2017 Domaine du Bouscat Caduce
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Tasting notes
The 2017 Caduce is dark, fleshy and totally seductive. Black cherry, plum, tobacco, dried herbs, chocolate are all amped up in this racy, voluptuous red. Its impossible to fully escape a slightly vegetal note that lurks beneath the fruit. Even so, Caduce remains a tremendous value. The blend is 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec and 5% Cabernet Franc.
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Average Score
James Suckling
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate
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Severe spring frost impacted 75% of the vineyard in 2017, resulting in about half the usual yields. The 2017 Caduce is a blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec and 5% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it reveals quite a spicy nose with notes of cinnamon stick, allspice and cloves over a core of black raspberries and cherries plus a waft of underbrush. Medium-bodied, elegantly played and refreshing, it has nice, plush tannins and a spicy kick to the finish.
I continue to love the wines of François Dubernard, who pulls from 9.2 hectares of hillside vineyards just west of Fronsac. While his vineyards were decimated in 2017 due to the frost, losing 75% of the production, what he was able to put in bottle is brilliant. Starting with his entry-level 2017 Domaine Du Bouscat Caduce, which is 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance Malbec and Cabernet Franc, it offers pure cassis and blueberry fruits as well as lots of sappy herbs, violets, and tobacco on the nose. Made in a more elegant, pretty style than normal, it’s medium-bodied, has terrific tannins, and is already a joy to drink.
The 2017 du Bouscaut “Caduce” has a blackberry and black plum bouquet, a touch of graphite in the background, quite “punchy” in style and not holding back. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin, quite firm in the mouth with a light, simple, slightly tarry finish. Fine.