The Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 2017 is a prestigious "Second Growth" (Deuxième Grand Cru Classé) red wine from the Saint-Julien appellation on Bordeaux's Left Bank in France. It is a highly-rated vintage known for its elegance, finesse, and remarkable fruit purity, generally scoring in the mid-to-high 90s by top wine critics.
The wine is aged for 18 months in 100% new oak barrels. It has deep dark berry flavors like cassis, plum, and black cherry. You will also taste hints of violet, tobacco, and crushed rocks.
A "blend" is a mix of different types of grapes. "Cassis" is a fancy French word for blackcurrant berries. "Oak" refers to the wooden barrels used to age wine. Oak adds warm flavors like vanilla and smoke, and makes the wine's texture smooth. The 2017 vintage is praised for being very smooth and easy to drink earlier than some other heavier years.
Key Details
- Blend: 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot.
- Alcohol: 13.5% ABV.
- Maturation: Aged for 18 months in 100% new French oak barrels.
- Drinking Window: 2022 to 2050.
- Tasting Notes: It features vivid aromas of blackberries, dark cherries, blueberries, and violets. The texture is silky, smooth, and refined, rather than intensely powerful.
Tasting Notes
- Aroma: Ripe fruit aromas of blueberry, blackcurrant, and wild blackberry, interwoven with complex layers of violet, pencil lead, wood smoke, and clove.
- Palmistry: Medium to full-bodied with extremely silky tannins, bright acidity, and a long, aromatic finish. Compared to the 2015 and 2016 vintages, the 2017 vintage leans towards ultimate elegance and balance.
- Drinking Window: Approximately 2022 to 2050. It is already quite appealing to drink now and also possesses excellent aging potential.
