Bordeaux Wines

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(Château Ducru-Beaucaillou) The 2008 Ducru-Beaucaillou is one of the top wines of the vintage and a stellar bottle in the making. The wine delivers a truly stunning bouquet, as it soars from the glass in a mélange of cassis, dark berries, French roast, tobacco leaf, a complex base of gravelly soil tones and a deft framing of cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full and wonderfully suave on the attack, with a sappy core of fruit, ripe, perfectly-integrated tannins and great length and grip on the nascently complex finish. While Ducru has produced exemplary efforts in both 2009 and 2010, make no mistake, the 2008 is the finest of the troika. A great 2008! (Drink between 2022-2075)John Gilman | 95 JGA gem from the Left Bank is the 2008 Château Ducru Beaucaillou, which comes from just one-third of the total production and is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot. This brilliant Saint-Julien boasts a still vivid ruby/purple color as well as a head-turning bouquet of crème de cassis, high-class smoke tobacco, truffle, and some gravelly, rocky minerality. Possessing medium to full-bodied richness, silky tannins, and thrilling purity of fruit, it’s just at the early stages of its drink window and has an easy two decades or more of prime drinking.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDOne of the stars of the vintage, and a remarkable achievement in 2008, with impressive richness, this dense purple colored wine is almost as opaque as the 2010. Spring flowers, crushed rocks, creme de cassis and some subtle oak are followed by a full-bodied, concentrated wine that transcends the vintage character in its power, richness, and aging potential. It also exhibits tremendous precision, purity, and depth of character. It is more forward than the 2010 is likely to be, but probably not as sumptuous as the 2009 will turn out to be. This is a wine to buy. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2035.Robert Parker | 95+ RP(Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, Cabernet Sauvignon, St-Julien, Bordeaux, France, Red) The 2008 Ducru-Beaucaillou smells quite Cabernet-Sauvignon with an appealing bouquet of spices, blackcurrant, black berries, and green bell pepper touches. It has a tense and straight palate with building tannins but perfectly balanced. There is a hint of bell pepper and tobacco on the finish that amplify an impression of freshness on the long, airy finish. Its needs some time (10 years) to chill out. (Drink between 2022-2030)Decanter | 95 DECWow. This is really impressive for the vintage, with a solid core of raspberry, currants and spices. Full and round, with velvety tannins and a long, long finish. Superb winemaking for the vintage. Try after 2013.James Suckling | 94 JSThe 2008 Ducru-Beaucaillou has a fresh and vibrant nose. Occasionally this can come across a little stemmy and maybe it does here, but it is a facet that I think lends complexity and intrigue, touches of brine combining wonderfully with the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, quite firm tannins. There is a solid backbone to this Ducru-Beaucaillou; maybe this bottle is just closing in a little and one that would have benefitted from more decanting (indeed, it develops more precision in the glass.) Very fine, but give it more time. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château.Vinous Media | 94 VMChocolate, coffee and sweet plum notes give this wine great richness. It has wood that needs time to integrate, although the main character is beautiful, velvet-textured, ripe fruit and plenty of sweet tannins.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThis is dark and brooding, with a tarry wall holding the black currant, melted licorice and espresso notes at bay for now. Extra roasted sage, cedar and briar push in on the finish, which shows an old-school hint. Rock-solid. Best from 2013 through 2021.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

This is really pretty and jumps out of the glass with lots of raspberry and blueberry aromas and floral undertones. Medium to full body, silky tannins and a bright acidity. Drink or hold. Very impressive for the vintage.James Suckling | 92 JSAn open, generous wine that sings easily. It has great ripe berry fruit, with fresh acidity as well as weight and richness, making it more powerful than some vintages of this wine.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEAnother winning 2008 St.-Julien, with the appellation’s telltale beam of black currant, fig and anise wrapped with charcoal and espresso notes. There’s serious grip. Needs some time. Best from 2013 through 2021. 8,330 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WSThe 2008 Château Langoa Barton, from the Leoville Barton team, is mature yet still fresh and lively, with impressive amounts of blackcurrant and black raspberry fruits supported by complex spice and bouquet garni notes. It’s balanced, has a beautiful sweetness of fruit, and a good finish. Drink it over the coming decade.Jeb Dunnuck | 91 JDThis potential sleeper of the vintage has come around nicely now that it is in bottle. Elegant yet substantial, it exhibits a dense purple color as well as a sweet bouquet of black currants, cassis, cedarwood, herbs, toast and loamy soil undertones. Medium to full-bodied with sweet tannin (a component that was not evident from barrel), it should drink nicely for 15 or more years.Robert Parker | 90 RPThis has clear balance, with rich and flexible tannins and a lovely undercurrent of graphite and tobacco. The fruits are well defined and brambly, but they are not hugely intense. One to drink now and over next five to eight years. Drinking Window 2018 - 2033Decanter | 90 DEC

92-94 Barrel sample. A big, concentrated, powerful wine, yet also one restrained by elegant fresh fruits. There is plenty of style here, a complex mix of fruits, acidity and balanced tannins.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThe evolved, soft, silky 2008 Talbot is unquestionably a sleeper of the vintage, offering a dark plum/garnet color, loads of roasted herb, berry, black cherry, plum and Asian spice aromas intermixed with an attractive forest floor-like note. Already drinking well, this medium-bodied St.-Julien should continue to evolve for 10-15+ years.Robert Parker | 90 RPThe 2008 Talbot is just beginning to show the first signs of ageing on the rim. The bouquet is charming with perfumed blackcurrant, cedar and sage aromas, a splash of Indian ink developing with time in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin that lend this Talbot a smooth texture. There is lactic, an almost chocolaty element to this Talbot that possibly originates from the oak treatment that slightly compromises the terroir expression. It is built in a traditional style, not a deep or powerful Saint Julien but it delivers satisfying freshness with a dash of spice on the finish. You could drink this now although personally I would afford this another couple of years in bottle. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting.)Vinous Media | 90 VM(Château Talbot, St-Julien, Red) Deep in colour, just hitting that 10-year mark. It could begin to be drunk now, but equally it could also stay teetering on the brink for a few more years before opening. It has layers of black fruit and good complexity, with a clear deepening of texture and structure compared to some of the earlier vintages. The 2008 vintage needed to be carefully handled from a technical point of view, something that they have achieved here. I would put Château Talbot alongside Château Branaire-Ducru as two examples of classical St-Julien wine, still old school enough to value well-integrated tannins and a sense of freshness. Not always the best choice to impress, but they are to be enjoyed with company over food. (Drink between 2018-2028)Decanter | 90 DEC