Le Petit Ducru de Ducru Beaucaillou 2019

The vineyard that comprises Petit Ducru has been in the Borie family (who own Ducru-Beaucaillou) since 1970, when Jean-Eugène Borie purchased 18 hectares of vines from 3ème Grand Cru Classé, Château Lagrange. Over the next few years, Jean-Eugène added 12 hectares of surrounding land, eventually creating a 25-hectare vineyard nestled between three Saint-Julien Grand Cru Classé estates: Châteaux Gruaud-Larose, Lagrange and Talbot.

Prior to 2018, the fruit from this vineyard was sold as Château Lalande-Borie, and it was known as one of the best values in not only Saint-Julien, but all the Haut-Médoc. It was also where Bruno Borie, current proprietor of Ducru-Beaucaillou, would experiment with farming and winemaking techniques that became incorporated at Ducru-Beaucaillou. Starting in 2019, Bruno decided to bottle Lalande-Borie as Le Petit Ducru, the estate's third label.

As you can see, this is no ordinary third label, but rather a serious Saint-Julien from prestigious terrior made with unrivaled focus and dedication.

In 2019, Bordeaux enjoyed another excellent vintage that produced wines with ripe, dense tannins and a welcome charge of freshness and energy. The 2019 Petit Ducru is a blend of 60% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot, aged for 12 months in French oak barrels, 30% of which were new. Le Petit Ducru pours a deep, almost opaque, ruby color with purple highlights. The nose is textbook Saint-Julien with pristine aromas of cassis, blackberries, vanilla, baking spice and tobacco, showing the perfect balance of intense ripe fruit and new oak. The palate is full-bodied and packed with suave, mouthcoating tannins that frame the high concentration of rich black fruits, sweet spice and oak flavors that flow into a long, concentrated finish. Le Petit Ducru shows a remarkable balance of elegance and power; every time you think the wine will cross a line, it artfully pulls itself back. This is a serious Saint-Julien, a wine whose quality is easily on par with a Grand Cru Classé.