Wine's world

La Petit Ducru

28/04/2020

On the occasion of the property's tercentenary, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou has decided to create "Le Petit Ducru de Ducru-Beaucaillou", which will henceforth replace Château Lalande-Borie.

This change of name, which is also accompanied by a change of decoration, will take effect from the 2018 vintage.


Thus, if you had booked en Primeurs of Château Lalande-Borie 2018, the bottles that will be delivered in the spring of 2021 will bear the new label "Le Petit Ducru", which you can now discover below.

Le Petit Ducru 2018

What's the progress of the 2017 red Bordeaux wines?

21/02/2020

Now that the 2017 Bordeaux wines are in bottle, the "after bottling" tastings are starting to appear and deliver their verdict on this endearing vintage, whose main fault is to be surrounded and overshadowed by 4 great vintages (2015-2016 and 2018-2019).

The Revue du Vin de France kicked off last September with a partial tasting of 95 bottled vintages, accompanied by a laudatory commentary: « 2017 surprised us very pleasantly during this tasting. The style of the vintage is very different from its predecessor [2016] but there is no lack of assets, including freshness, a very juicy side and really tasty fruit. Many wines possessed, from the primeurs, charm and crispness, qualities that have been very well preserved by the ageing process and which are still expressed with happiness. ».
 
Neal Martin (vinous.com) as just published his notes from exhaustive tastings carried out during his 15-day stay in the Bordeaux region last autumn. He also expressed his overall satisfaction with the 2017 Bordeaux: « Generally, the reds maintain the classicism and linearity that they displayed from barrel, and I was pleased to find that many have retained – or in some cases enhanced – their freshness now that they are in bottle. ».
 
We don't have the space to detail all the notes, analysis and comments of the more than 500 (!) 2017 Bordeaux wines tasted by Neal Martin, but below are some of his thoughts (in bold the wines in our current selection):

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The podium

Out of the 247 wines rated 90/100 or better, here are the 3 highest steps of the 2017 podium:
 
97/100 : Latour, Lafleur
96/100 : Mouton-Rothschild, Belair-Monange, Ausone
95/100 : Haut-Brion, Margaux, Lafite-Rothschild, Montrose, Cos d'Estournel, Hosanna, Trotanoy, L'Église-Clinet, Canon, Pavie

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The appellations


Neal Martin indicates a slight superiority of the right bank, confirmed by his notes, and on the left bank a preference for the northern Médoc. Here is the number of crus that have obtained a score equal or superior to 92/100 :

 
- Pessac-Léognan : 9 crus                                     - Various Right Bank : 5 crus
- Margaux : 9 crus                                                - Pomerol : 17 crus
- Saint-Julien : 8 crus                                            - Saint-Émilion : 35 crus
- Pauillac : 13 crus
- Saint-Estèphe : 4 crus

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The 12 wines Neal Martin would buy


 
Neal Martin has compiled a list of its 12 most interesting wines for 2017, at all price levels and on different appellations:
 
Pessac-Léognan white : Domaine de Chevalier and Ferran blanc
 
Haut-Médoc / Moulis : Branas Grand Poujeaux and Lamothe-Bergeron
Saint-Estèphe : Calon-Ségur
 
Various Right Bank : Dalem, La Mauriane and Roc de Cambes
Pomerol : Trotanoy
Saint-Émilion : Pierre de Lune and Sansonnet

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The best ratio score (=quality) / price


Price differences between wines with the same rating are considerable (ranging from 1 to 30, such as the Fronsac Les Trois Croix rated 92/100 as Cheval-Blanc). Thus, it is always interesting to know for each rating the cheapest wines, in a way the best quality/price ratio in their category.

Here is the classification note by note of the best placed crus among those that we are currently offering you:

 
95/100 : Cos d'Estournel (151,50 €), L'Église-Clinet (236,00 €)

94/100 : Pape-Clément (87,00 €), Smith Haut-Lafitte (95,00 €), Pichon Comtesse (127,50 €)

93/100 : Langoa-Barton (44,50 €), Cantenac-Brown (49,00 €), Malescot St-Exupéry (49,50 €)
 
92/100 : Les Trois Croix (16,50 €), Dalem (18,50 €), Clos de Boüard (25,50 €)
 
91/100 : La Chenade (17,00 €), La Mauriane (17,50 €), La Vieille Cure (18,50 €)
 
90/100 : Clos Floridène (14,00 €), Clos Manou (22,00 €), Marquis de Calon and Siran (26,00 €)

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Conclusion

 
Neal Martin confirms the overall quality of the 2017 red Bordeaux wines, which he describes as « they are smart, respectable and self-effacing, not ambitious, but they do have class ». At the very least, he places them on a par with the fine 2014, 2012 and 2011 vintages, underlining their own qualities of freshness, fruitiness and tannic sweetness. They will be delicious and will give pleasure quickly (2022-2025), perfect to wait for the maturity of the great 2016, 2015 ...
 
The price of 2017 is today more or less at the same level as 2014 or 2012 and, even if the harvest was small (due to the frost at the end of April), we are convinced that they will not change in the medium term. The 2017 Bordeaux wines are unquestionably made for amateur drinkers and not for investors.


New classification of the crus bourgeois (Médoc)

20/02/2020

Following the cancellation of the previous classification in 2007, the historical classification of the crus bourgeois du Médoc had been replaced by a simple label issued annually.

The new classification is a return to tradition: now valid for 5 years (from the 2018 vintage to the 2022 vintage), it once again distinguishes the crus bourgeois according to a 3-level hierarchy.

  • After blind tasting five vintages, 249 "crus bourgeois" were selected from the eight Médoc appellations.

  • Among them, 56 Châteaux obtained the title of "crus bourgeois supérieurs", including several that are present in our selections: Lousteauneuf, Lamothe-Bergeron, Du Retout, Fonréaud, Deyrem-Valentin, La Tour de Mons and Tour des Termes.

  • At the top of the pyramid, only 14 crus have been awarded the highest distinction of "crus bourgeois exceptionnels", including Belle-Vue, Charmail and Lilian-Ladouys.


While we can only welcome this new classification, which is more permanent and more legible for consumers, we nevertheless regret that many distinguished Médoc growths did not wish to be part of it (Sociando-Mallet, Gloria, Ormes de Pez, Haut-Marbuzet, Poujeaux, Chasse-Spleen...). But perhaps they will be there in 2025... ?

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