Scott E. Becker

9.3

[Tasted on May 11, 2019 at Home]

We bought this wine when we visited the winery in Sancerre. Beautiful dessert wine. Late harvest Sauvignon Blanc from a cool climate. Fresh flowers with a chalky note on the nose. Inviting golden honey notes, but sweetness is restrained compared to a Sauternes. Golden raisin, vein of minerality, with great balance. — 6 years ago

Sam Kamoun

9.1

Nuits-Saint-Geoges 2009, excellente surprise, merci Gaby! — 7 years ago

Jean-Phillippe Landry

9.5

Outstanding, beautiful wine. Not overly mineral but sharp and bold. — 7 years ago

Lauren S

8.9

Nice subtle nose and flavors. — 8 years ago

Andy Frenxh

9.5

Great wine for the price. A bit tart on the front, but it's good overall — 8 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

A Saint-Joseph party 🎉🍷wine! Wildly smellicious. Bloody animal carcass, pink grapefruit rind, uncracked peppercorns, cracked stones, hint of milk chocolate. Smooth, velvety soft, and gluggable texture. Not super concentrated, but plenty flavorful enough. Blood-soaked salty rocks, peppercorns, and some alien form of wild dark berries. No structure for aging, but funky fun right now. — 8 years ago

Hao Feng

9.2

The beauty doesn't fade after 17 years. A village wine can shine too! — 9 years ago

Jay Stephens

8.9

Excellent mix of earth and smoke. Pairs nicely with chicken or pasta dish — 9 years ago

Carlos Toro

9.1

At Thunevin with owner Jean-Luc Thunevin. Very fresh and powerful. Loved it. Needs aging. — 10 years ago

K J

9.4

Petit machon. Very nice. Fruity but not overly. Bright balanced. Very nice. — 10 years ago

Brianne Guist

9.4

Next to clos de la Roche — 11 years ago

Alessandro Rossi

9.4

I Grand Cru di Morey-Saint-Denis, sopratutto i suoi, hanno una marcia in più ! — 12 years ago

Seungwoo Ko

10

Nice flavor — 6 years ago

Henrik Poulsen

9.5

14.3% ABV.
I’ve always had difficulties understanding how (some) critics can compare this to Burgundy.
Clos Saint-Denis or Clos de la Roche? For real?

I understand preference and reference points but enough with the nonsense.
This is uniquely California.
And as such it is STELLAR. — 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

Stephanie Miskew

9.0

Citrus, minerals & spice with a creamy texture & bright acidity. Paired nicely with a Goat Cheese Salad w Strawberries & Herbs. — 10 years ago

Jonathan Gray

9.4

2010. Georges Lignier owns half of Clos des Ormes, a 4 hectare vineyard that sits right under Clos de la Roche. Fun to drink now, but has serious structure to age. — 10 years ago

Tim Parkhouse DWS, CWE

9.0

Sous Roche exhibiting some beautiful sous-bois & vine smoke. Some really complex tertiary aromas at play, very light on its feet, but finishing with satisfying length. An underrated, often overlooked, higher altitude appellation, usually favouring white wine production. I can say with certainty that this is the best bottle of Burgundy I have ever bought for $10! Really showing it's hand and great proof that you don't have to drop crazy $ buying into the whole 1er/G.C. game to find a really solid bottle. — 11 years ago

Mal Jones

9.7

60% Roussanne 40% Marsanne one of 25 producers that make a Saint Peray. Hermitage Blanc at 1/5 the price. — 11 years ago

Severn Goodwin

9.2

Adding some chill, bottle is showing a little more alcohol than the stated 13% ABV... — 6 years ago

Marc vanholst

8.9

Still Ok after 46 years but has lost a bit of its complexity and depth. Has been great however to taste this bottle together with Chantal and Jean Luc Remy. — 7 years ago

Kenneth Hargreaves

9.3

The 2011 is showing quite nicely. Typical Saint Emilion style from start to finish. Excellent find. — 7 years ago

Jeff Jones

9.0

Rita really enjoyed this...meal was not good. — 8 years ago

Robert Gilliam

9.0

Smells like peach. Almond. Buttery. Well balanced minerality and smooth finish. — 8 years ago

Bill Morgan

8.9

Excellent for a summer picnic fresh fruit crisp — 9 years ago

Steph Lewis

9.1

Great drinkable wine from our trip to Burgundy. — 9 years ago

George Chen

9.4

04 drinking beautifully! These slightly off vintages really show the place and backbone profiles of these wines as nothing masks it. Dry roses and pitted red fruit with elegance and integrated tannins and acidity. Lovely drink. They have it as a Clos de la Roche bug it's a Clos St Denis! — 10 years ago

Charles (Chad) Bucklin

Owner and founder of C. T. Bucklin Wine Advising

9.1

More enjoyable and expressive compared to the '11 Chambertin. Great wine which will only get better #maisonrochedebellene — 10 years ago

Magnus Mosén

8.9

Flickvännens val! Jag trodde nästan pinot noir. Rosigt, bärigt, parfymdoftande med en del peppar eftersmaken. — 11 years ago

Aaron Smethurst

9.7

Delicious. Bold. Full flavor. — 11 years ago