1994 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
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Tasting notes
The 1994 Ducru-Beaucaillou came from a bottle in my possession for donkey's years. It has a dry and quite austere nose, black fruits, still with that odd, peaty aroma. The palate is medium-bodied and still contains a bit of flesh, though it is quite simplistic on the finish, and at the end of the day, serves as a mere footnote to the successful comeback vintage 12 months later. Bottles should be consumed in the not too distant future.
Critic scores
Wine Spectator
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
Ducru-Beaucaillou experienced an uncharacteristically shaky period between 1986 and 1990. The winemaking did not suffer, but the inconsistency from bottle to bottle (too many wines exhibited a musty, wet cardboard-like aroma), is history. The construction of a new cellar and replacement of every barrel has guaranteed the conditions necessary to produce trouble free wines. Ducru is on a roll, with fine efforts over recent vintages, including an exceptional 1994, spectacular 1995, and what looks to be an equally profound, super-concentrated 1996. A top-notch effort in this vintage, Ducru-Beaucaillou's 1994 displays a dark purple color, a textbook, cassis, mineral, licorice, and floral-scented nose, medium body, outstanding extract and purity, moderate tannin, and a persuasively rich, sweet, spicy finish. Everything is well-integrated (including the tannin). This should prove to be a classic St.-Julien. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2022.
Offers a goodly amount of ripe fruit and dried cherry flavors, well balanced for the vintage, medium, round tannins and a fruity finish. Drink or hold. -James Suckling, Wine Spectator 1997
About the producer
Second Growth estate Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou in Saint-Julien is one of the Super Seconds, an elite group of properties producing wines that regularly compete with the finest in the Médoc.