Château Branaire-Ducru 2022
St-Julien 4ème Grand Cru Classé
Bordeaux, France
Regular price£307.53
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Arriving: In Stock
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| Style: Red | Packaging: OWC |
| ABV: 14.5% | Closure: Cork |
| Organic: | Drink from: 2030 |
| Biodynamic: | Drink to: 2055 |
| Grapes: 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot | |
Critic scores
96 RP, 96 NM, 95 AG, 96 JS, 95-97 JD, 94-96 LPB, 16+ JR
Critic reviews
"The 2022 Branaire-Ducru has turned out just as brilliantly as I had hoped. Offering up a deep bouquet of crème de cassis and blackberries mingled with pencil shavings, burning embers and cigar box, it's medium to full-bodied, velvety and unctuous, with a rich core of fruit, lively acids and sweet structuring tannins. Iterated and complete, it concludes with a long, broad finish. This blend of 60.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31.5% Merlot, 5.5% Cabernet Franc and 2.5% Petit Verdot is worth a special effort to seek out."
William Kelley, March 2025, RobertParker.com
"The 2022 Branaire Ducru, bottled mid-June, was one of the most impressive I tasted from barrel. It retains a wonderful bouquet with more red fruit compared to its peers, hints of iodine and a touch of desiccated orange peel. The wine shows fine, almost clinical delineation. It is medium-bodied with an extremely well balanced palate, slightly powdery tannins and a sense of tension and brightness that, like some of the best Saint-Juliens in 2022, puts it above the 2019 or 2020. Quite linear and mineral-driven towards the sapid finish, this is a classic Branaire-Ducru that will age with style in bottle."
Neal Martin, February 2025, Vinous.com
"The 2022 Branaire-Ducru is a dense, plush wine, atypically so for a Saint-Julien that is usually more reserved. Unctuous in feel, with superb balance, the 2022 Branaire-Ducru is quite the extrovert. Soft contours wrap around a core of dark cherry, plum, mocha, new leather, espresso and licorice. Yields were 33HL per hectare, lower than the historical norm here in the upper 30s/lower 40s because of stress on the vines. The 2022 spent 16 months in French oak, with 60% new wood. This is a decidedly exotic Branaire-Ducru. I can't wait to see how it ages. Tasted two times."
Antonio Galloni, January 2025, Vinous.com
William Kelley, March 2025, RobertParker.com
"The 2022 Branaire Ducru, bottled mid-June, was one of the most impressive I tasted from barrel. It retains a wonderful bouquet with more red fruit compared to its peers, hints of iodine and a touch of desiccated orange peel. The wine shows fine, almost clinical delineation. It is medium-bodied with an extremely well balanced palate, slightly powdery tannins and a sense of tension and brightness that, like some of the best Saint-Juliens in 2022, puts it above the 2019 or 2020. Quite linear and mineral-driven towards the sapid finish, this is a classic Branaire-Ducru that will age with style in bottle."
Neal Martin, February 2025, Vinous.com
"The 2022 Branaire-Ducru is a dense, plush wine, atypically so for a Saint-Julien that is usually more reserved. Unctuous in feel, with superb balance, the 2022 Branaire-Ducru is quite the extrovert. Soft contours wrap around a core of dark cherry, plum, mocha, new leather, espresso and licorice. Yields were 33HL per hectare, lower than the historical norm here in the upper 30s/lower 40s because of stress on the vines. The 2022 spent 16 months in French oak, with 60% new wood. This is a decidedly exotic Branaire-Ducru. I can't wait to see how it ages. Tasted two times."
Antonio Galloni, January 2025, Vinous.com