2003 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou (750ml)

Your Price: $160.00

Out of stock

Vintage: 2003
Format: 750ml
Wine Name: Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou
Vineyard:
Designation: 2eme Cru Classe
Appellation: St. Julien
Producer: Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou
Varietal: Red Bordeaux Blend
Type: Red
Country: France
Region: Bordeaux
Sub-Region: Medoc

Tasting note: Ruby-red. Sexy nose offers superripe currant, raspberry, graphite and coconut. Lush, very rich and fine-grained, with an almost confectionery sweetness and thickness for this St. Julien. Atypically powerful on the back end, but not hard. Bruno Borie took over direction of this property with the 2003 and immediately switched to a heavier bottle with a longer neck that could accommodate a 55-millimeter cork. A terrific showing-but I'd still give this wine another four or five years of aging. (92pts Stephen Tanzer)

Tasted: May/Jun. 2006
Score: 92
Drink: N/A

Tasting note: Intense aromas of blackberry, currant and cherry. Full-bodied, with masses of big, velvety tannins and a finish that lasts for minutes. A blockbuster. A classic big, juicy claret. (97pts JS, Wine Spectator)

Tasted: Mar. 31st, 2006
Score: 97
Drink: 2012+

Tasting note: One of the most compelling Ducru Beaucaillou’s made in the last quarter century is the 2003 (which is also the first vintage to be packaged in an impressive heavy glass bottle with a special long cork). A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot, it is a powerful, tannic, blockbuster effort revealing a liqueur of mineral-like component intermixed with creme de cassis, raspberry, and flower characteristics, and an atypically high 13.5% alcohol. Having firmed up considerably since bottling, it exhibits tremendous definition, weight, and concentration. It is a wine for patient connoisseurs. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2025+. A brilliant tour de force! (96pts. Robert Parker)

Tasted: Apr. 2006
Score: 96
Drink: 2010-25

Tasting note: I wrote last year at the future campaign, that the high total polyphenal index - around 80 - of this wine was not detectable. I also wrote it had an unobtrusive nose and that the palate showed a few excellent qualities, combining power with delicate sensations. I was wondering then, if ageing would confirm this good impression. As a matter of fact it did, and even beyond my expectations. Here we have a really grand nose, delicate and fruity, pure, beautiful and especially delectable after swirling. The entry on the palate is superb; pulpy, muscular and juicy, but always keeping its great tactile sensation. Rich mid-palate. Very tight evolution with a combination of fresh and mature flavours. Towards the end, the tannins relax their grip, revealing the aromas. Magnificent. (95pts Jean-Marc Quarin)

Tasted: May 2005
Score: 95
Drink: N/A