2021 Château Branaire-Ducru, Cru Classé St-Julien

The 2021 Branaire-Ducru has realized all the potential it showed en primeur. Wafting from the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, menthol, violets and baking chocolate, it's medium to full-bodied, supple and suave, with a velvety attack that segues into a deep, fleshy palate. This is especially impressive in the context of the vintage.

The 2021 Branaire-Ducru has realized all the potential it showed en primeur. Wafting from the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, menthol, violets and baking chocolate, it's medium to full-bodied, supple and suave, with a velvety attack that segues into a deep, fleshy palate. This is especially impressive in the context of the vintage.

The 2021 Branaire Ducru, one of the smallest crops in recent years (32.5hL/ha) was bottled in early June. It has a clean and precise bouquet: blackberry, cedar, light pencil box scents and just a faint touch of undergrowth. It's certainly classic in style, yet displays more precision than you would have found in a Branaire a decade ago. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. Again, black fruit comes to the fore—graphite-infused black fruit, with a little more salinity than I recall from barrel. There’s a pleasing strictness here; the 2021 is linear, without the frills of the 2019 or 2020. Yet for those seeking traditional claret, this will fit the bill perfectly. Drink it over the next 20-25 years.

The 2021 Branaire Ducru, one of the smallest crops in recent years (32.5hL/ha) was bottled in early June. It has a clean and precise bouquet: blackberry, cedar, light pencil box scents and just a faint touch of undergrowth. It's certainly classic in style, yet displays more precision than you would have found in a Branaire a decade ago. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. Again, black fruit comes to the fore—graphite-infused black fruit, with a little more salinity than I recall from barrel. There’s a pleasing strictness here; the 2021 is linear, without the frills of the 2019 or 2020. Yet for those seeking traditional claret, this will fit the bill perfectly. Drink it over the next 20-25 years.

The 2021 Branaire-Ducru has realized all the potential it showed en primeur. Wafting from the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, menthol, violets and baking chocolate, it's medium to full-bodied, supple and suave, with a velvety attack that segues into a deep, fleshy palate. This is especially impressive in the context of the vintage.

The 2021 Branaire-Ducru has realized all the potential it showed en primeur. Wafting from the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, menthol, violets and baking chocolate, it's medium to full-bodied, supple and suave, with a velvety attack that segues into a deep, fleshy palate. This is especially impressive in the context of the vintage.

The 2021 Branaire Ducru, one of the smallest crops in recent years (32.5hL/ha) was bottled in early June. It has a clean and precise bouquet: blackberry, cedar, light pencil box scents and just a faint touch of undergrowth. It's certainly classic in style, yet displays more precision than you would have found in a Branaire a decade ago. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. Again, black fruit comes to the fore—graphite-infused black fruit, with a little more salinity than I recall from barrel. There’s a pleasing strictness here; the 2021 is linear, without the frills of the 2019 or 2020. Yet for those seeking traditional claret, this will fit the bill perfectly. Drink it over the next 20-25 years.