the crop was needed. Transparent dark garnet. Very firm, classic nose – no obvious sweetness. Cassis and sleek – rather winning and silky. Very fine traditional St-Julien character with great balance. Classic dry, appetising finish and just a very light kick of tannin on the end. A surprising success – my favourite Ducru in this selection too – from a distinctly uncelebrated vintage! (JR)

The 1999 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a vintage that I have found perplexing in the past, and the last time I was unable to give a score. Returning again, I find the nose a little diluted with light black fruit, a touch of brine and sea salt, but oddly it reminds me of the 2013. The palate is medium-bodied with light tannins, fine acidity, fresh red fruit. But overall, it is missing complexity and the personality that I seek in a fine Ducru-Beaucaillou. Tread cautiously with this 1999...or seek out the superior preceding vintage. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château.

Medium-bodied, this lighter, finesse-driven style of Ducru Beaucaillou is dominated by spicy red berries, freshness, tobacco, herbs, and earth. Already close to fully mature, drink this over the next decade, as it’s not a wine made to age for the very long term.

Medium garnet, deep at the core. A noble bouquet, interwoven with fine oak and herbs, supported by a classic, Ducru-typical note of plum and cedar, with a hint of cinnamon. Delicate on the palate, sweet, dense tannins, generous extract, a fine, light vanilla note, toasted bread. Needs a good ten years and will then give great pleasure as a particularly elegant Ducru.

00: Barrel sample (18/20): noble bouquet threaded with fine oak and herbs, accompanied by the classic Ducru notes of plum and cedar, with a hint of cinnamon. Delicate palate with sweet, dense tannins, generous extract, fine light vanilla note, toasted bread. Needs a good ten years and will then give great pleasure as a particularly elegant Ducru. 02: Dark garnet, pronounced watery rim. Delicate Damassine plum bouquet, Dominican tobacco, multi-layered, almost tender on the nose. Light, elegant palate, yet supporting, maturity-seeking tannins gradually appear, forming a clear astringency. Underestimated by its color. An aristocratic wine that will only reach its true drinking window from 2010. May then gain a point again (as at the barrel sample) (17/20). In magnum, it showed its best side in Ste. Maxime in May 2006 – even though it was still far from optimal maturity. Lots of extract sweetness, elegant, delicate marzipan note in the extract. (18/20). 06: At the primeur event in Basel, from standard bottles with slight brett notes, so better to wait. 07: Again from the same cellar, this time drunk in the south of France. At first a bit muted (brett notes again!), then it gained on an elegant base. We left about 200 ml in the decanter, put it in the cool cellar and drank the rest after 24 hours; it was then clean, elegant and silky – pure Ducru. (18/20). 08: The color shows maturity with brick-red nuances at the rim, still a sparkling garnet inside. Open bouquet, gamey nuances, chicken broth, glutamate and overripe plums, earthy sheen underneath, surprisingly mature on the nose. Elegant, easy-drinking palate, soft tannins, plush malty extract, soft acidity, still discreetly firm inside, but it needs this backbone for the few remaining years of pleasure it will offer. If you don’t drink it now, you may miss its best moment. One hour of decanting and the initially tricky aromas are almost gone. Nevertheless, it has lost something compared to earlier impressions. Tasted in September at Ducru over dinner. Long decant, but still not quite in the sweet spot. A week later in Ste. Maxime it was softer, friendlier and better. (18/20). 09: Fairly full bouquet, first chocolate tones indicating some nose maturity, discreet caramel and red cherries. A bit mealy on the tongue and the fruit shows red compote, not fully ripe pips with a peppery touch. Good Ducru at first maturity with 20 years of guaranteed pleasure. (17/20). 13: When I otherwise write about red plums, these are usually hints of skin under-ripeness. And that may have been the case in the early years for this Ducru. But it seems a bit too many new barriques were purchased at the time, and so the half-creamy sweetness now brings a nice aromatic compromise to this now elegant, finely matured wine. Ducru is anyway (like Latour and Haut-Brion) known for surprisingly good bad-weather variants. This wine – enjoyed here from magnum – now gives a lot of pleasure as a finely balanced Saint-Julien!

Floral, silky, fresh bouquet, cherries, currants. Silky, elegant palate with delicate fruit, good tannins, sweet aromatics, fine finish. 18/20 drink - 2034

Ruby red with a violet hue. Delicate bouquet with notes of blackberry and a hint of caramel. Slightly spicy on the palate, where the wine shows a medium-intensity body with good breadth. The structure appears sound and the tannins are already well integrated. The wine has reached good maturity but still has respectable potential.

Logo on the cork: CRL Dark color, of medium and mature intensity. Moderately aromatic and discreet nose. Soft, fruity, flavorful palate, but with medium body and length.