2015 Ducru Beaucaillou

The 2015 Ducru-Beaucaillou has a more opulent bouquet with kirsch and raspberry scents, touches of vanilla and mint that emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, lovely balance and poise. This has real focus and plenty of tension toward the finish. It is a deftly crafted Saint-Julien, although this does not rise above its peers in this flight. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting at Farr Vintners.

The 2015 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is up-front, ripe, and incredibly sexy, yet it holds onto a terrific sense of balance and elegance. Crème de cassis, minty herbs, tobacco, and violet notes all define the aromatics, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, elegant, polished tannins, and beautiful overall purity. From a hot vintage that saw rain at the end of the year, it's not a massive or over-the-top effort in any way, and it certainly offers plenty of pleasure even today, although it’s still quite young and unevolved. If push comes to shove, I think the 2014 is slightly more successful. Give bottles another 2-4 years and enjoy over the following 25-30 years.

'A warm spring with a heatwave in May gave way to early, perfect flowering. Early June showers replenished water tables before the dry, hot conditions of June and July. 2015 is ranked one of the hottest summers in history, in terms of accumulated sunshine hours; however, there were no excesses of heat and the night-time temperatures remained moderate to cool, which helped to preserve acidity. August rains re-invigorated the vines but did not dilute the fruit. Temperatures were cooler in September, while mid-month rains followed by a dry period from the second fortnight of September facilitated the final ripening phase.' Harvest: 21 September – 6 October. 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot. 18 months in new French oak. Surprisingly evolved colour with some brick at the rim. Cassis and cassis leaf, with dark but fresh fruit on the nose and lots of savoury black-olive flavour. Much bigger and richer in the mouth than the nose predicts. Big, oaky and thickly textured, glossy. Powerful but balanced, generous. (JH)