Chateau Branaire-Ducru 2012
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Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Full of ripe Cabernet tannins, this is a structured wine that’s chunky in character. It elegantly balances fruit and structure, resulting in a wine that’s sure to be impressive.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
James Suckling
A clean and fresh wine with blueberry, mineral and floral character. Medium to full body, fine tannins and a crisp finish. This is a very refined and beautiful Branaire. Better in 2017.
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Wine Spectator
Bay leaf and tobacco notes are backed by a core of damson plum, black cherry and red currant fruit. The bay leaf edge underlines the finish, with a hint of violet and a well-buried iron accent. An elegant expression of St.-Julien. Best from 2017 through 2024. 12,083 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep ruby/purple, with sweet cranberry, mulberry and raspberry/blueberry fruit, this is always a distinctive St.-Julien and the 2012 has managed to avoid any of the hollowness or harsh tannins that can afflict some of the Médocs. It is elegant, well-made and an outstanding effort in this vintage. Drink it over the next 15 or more years.
Other Vintages
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The name, given by the former owner Monsieur Ducru, means "beautiful pebbles". One of the main features of the vineyard is its richness in pebbles which contribute to the greatness of so many wines of the Medoc.
Just before the war, the vineyard became run down and many Bordeaux critics felt it no longer deserved its rank as a Second Growth. During the Medoc Classification of 1855, the Chateau was rated as a Fourth Growth. In 1942 the Borie family purchased the vineyard completely revamped the vineyard and it began receiving top ratings amongst the Second Growths. Successive generations of the Borie family oversee all winemaking operations.