The 2009 Ducru Beaucaillou will eclipse the brilliant wines produced in 2005, 2003 and 2000. It will be interesting to see how the 2009 fares against the 2010 after twenty years of aging, but my money is on the 2009. A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot that achieved 13.5% natural alcohol, this inky purple, unctuous wine possesses classic aromas of graphite, creme de cassis, blueberries, violets, licorice and Christmas fruitcake. Full-bodied and intense with Ducru’s inimitable elegance and purity, it should firm up in the bottle after 7-10 years of cellaring and last for 40-50 years. Magnificent!

Drinking Window: 2019 - 2069

Review Date: 23rd December 2011

This has an impressive powerful and hearty structure, with seductive floral, currant and licorice aromas and flavors, showing powerful tannins at the end. This sneaks up on you at the end. Structured and very, very powerful. The blockbuster tannins are sweet and fruit-coated. This is a classic, powerful style of Ducru. May be best yet. Wow. Score range: 96-99

Drinking Window: 2020 - 2055

Ducru 2009 affiche un degré d'alcool raisonnable pour le millésime, avec seulement 13,5°. Il séduit donc par sa fraîcheur et son côté très digeste. Très "Saint-Julien" dans sa construction, il possède un nez envoûtant de fruits noirs frais. La bouche est vigoureuse, mais enrobée par une chair superbe. Le milieu de bouche impressionne par son côté explosif. La finale est immense.

Drinking Window: 2020 - 2055

Review Date: 1st January 2011

Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Ducru-Beaucaillou bursts from the glass with an amazing array of black fruit preserves and savory layers—crème de cassis, blackberry tart, baked plums and mincemeat pie with suggestions of black olives, sautéed herbs and beef drippings plus wafts of sweaty leather and sandalwood. Full-bodied with a firm frame of grainy tannins and tons of freshness, the muscular fruit completely coats the palate with juicy berry preserves, while the finish is long and savory.

Drinking Window: 2020 - 2050

Reviewer Name: Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Review Date: 14th March 2019

This has a crazy nose of ripe fruits and licorice, with orchids and lilacs. Full bodied, with round and creamy textures. This is soft, but ripe and rich with a great length that goes on for minutes. Owner Bruno Borie says that this is like listening to the blues, an emotional young wine. This is their best ever. Barrel sample.

Drinking Window: 2020 - 2055

Review Date: 31st December 2010

The 2009 Ducru Beaucaillou ha not a dissimilar bouquet to the Léoville Las-Cases with intense blackberry, boysenberry, mineral and slightly heightened floral scents that is just glorious. The palate is medium-bodied with quite firm tannin, a little more masculine than its peers with a structured, cedar-infused and quite grippy finish that feels very controlled. Excellent. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits' Ten Year On tasting.

Drinking Window: 2025 - 2055

Reviewer Name: Neal Martin

Review Date: 1st March 2019

95-97 Barrel sample. Big and powerful, structured, with bitter chocolate and blackberry flavors. The wine is dense, the fruit enormous. But it does manage to keep freshness.

Drinking Window: 2020 - 2055

Review Date: 9th August 2010

Inky ruby. Intense mineral high notes complement aromas of cassis, smoke and quinine on the deep, very pure nose. Then seamless and graceful in the mouth, with very smooth, glossy, ripe black fruit and mineral flavors lifted by bright harmonious acidity, which confers a sense of refinement to all the plush fruit. The very long finish shows a persistent note of violet. Though this is an atypically big and creamy Ducru, it manages a precise delivery of archetypical Saint-Julien flavors and refinement.

Reviewer Name: Stephen Tanzer

Review Date: 1st July 2012

(an 85/15 blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot; 13.5% alcohol; pH 3.69; IPT 90; 90% new oak) Inky purple. The nose starts off almost overripe, then turns fresh and bright with air, revealing floral ripe black plum, cassis and pepper aromas. Enters pure and velvety, initially seeming almost outsized in its concentration of opulent, spicy red and black fruit flavors. But for such a plush, powerful wine, this finishes with a classically dry impression, rich and long, with palate-dusting flavor and chewy tannins. A very big wine for Saint-Julien, this Ducru will certainly need at least a few years after release to develop a bit more finesse. It reminds me of the fine '71 made here, but with the added power of the '61.

Drinking Window: 2020 - 2055

Review Date: 1st May 2010

(an 85/15 blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot; 13.5% alcohol; pH 3.69; IPT 90; 90% new oak) Inky purple. The nose starts off almost overripe, then turns fresh and bright with air, revealing floral ripe black plum, cassis and pepper aromas. Enters pure and velvety, initially seeming almost outsized in its concentration of opulent, spicy red and black fruit flavors. But for such a plush, powerful wine, this finishes with a classically dry impression, rich and long, with palate-dusting flavor and chewy tannins. A very big wine for Saint-Julien, this Ducru will certainly need at least a few years after release to develop a bit more finesse. It reminds me of the fine '71 made here, but with the added power of the '61.

Reviewer Name: Ian d'Agata

Review Date: 1st May 2010