Presentation
Duluc de Branaire-Ducru 2020 is the Second Wine of Château Branaire-Ducru, 4th Great Classified Growth of Saint-Julien. Coming from a selection of plots and notably from young vines of the property, it benefits from the same care and precision as the Grand Vin.
The vintage
The 2020 vintage delivers a wine that is both elegant, generous, and fresh, carried by a blend dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon. The nose precisely reveals aromas of black and red fruits, while the palate offers a nice volume, a structure that softens with aeration, and a persistent, fresh, and elegant finish.
Terroir
The Branaire-Ducru vineyard is made up of several distinct plots, but whose terroir remains homogeneous on a very beautiful crest of Beychevelle. The soil is mainly composed of quaternary gravelly-siliceous alluvium, laid on an alios base. The average age of the vineyard is 35 years. The grape varieties at Château Branaire-Ducru are 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 4% each of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The planting density is 8,000 vines/ha for a yield of 40hl/ha. Harvesting is done by hand with strict sorting in the vineyard and on tables. The farming method is conventional.
Winemaking
Stainless steel tanks, thermoregulated in different sizes adapted to the vineyard plots. Tanks filled by gravity. First modern gravity-fed installation in Bordeaux in 1991. Everything is done, during vinification and aging, to express the potential of the grapes and therefore the terroir, in a wine where fruit, aromatic complexity go hand in hand with richness and balance, without overextraction or heaviness.
Ageing
Aged in French oak barrels for 12 months.
Varietals
Cabernet sauvignon : 57%
Merlot : 36%
Cabernet franc : 5,50%
Petit verdot : 1,50%
Specifications
Yield : 41.00 hL/ha
Tasting
The nose, pure and precise, quickly reveals itself upon aeration and offers a beautiful range of aromas of black and red fruits. The palate offers a nice volume that unfolds gently and ends with a beautiful aromatic freshness, very persistent. The structure, slightly tight at the beginning, quickly melds with aeration. The tasting ends with a beautiful elegant finish.