Château Branaire-Ducru: Tasting & Drinking

One of my more illuminating encounters with the wines of Château Branaire-Ducru was the 1989 vintage, tasted in a horizontal St Julien line-up, many (yes, many!) years ago. I remember the tasting quite well. The tasting was single-blind, meaning that although we knew the wines on show that evening, nobody knew which was which. There was one wine that was streets ahead of all the others, and this was revealed as Château Léoville-Barton; with no other second growths in the fray what remained included the likes of Château Beychevelle, Château St-Pierre, Château Talbot and so on. So what was this other wine, a close match to the Château Léoville-Barton in terms of quality, structure, perfume and pleasure? The great joy of blind tasting is that it removes preconceptions; the label was soon revealed as Château Branaire-Ducru, to considerable surprise.

In subsequent years I have again and again found the wines of the interminable discreet Château Branaire-Ducru to be punching above their weight. Without even having to refer back to my notes I recall the confidence and precision of the 2005 vintage, and then the 2006 vintage which was very close in terms of quality. Similarly strong vintages such as 2009 and 2010 have also allowed the estate to excel, although it is always worth considering lesser vintages as well. Under the direction of the Maroteaux family there has been significant investment here, and this shines through in a marked improvement in quality in the wines. Once undoubtedly an underperforming estate, this is no longer true, something that was very apparent to me on tasting that 1989 more than a few years ago now.

In recent years, this upwards trend has continued, and these wines have become solid buys; most recently of all, the 2014 and 2015 vintages are fitting testaments to the investments made. The 2016 vintage was stunning, the team here taking advantage of what this fine season offered them, and while the frosted 2017 vintage was more difficult, the young 2018 promised much. The 2020 and 2022 have both displayed excellent promise in their youth. Will they age as well as the fine 1959, tasted in Bordeaux not that long ago? There is no reason to suspect that they won’t. This château remains one of the most worthy of our attention on the left bank. (18/7/06, updated 26/10/16, 15/4/20, 16/11/24)

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