Duluc de Branaire-Ducru 2022

Tasting characteristics and advice for Duluc de Branaire-Ducru 2022

Tasting

Nose
The nose combines fruity and spicy expression with delicate freshness.

Palate
A full, round attack leads into a suave palate with ideally integrated tannins. Liveliness and balance come together harmoniously through to the finish.

A fresh and delicate Second Wine from Saint-Julien

The estate

Grand Cru Classé in 1855, the Château Branaire-Ducru is one of the great names of the Saint-Julien appellation. Owned by François-Xavier Maroteaux, son of the late Patrick Maroteaux, and managed by Jean-Dominique Videau, Château Branaire-Ducru offers, vintage after vintage, a superb expression of this great Left Bank Bordeaux terroir, with wines renowned for their elegance, velvety texture on the palate, and consistency.

The vineyard

The Château Branaire-Ducru vineyard covers 60 hectares following a 10-hectare expansion in 2009. The vines, averaging 36 years of age (with some over a century old), are planted on Quaternary gravelly-siliceous alluvial soils, recognized as one of the warmest terroirs in the Bordeaux region, enabling late-ripening grape varieties to thrive while ensuring perfect phenolic ripeness.

Part of the vineyard, as well as the young vines, is specifically dedicated to the production of the Duluc de Branaire-Ducru cuvée, the Second Wine of Château Branaire-Ducru, a benchmark among the great Saint-Julien wines.

The vintage

Moderate winter rainfall helps replenish water reserves. Earlier-than-average budbreak is followed by a spring whose relative warmth favors rapid vine growth. A particularly wet June gives way to a summer with hot, dry conditions, affecting above all the young vines. Small berries combine richness with good phenolic ripeness. This very high-quality vintage stands out for expressive, elegant Merlots as well as generous, aromatic Cabernet Sauvignons.

Blend

Cabernet sauvignon (59%)
Merlot (36%)
Petit verdot (4%)
Cabernet franc (1%).