2013 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

From a challenging, cooler, rainy vintage, the 2013 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou nevertheless is unquestionably an outstanding wine, revealing a translucent ruby hue with no bricking, classy currant, tobacco, cedar, and damp herb nuances, medium body, ripe, integrated tannins, and outstanding length. This classy, satisfying effort will evolve for another decade.

‘A cold, wet May and June resulted in late flowering and reduced yields. July was hot and dry and August was sunny. Rain and humidity at the end of September brought disease pressure, necessitating extra time and effort in the vineyards and selection in the winery.’ Harvest: 26 September – 9 October. 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot Noir. Aged 18 months in new French oak. Mid to deep garnet. More leafy and a little bit minty. Juicy, relatively simple but a bit lean. A slight dustiness in the aroma adds freshness. Tannins still pretty chewy but a bit lean overall and I can't help thinking less new oak would have helped. A weak vintage for sure. (JH)

Softly-spoken in its tannic architecture, the sweet smoky oak is more evident than in the more powerful vintages, and this is ready to drink, almost unheard of for a 10 year old Ducru. Having said that, the blue fruit character is still delivering, and the flavours are drawn out by mouthwatering salinity on the finish. The finesse of St Julien wins the day in the end. Harvest September 26 to Octber 9, Eric Boissenot consultant. 80% new oak.