Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Producer description of "Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou"

The vineyard is located in the commune of Saint-Julien in the area of the same name in the Médoc (Bordeaux). The estate, which resulted from a division of the Beychevelle barony, was acquired in 1795 by Bertrand Ducru, who gave it his name. The second part of the name is derived from the pebble soil (beau caillou = beautiful pebble). In the 1855 Bordeaux classification, it was awarded second place (Deuxième Grand Cru Classé). It is said that the classification is due to the fact that Ducru-Beaucaillou was constantly served during the meetings of the classification committee.

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou - Château

In 1866, the estate was acquired by the Johnson family, who sold it to Desbartes de Burke in 1928. It was finally acquired by Francis Borie (1890-1953) in 1941. His son Jean-Eugène Borie (1921-1998) then developed it into a top wine estate. Today, the estate is run by his second son Bruno Borie (the first son is François-Xavier Borie). This branch of the Borie family also owns other wine estates under the name Châteaux & Domaines Jean-Eugène Borie (see the closely intertwined Borie and Castéja family history under Borie-Manoux).

The vineyards cover 70 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon (70%) and Merlot (30%); previously small areas of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot have been cleared. The extremely long-lived red wine (the website mentions 35 years) is aged for 18 months in barriques that are 50 to 80% new. It is categorised as a Super-Seconds, which means that it actually deserves first class (Premier Grand Cru Classé) due to its high quality. Particularly outstanding vintages are 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. The second wine is called "La Croix de Beaucaillou".

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou - Château und Flasche

Pictures: Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

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Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

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