1996 Ducru-Beaucaillou, St-Julien
SKU #110448
94 points
Int'l Wine Cellar
Bright medium ruby. Deep, superripe aromas of dark berries, black cherry and bitter chocolate; slightly exotic crystallized fruit aspect. Dense, sweet and wonderfully rich; a lovely combination of palate-caressing chocolatey fruit and firm underlying structure. Finishes with excellent grip and great palate-saturating sweetness. Another outstanding 1996 Medoc wine in the making. 94+
(7/2002)
93 points
John Gilman
The 1996 Ducru-Beaucaillou is just beginning to stir from its closed adolescence and is showing very good promise for its eventual period of peak drinkability, but that is still more than a decade away. The nose is starting to develop some secondary layers of complexity in its mélange of cassis, dark berries, currant leaf, cigar smoke, a touch of Ducru’s nutskin, complex soil tones, herbs and a nice framing of cedary, spicy wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite black fruity in personality, with an excellent signature of soil, a very tobaccoey personality, fine-grained, but quite substantial tannins, lovely acidity and a very long, soil-driven and classic finish. This is a superb vintage of Ducru that should really get interesting to drink around its thirtieth birthday and prove to be very, very long-lived. Impressive juice. 93+
(5/2012)
93 points
Wine Advocate
The 1996 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot harvested from the 23rd of September to the 8th of October. Medium brick colored, it delivers mature notes of sweaty leather, camphor, tobacco and dried mulberries with a core of kirsch, charcuterie and dried cranberries plus a waft of sandalwood. Medium-bodied, the palate has fantastic freshness with a light chewiness to the texture and loads of herbs spark red and black fruits, finishing earthy. (LPB)
(8/2020)
93 points
Vinous
The 1996 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a vintage that I have not tasted for a number of years. Matured in two-thirds new oak, it has an open and expressive bouquet, a mixture of red and black fruit, estuarine scents, touches of liquorice emerging with time. It is higher-toned than the 1995 with iodine evolving with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent tannins, fresh acidity, quite sweet in the mouth and maybe like the 1995, just missing that complexity and terroir expression that I think has defined recent vintages from this estate. Maybe it is slightly compromised by some Merlot (25%) that was picked a but later, but still, there is a lot of pleasure to be found in this 1996. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. (NM)
(7/2022)
91 points
Wine Spectator
Intense aromas of cedar, vanilla, leather and blackberry. Full-bodied, with coffee, vanilla, ripe fruit and a medium finish.
(3/2007)
K&L Notes
93 points Neal Martin's Wine Journal: "Another great showing from one of the estate’s finest wines of the 1990s. In fact, I think the 1996 will surpass the 1995. It has consistent aromas with the bottle last year: blackberry, smoke, tobacco with that tincture of sandalwood, whilst the palate has a svelte texture that belies the firm tannins engendered by the ripe Cabernet Sauvignon. It just builds and builds in the mouth to a very refined finish that can only leave a smile on your face. Delectable." (03/2012)