E & K G

9.2

Great nose of dried red flowers and red fruit. Juicy yet elegant fruit on the palate with an undertone of earthiness. LOVE! — 5 years ago

Stefan Kallweit

9.0

Nice and fruit forward, perfect time to drink it. — 7 years ago

Brad Mattear

8.9

Yup-Another! — 8 years ago

Bo Bo

9.3

@délectable : CRI domaine st Martin des champs ! Rien à voir
@Xavier Davila : hyper bon en fait ! On ne l'a pas bu au bon moment. C'est une vendange tardive. Au top sur le roquefort. — 8 years ago

Angelo Casagrande

8.9

A summer sav st a good price. — 9 years ago

tim heyman

9.2

2014 vintage better every time I try it shd be 1er cru better next day — 9 years ago

Scott Woodford

9.6

Classic old world Pinot. — 9 years ago

with Jen

Benoit Gaulin

8.9

Excellent ! St-Francois d'Assise doit se retourner dans sa tombe. :) — 9 years ago

Andy Tam

9.1

Turned 38 so have to celebrate with my favorite Burgundy village in the penthouses of HK. Mouth full of fruit a bit young just like me paired with Belon oysters and Beluga — 10 years ago

lessrof

9.0

Pinot Noir from Beaujolais! — 10 years ago

Ryan Wofford

8.9

Drinks like cru #gamay — 11 years ago

Daniel Johnson

9.7

Exceptional! Full. Fruity. Spicy. — 12 years ago

Maeda Yuuji

9.2

Nose of violet and oak is very nice. I like this smell gorgeous. The acid is impressive but not too much.

二日目以降は香りが消えた。。。 — 6 years ago

Jason Brater

9.1

Crisp. Classic Loire profile, almost like a cremant. Great value. — 7 years ago

with Randall

Frankie Fang

9.2

With Francois in Bistro D'hotel — 8 years ago

Jonleong

9.1

very good wine, taste great — 8 years ago

Heather Rostker

9.2

2010 vintage at L'Auberge Chez Francois for Bernie & Louise's 51 wedding anniversary. Smooth easy Bordeaux - as the sommelier said, I never met a Bordeaux I didn't like. — 9 years ago

with Dave

Stanislas Violet

9.1

2014 vintage — 9 years ago

D'Airus Weems

9.3

I'm so used to Korbel, domaine st. Michelle. This was good though. Good for dinner parties. — 9 years ago

Brent Mayeaux

Production Burn Cottage Vineyard

9.1

Really good stuff. Maybe less loud and bright than the Souhaut St Epine with more structure/substance. Really soft tannin profile. Seems a bit more serious of a Syrah. It was hard to choose which I preferred. — 10 years ago

Brian Feist

8.9

Hint of berries, mild smoke drinks well $14.98 the wine store 2nd ave 71-72 st. — 10 years ago

Kyo Jin

9.2

My last bottle. Drank like a champ tonight. Dusty and peppery Cab Franc with the just right amount of funk. FX Barc Cab Franc! — 10 years ago

Robert Knowles

9.4

1990. This was great, still very vibrant with an incredible nose. Thanks Abby and Jakub! — 11 years ago

with Stefan

Alexandre Albore

8.9

Maybe tasted too young. Iodine and some vegetal aroma. Quite nervous and tannique. — 6 years ago

Dan R

9.3

Super pure and elegant — 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. — 8 years ago

Benjamin Hickey

9.0

Single vineyard, grippy, strong minerals, punchy wine. — 10 years ago

Howard Grush

9.0

Smooth and deep Syrah. — 10 years ago

K U

9.0

Big red body. Which leads you to big spices of lavender, Rosemary, sage. 70% blend of Grenache 13% Syrah 12% Mourvèdre and 5%cinsault. Dense purple plums and darn cherries.


There are 3 premier Appalachians in rhone. Gigondas, vacqueyras, chateanueuf du pope (the last being the supreme). The story goes that the two keys on the crest of the chateauneuf wine were sealed and punishable by death if you were to drink it if you were not the pope. — 10 years ago

Andrew Lampasone

Owner Wine Watch Selections

9.4

Family not in the business of winemaking Francois was in cooking school but liked the idea of becoming winemaker and planted his first vines in 1988 then made his first wines in 1991 he makes almost all of the wines available from the north 8 appellations cote rotie condrieu them grilled which is the smallest appellation in France st Joseph coronas st perret they make sparkling therein left are crazes hermitage a hermitage lots of granite except cote rotie schist. Hermitage the soils very complex crazes very similar but not as complex too cold for Grenache in the north. Very pretty bouquet with juicy peach and apricot fruit 100% marsanne varietal this name used to be used for the varietal 20% new burgund barrels more floral and mineral this varietal very pretty white with a smooth creamy textures lovely freshness and balance with pretty floral notes through the finish excellent clementine orange zest — 12 years ago