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Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou is a magnificent sight overlooking the Gironde.
The name, given by the former owner Monsieur Ducru, literally and appropriately means "beautiful pebbles". The chief feature of the vineyard is its richness in the pebbles, or "cailloux" which contribute to the greatness of so many wines of the Medoc. This gravel, about 5 meters deep, is on a calcareous base of about the same thickness.
In 1795 Bertrand Ducru acquired the estate from a fellow named Bergeron although at that time there was no majestic chateau building and no place to reside. He had two daughters, one whose father-in-law was a renowned lawyer and Under Secretary of State Auguste Ravez, who enhanced the reputation of "Ducru-Beaucaillou" within higher circles in France during the evaluation period prior to the 1855 classification. In May 1860 one of the daughters acquired the entire estate but sold it in March 1866 to the wife of Nathaniel Johnston, who purchased Ducru-Beaucaillou through her own personal resources rather than her husband's.
In 1878 the mildew epidemic began to spread from the southwest of France. The manager of Ducru, one Monsieur E. David had been plagued by thieves stealing grapes and chose to deter the villains by painting the young shoots a gaudy green/blue colour based on a solution of copper sulphate. To his surprise, when mildew struck the vineyard the gaudy copper-sulphate lacquered vines displayed resistance to the disease. When two professors, Millardet and Gayon heard about the phenomenon they asked Johnston to apply the mixture on a greater area of vineyard. Johnston agreed, though insisted on carrying out the risky experiment on another less prestigious property: Chateau Dauzac now in Margaux. It was a success and "Bordeaux treatment" was born.
1878 also marked the year that Nathaniel Johnston decided to build two square towers to flank either side of the building. It is said that he did not concern himself with these appendages, but after completion agreed that the "ensemble created much more of an effect". In addition, the splendid towers added a little more grandeur to the label and this could not have harmed sales.
Ducru-Beaucaillou and Johnston's fortunes began to wane in the 1920's when the all-important American market began to wither under Prohibition. In 1928 he reluctantly sold the estate to Debarats de Burke but Ducru remained in the doldrums and fell into neglect. In 1941 it was acquired by Francis Borie whose family name has since become synonymous with Ducru-Beaucaillou. Borie instigated a much-needed program of renovation but alas he passed away in 1953 before the fruits of his labour could be seen. But his son Jean-Eugène continued his father's good work and by the mid-1950's Ducru-Beaucaillou was revivified and regaining its reputation. The Chateau is until today in the hands of the Borie family.
  
Facts & Figures
Area under vine
50 hectares
Production
240,000 bottles
Soil
Gunzian gravel
Grape varieties
65% Cabernet Sauvignon
25% Merlot
5% Cabernet Franc
5% Petit Verdot
Ageing
18 to 20 months in 50 to 65% new French oak
Average age of the vines
38 years
  
Wines available
All wines sold by BDXV come direct from Bordeaux and have been stored at the Chateaux or in professional storage facilities since the time of bottling. BDXV’s wines have never ever been in the hands of private collectors. This gives you the customer the highest level of quality guarantee that the wines you buy have been stored in optimal conditions since the time they were bottled.
Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou 2005, EUR POA*
Score: 97 points. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2050.
Robert Parker: 97 points
April 2008: The 2005 Ducru Beaucaillou is a 10,000-case blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Merlot (they used to produce 18,000-20,000 cases). It is an exceptionally powerful wine with a dense purple color, superb intensity, and a beautiful, sweet nose of spring flowers, raspberries, blueberries, graphite, and creme de cassis. Full-bodied with fabulous concentration, exceptionally high tannin, good acidity, and massive layers of richness that build incrementally on the palate, this monumental effort is more structured than their outstanding 2003. It may be the finest wine produced at this estate since the 1982 and 1961 Ducrus.
April 2007: Another St.-Julien that has put on significant weight since I tasted it last year, Bruno Borie’s blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Merlot (10,000 cases rather than the typical 18,000-20,000) is a powerful effort boasting 13.6% alcohol. Its inky/purple color is followed by an extraordinary nose of violets, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Full-bodied with fabulous intensity, great acidity, and huge tannins, it is an amazingly vivid, full-bodied wine with monster levels of richness and tannin. Although made in a totally different style, it ranks alongside the monumental 2003.
April 2006: Bruno Borie has done a fabulous job at Ducru Beaucaillou. The 2003 may be the greatest Ducru produced in the last 3-4 decades, and the 2005 is not far behind. A more backward style of wine with higher tannin, more elevated acids, and extremely high alcohol (13.6%) for this estate, its inky/purple color is followed by notes of sweet cassis and plums intermixed with licorice, crushed rocks, and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied and structured with a whoppingly long finish, it needs 8-10 years of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2030+. It is a blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Merlot.
Jancis Robinson: 18 points
More Merlot this year (33 per cent) than usual. Dark, brooding purple crimson. Spicy, almost brûlée nose. Lots of acidity – very pronounced. Very dry tannins on the finish too, so a wine for the very long term. Dry, rather Las Cases-like! Should not be touched for ages. Much more brutal than the Latour tasted immediately before it, even though convention would dictate that the Pauillac would be more long term than the St-Julien. Very intense. There are many wines this dry on the finish but not many with the intensity of fruit to support the tannins.
Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou 2003, EUR POA*
Score: 96 points. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2025.
Robert Parker: 96 points
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!
Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou 2000, EUR POA*
Score: 94 points. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2030.
Robert Parker: 94 points
Floral notes intermixed with raspberries, black currants, minerals, and a hint of new oak emerge from the dense purple-colored 2000 Ducru-Beaucaillou. The wine is sweet, dense, and medium to full-bodied, with undeniable elegance and finesse as well as a finish that lasts for 45+ seconds. A wine of remarkable symmetry, balance, elegance, and minerality, it is the Lafite-Rothschild of St.-Julien,.
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