1975 Ducru-Beaucaillou, St-Julien

It is funny, given my immense respect for the wines from this estate, that I had not tasted an example of the 1975 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou in more than twenty-five years! At our tasting, the wine was paired up with the desultory ’75 Léoville Las Cases and the two wines could not have been more different in their quality levels. The ’75 Ducru today offers up a simply beautiful bouquet of cassis, dark berries, cigar wrapper, a complex base of gravelly soil tones, cedar and a lovely touch of brown spices in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and still moderately tannic, with a fine core of dark fruit, lovely soil signature and grip and a long, well balanced finish. The bit of remaining tannin here still have that slightly dry edge of the 1975 vintage on the Left Bank, and that will probably be the case for this wine’s entire life, but this characteristic is quite modest and does not take away from the enjoyment of the wine today.

A bit shy at first, the 1975 Ducru-Beaucaillou is more vibrant and fresher with air. Fresh with a menthol hit, the bouquet shows red-dark berries, blackcurrant, spices and tobacco aromas. The palate is perfectly balanced with fine-grained tannins, tension and freshness. This is not the densest of wines but it's a very elegant and refined version. (YC)