An absolute legendary wine that's as good as anything out there, the 2016 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is reminiscent of the 2010, yet perhaps with a touch more opulence. A total blockbuster of a wine, it offers huge minerality as well as pure crème de cassis, liquid violets, graphite, and hints of tobacco that all emerge on the nose, and this fabulous Ducru-Beaucaillou is full-bodied, massively concentrated, and structured, yet somehow never loses its overarching sense of purity, balance, and elegance. This ultra-classic beauty deserves another decade of bottle age and will evolve gracefully for another 3-4 decades. Hats off to proprietor Bruno Borie for another incredible achievement.

Power and purity with intensity, length, volume, style, and character, this is what great wine is all about. On the palate, the wine is mouth-filling, yet, light on its feet, almost weightless. The tannins are refined, The wine is silky, The fruits, which express their purity are expansive. As good as the nose is, on the palate, the wine builds in all 4 directions. as it crosses your taste receptors and coats your palate, teeth, and gums. The finish is seamless, resonating for over 60 seconds!. The wine blends 85% Cabernet Sauvignon with 15% Merlot. Drink from 2030-2065.

The 2016 Ducru-Beaucaillou is extraordinary, illustrating Bruno Borie's connection with his terroir. Exhibiting aromas of cedar, graphite, dark berries, spices aromas and mineral-driven notes, it's full-bodied, incredibly elegant and tense with a velvety texture, yet sappy and fresh. Exquisitely balanced with fine-grained tannins, a few years of cellaring will be needed for the terroir expression to hit its stride.

Super perfumed, attractive violets with a thread of fresh blueberries, cassis, blackberries and dark plums, delivering a very enticing impression. Beautiful ripeness here. The tannins are perfectly ripe and layers meld into each other, carrying deep, graceful and plush, velvety dark fruit long into the vibrant and seductive, chocolate-laced finish. Great potential. Try from 2024.

Right at the top of what St Julien can produce in this exceptional vintage, this is chiselled, focused, well-hewn tannins, with waves of graphite, cocoa bean, pencil lead and crushed rose petals. Still barely revving up at 7 years old, with decades ahead of it, and will keep delivering the goods. Balanced and textured, tannins that barely put a foot wrong in their control of the cassis and bilberry fruit. Emmanuel Bonneau first year as technical director. Harvest September 24 to October 14, Eric Boissenot consultant. 36hl/h yield. 100% new oak.

(98+ points) Very deep purple-black in color, the 2016 Ducru-Beaucaillou delivers a pronounced, enticing nose of baked plums, blueberry preserves, fruitcake and boysenberry with suggestions of lilacs, mocha, hoisin and exotic spices plus a waft of cedar chest. Full-bodied, rich and opulent in the mouth, the palate has layer upon layer of black fruit preserves and spicy nuances, matched by a very firm, grainy frame, finishing with epic length and depth. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

This wine conveys density but its richness is sublimated by the complex structure and beautiful ripe fruit. Its power comes from the structure as much as the fruit, promising a wine with an immensely long life ahead of it. Drink from 2025.

The 2016 Ducru-Beaucaillou, 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot, is deep garnet in color. A little closed to start, patient swirling brings out wonderfully pure notes of blackcurrant preserves, juicy blueberries, and chocolate box, leading to touches of unsmoked cigars, cedar chest, and crushed rocks with a waft of lavender. The medium to full-bodied palate is layered with black fruits and mineral notions, supported by ripe, firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and earthy.

The 2016 Ducru-Beaucaillou was picked 24 September to 10 October, matured in 100% new oak for 18 months. It has an ethereal bouquet, the purest on any Ducru-Beaucaillou, with copious dark cherries, violet and mineral scents, a touch of forest floor emerges with time. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a fine bead of acidity, a little more red fruit towards the finish than the 2018 tasted alongside and maybe just beginning to close up to mature over the long-term. What a fantastic wine, one that will vie with the 2009 and maybe the 2018 as one of the peaks. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. -- Neal Martin

Offers exotic, cashmere-textured, mocha-infused blackberry, cassis and plum puree flavors, with smoldering incense and warm fruitcake notes and a swath of plush yet serious grip too boot, showing ample depth and breath. As distinctive a Bordeaux as there is these days. Best from 2025 through 2040. 7,500 cases made. — JM