M. Christopher Roebuck

9.3

Bang on great right out of the bottle. This probably won't reach the potential of the Talbot in the long term, but it's right there ... Now. Also deep and opaque in appearance. Less fruit on the nose. Pepper, briar patch, and a subtle black licorice. This wine seems to already have settled into it's complete incarnation. Of course with it's medium acidity and solid alcohol level, maybe it gets better with age, but pop and pour it now just in case.

93 points — 3 years ago

Steve Mitchell

9.3

What’s not to like about this Talbot Pinot? — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

On the nose, bright, ripe, ruby; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, blue fruit mix, strawberries, creamy raspberries, plums, cranberries, black tea, loamy soils, dry clay, dry stones, limestone minerals, saddlewood, crush dry rocks, dark moist soils, dark chocolate, vanilla, field of violets, lavender and fresh red florals.
The palate is medium-full yet a little lean. The fruits are elegant, ruby, ripe; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, blue fruit mix, strawberries, creamy raspberries, plums, cranberries, black tea, loamy soils, dry clay, dry stones, limestone minerals, used leather, cedar, crush dry rocks, dark moist soils, dark chocolate, vanilla, field of violets, lavender and fresh red florals. The acidity is very good. The length, balance and length are nice. The structure a little lean. It a well polished rich fruit finish, but is a little short.

Photos of; the Chateau, Owner Patrick Maroteaux (may he RIP), Estate grapes and their barrel room.

Producer notes & history...Branaire Ducru has a long history has a long history that dates back to 1680. In those days, Branaire Ducru was a part of a larger Beychevelle. When the owner of Beychevelle passed away, he left behind a huge Bordeaux vineyard that was seriously in debt. To pay off the debt, the vineyard was broken up and sold. Several new estates were created in Saint Julien, which include Chateau Branaire Ducru. Jean-Baptiste Braneyre created the estate in 1680. As was was tradition in Bordeaux, the owner gave the estate his name, which is where the first part of the properties name came was given. Braneyre was later altered to Branaire. Braneyre bought the land we know as Branaire Ducru because of the terroir. He understood that Cabernet Sauvignon grew best on the deep gravel soils found in the Medoc. With that, we have the birth of Branaire Ducru. Or, at least the Branaire part. The middle name was gained through marriage. Marie Braneyre married Pierre de Luc which as you can guess, gave us the Branaire Duluc (the name of their 2nd wine). Almost 100 years later, the first winery at the property was constructed in 1824. It took almost 200 years for the Ducru portion of the wines name to make its way to the label. In 1875, with no direct descendants, Gustave Ducru, a more distant relative took over the property and added his name to the label making it, Chateau Branaire Ducru.

Patrick Maroteaux bought Branaire Ducru in 1988 from the Tapie family who had owned It since 1919. Prior to his ownership of Branaire Ducru, Patrick Maroteaux had no prior experience in the wine business. His background was in banking and then a president of the massive sugar company, Eurosucre. Patrick Maroteaux also served as the President of the UGCB, Union of Grand Crus Bordeaux, and as the President of the Saint Julien appellation.
Since his purchase, Patrick Maroteaux has focused much of his efforts on performing extensive work in the vineyards and in the cellars. He also began reducing the yields. Additionally, he increased the size of their vineyards by 10 hectares. Patrick was also modernized their winemaking techniques.
In fact, Patrick Maroteaux was one of the first producers in the Left Bank to being filling his tanks entirely by gravity. He did this beginning with the 91 vintage. This was done with the help of Philippe Dhalluin.

Philippe Dhalluin left Branaire Ducru in 2004 and took the same position as the director for wine making at Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Philippe Dhalluin was replaced by Jean Dominique Videau.

Chateau Branaire Ducru is a family business. The son of Patrick Maroteaux, François Xavier Maroteaux has carried the family business and joined the estate. Sadly, on November 19, 2017, Patrick Maroteaux passed away at the age of 67. His son, François Xavier Maroteaux took over the full time responsibilities of managing the property.

All the new technical improvements at Branaire Ducru quickly paid off for Patrick Maroteaux. Beginning with the 2000 vintage, Branaire Ducru became one of the top Saint Julien wines. It’s also one of the better values for high quality Bordeaux.

The 60 hectare vineyard of Branaire Ducru is planted to 65% Cabernet-Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. The vineyard is very close to the size it was during the time of the 1855 Classification.

The terroir is deep gravel with clay soils. The best terroir is located near the chateau, closest to the Gironde river. They also have blocks further inland, with a small section of vines placed close to Chateau Lagrange and Chateau Talbot. The vineyard can be divided into 15 different blocks with 70 different parcels of vines. On average, the vines are close to 35 years of age. However, the estate has older vines as well. The oldest vines date back close to 90 years of age. The vineyard is planted to a vine density that ranges from 6,700 to 10,000 vines per hectare. The higher levels of vine density are for the newer plantings. The goal of the property is to continue increasing the vine density in all of their better terroirs.

