2011 Branaire Ducru
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Tasting notes
2011 Branaire is another very solid St Julien full of juicy fruit and ripe tannin. It feels a little embryonic at the moment but appears to have all the constituent parts to be a terrific success. It doesn't appear to be quite in the same class as Gruaud Larose this year but very decent none the less.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeannie Cho Lee MW
Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
More reviews and scores
An underrated wine that has shed its youthful austerity to offer terrific drinking today, the 2011 Branaire-Ducru exhibits aromas of sweet cassis, loamy soil, cigar wrapper and classy new oak, followed by a medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated palate framed by powdery tannins and lively acids. On release, it was far from apparent that this would emerge as a charming classic, but in a blind tasting, I mistook it for the estate's 2010.
The 2011 Branaire-Ducru has a lot of concentration on the nose with blackberry, raspberry, tar and marine-scents bursting from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied, quite dense and grippy, but here I find the finish a little tannic and austere, plus it lacks a bit of length. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting.
Tasted blind. Some development and a little bit of sweatiness on the nose. Sweet start and just a little simple. (JR)
About the producer
This Fourth Growth estate, just a stone’s throw from the wide expanse of the Gironde estuary, has been revitalised under the stewardship of former banker and businessman Patrick Maroteaux, who purchased the property in 1988.