la Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou2019

RED WINE

Description

The wines of La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou come from the vineyard of Château Ducru-Beaucaillou. This exceptional Médoc terroir is situated between the Gironde River to the east, the center and the west of the Saint-Julien appellation. The estate owes its name to its “beautiful pebbles” ("beaux cailloux", in French) which, because of their high quartz content, make for soils that are poor in plant nutrients.

It is precisely this “agrological paucity”, as the late Bordeaux professor and geographer, René Pijassou, described it, that makes them so well-suited to the production of fine wine. In the east, the plots are planted along the rolling Médoc ridges, just above the estuary, while those at the epicentre benefit from a microclimate nurtured by the little La Mouline stream that meanders through the middle of the appellation from west to east before disappearing into the Gironde.

La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou is an original expression of the terroirs of Ducru-Beaucaillou, a blend that is one of a kind. Ducru-Beaucaillou’s elitist approach is fully at work here. As is a passion, that of a team dedicated to excellence. A high-flying wine that perfectly expresses its terroir of exception. This wine blends a high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon (around 60% each year), completed with Merlot Noir (35% to 37%) as well as a subtly spicy touch of Petit Verdot (3% to 5%). It is carefully aged for 12 months in barrels of which two-thirds are new each vintage.

Tasting notes

An intense and deep color with a black cherry hue. Seductive and balanced with lovely freshness, floral touches, jammy black fruit, toasted and vanilla notes. Well-rounded with a beautiful aromatic palette combining red and black fruit, oaky notes, toast. The tannins are polished and classy, indulgent finish with very good length.

Vinification

La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou 2019 will age for twelve months in Bordeaux barrels, 60% in new oak and the balance in one-year barrels (twelve months). Oak of certified French origin, naturally dried outdoors for a guaranteed minimum of three years. Regular topping-up during the first six months, racking from the lower bunghole every two or three months with a total of four rackings.

Vintage

It looks like the 2019 vintage was, once again, a vigneron's vintage. Season after season, this vintage demanded observation, analysis, rigour, advance preparation. The winegrower, at one with nature, before benefiting from the exceptional summer conditions, knew how to deal with the mixed spring weather, how to assess the risks, how to understand the temperament of each plot. Without doubt, we can’t say often enough how much talent is brought together in our rows of vines, to work this beautiful material cleanly, sustainably, passionately.

While regretting the slight drop in volume compared with 2018, above all we welcomed the rare quality of the musts in 2019. This vintage will fascinate us for a long time: deep, structured, balanced and marked with a rare distinction. It has so much to tell us...

A radiant wine-growing summer after a spring of twists and turns. Excess rainfall in April, fine weather in May, a sharp return to cool temperatures in early June; heatwaves at the end of June and July (and therefore with no risk of sunburn at this stage of the cycle), almost no rain over the whole of the summer and until the end of harvest, very moderate temperatures in August and September (again avoiding the risk of burning exposed berries).