Branaire Ducru, fermentation takes place in 28 temperature controlled, stainless steel tanks. The 28 vats vary in size. The vats range in size from as small as 30 hectoliters and up to 210 hectoliters. Each vat is sized for the needs of each specific vineyard parcel. Each vat is filled using the gravity based system.
Branaire Ducru is aged in 60 to 65% new, French oak barrels for between 16-20 months. The amount of new oak varies depending on the quality, character and style of each vintage. On average, the annual production is about 25,000 cases depending on the vintage. — 7 years ago

Keith Watson

8.9

Talbot Inn, Somerset — 9 years ago

TJ Maxwell

9.1

Talbot Diamond T Estate Chardonnay "Cuvée Audrey" 2002. — 10 years ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.2

2018 vintage. Estate owned by the Bignon Cordier family (Talbot). Cabernet Sauvignon (59%), Merlot (29%), Cabernet Franc (7%) and Petit Verdot. First vintage under the management of Jean-Michel Laporte and a very solid effort. Cassis and fine cedar wood. Very approachable fresh, fruitdriven Haut-Medoc with impeccable balance and good length. Terrific value at 15 euros.Highly recommended. Abv. 14%. — 3 years ago

iOsmo

9.0

W skrócie...pyszne. Bardzo delikatne. — 5 years ago

Shay A

9.2

A mini ‘86 showdown with this against a Talbot. I found both to be extremely similar with a slight edge to the Talbot. This was lighter on the palate with red fruit dominated primary notes and a mix of cherry pipe tobacco, leather, cedar and herbal spice. Drinking nice. — 6 years ago

with Mark

Daniel M

9.0

Nice wine for this vintage. Softer tannins than those of Talbot 2010. Velvet on the palate. Nice black fruits on the nose and on the palate. Quite long. Quality time too! — 8 years ago

Joshua Chan

9.4

Great bouquet straight out of the bottle. Incredibly tasty. Tannins have softened. — 8 years ago

Chris Foley

9.0

Really really good. Had at 208 Talbot with Ash — 9 years ago

Joe Nemeth

10

This old and empty bottle I drank with friends and family members on my Birthday it's a Magnum and wasn't as well cared for as another Magnum of Chateau Talbot also a 1949 Magnum also drank on my birthday with friends who as well as me, are old farts or dead. I'm still kicking but not a clue as to why? Possibly the fine wine I/we consumed? The Talbot was considerably better and I paid less for it back in the 70's. Drank it in 1979 it & me were 30 back then. I loved it then and my guess is I'd love it today!
From my, "For What it's Worth Department!" Joe — 9 years ago

Phil Booth

10

Smokey at the front, vanilla at the back and unremittingly interesting throughout. Unbelievably brilliant. — 10 years ago

Eric Urbani

9.1

2003 vintage, a bit muddy right out of the bottle but distinct cherry and dark fruit on the nose and palate. A leading vineyard in Monterey at the cool north end of the Santa Lucia Highlands. <300 cases - 10 barrels in French and US oak. Robb Talbot grower, Tom Stutz winemaker. — 5 years ago

Shay A

9.3

Last week was a combo of 4th Friday and Open That Bottle Night on back to back nights. Needless to say, the lineup between both days was full of heavy hitters, so I’m only posting standout bottles.

Fun to try next to a 2000 Talbot. This was decidedly lighter on the mid palate, but much more tannic at the finish. More to the red and black fruit spectrum showing black cherries, raspberries, underripe blackberries alongside lots of herbs, graphite, rose petals and cedar. The palate seems to beg for more time in bottle as it certainly gained power the longer it was open. I’d hold. — 5 years ago

Frederic Azemard

9.2

In vino dec 2017
Brought by Patrice big surprise — 7 years ago

Henrik Poulsen

9.0

13% alc.

Being a CA wine history buff (and admittedly a wine necrophiliac!) I always have difficulties seeing "flaws" in weird/special wines from an era long gone.

This wine for some reason had me think of a diluted version of Ch. Talbot. Bretty. But still enjoyable if you have an open mind.....

— 8 years ago

with Jeff, WineMascot and 3 others

Rob Moose

9.1

Started off slowly, not tight but not particularly inviting, but came alive after 2-3 hours open. Was a very nice yin yang with Talbot in terms of flavor profile. — 9 years ago

with Brendan

Yuriy Roman

9.8

Dinner at Christophe Coperet's house. He opened some delicious bottles:
Champagne Tarlant - la matinale - 2003
Sauternes - Château Yquem - 1981 (this was ridiculously good)
St Julien - Château Branaire Ducru - 2008
St Julien - Château Talbot - 1998
St Julien - Château Beychevelle - 1988
Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru "La Combe d'Orveau" - Domaine Henri Perrot Minot - 1998 (my favorite of the list)
Pouilly Fuisse - Domaine Corsin - 1998. — 9 years ago

John Van Trijp

9.5

Those were the days for Gruaud Larose and Talbot.... — 10 years ago