Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou Saint Julien 2011

96 Points Wine Enthusiast - "This wine is big, dense and impressive with plenty of concentration as well as acidity. It is balanced, bringing the big, ripe black-fruit flavor and firm tannins together with great style. Barrel Sample: 94-96 Points "The Wine Advocate - "One of the vintage’s stars, the 2011 Ducru Beaucaillou is a riveting blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot. It boasts an inky/blue/purple color as well as an extraordinary nose of creme de cassis, licorice, subtle wood smoke and spring flowers, a surprising, full-bodied mouthfeel, and stunning intensity, purity, symmetry and length. Production at this estate used to be 12,000-15,000 cases, but after instituting a strict selection in addition to the smallest yields ever at this vineyard, it is down to 9,000 cases. The 2011 has considerable tannin, but it is soft and well-integrated. It should drink well for 20+ years. Readers should also be aware of just how sensational the second wine can be. \nBarrel Sample: 93-95 Points"
The 75 hectares of the Ducru Beaucaillou vineyard stretch out along the eastern side of this vast communal terroir, hugging the river in the area where the quaternary gravels are the deepest. The stones have many advantages, enhancing soil drainage, reflecting the sun on the grapes in these closely planted vines, storing heat in the daytime and restoring it at night, affording a protective cover to the soil against desiccation during the hot summer months, and so on. The clay subsoil regulates the water supply of the vines, soaking up the surplus rain during wet periods and giving it back during droughts.