Professional Reviews
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John Gilman
95
The 2008 Ducru-Beaucaillou is one of the top wines of the vintage and a stellar bottle in the making. The wine delivers a truly stunning bouquet, as it soars from the glass in a mélange of cassis, dark berries, French roast, tobacco leaf, a complex base of gravelly soil tones and a deft framing of cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full and wonderfully suave on the attack, with a sappy core of fruit, ripe, perfectly-integrated tannins and great length and grip on the nascently complex finish. While Ducru has produced exemplary efforts in both 2009 and 2010, make no mistake, the 2008 is the finest of the troika. A great 2008!
(05/2012)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
95
One of the stars of the vintage, and a remarkable achievement in 2008, with impressive richness, this dense purple colored wine is almost as opaque as the 2010. Spring flowers, crushed rocks, creme de cassis and some subtle oak are followed by a full-bodied, concentrated wine that transcends the vintage character in its power, richness, and aging potential. It also exhibits tremendous precision, purity, and depth of character. It is more forward than the 2010 is likely to be, but probably not as sumptuous as the 2009 will turn out to be. This is a wine to buy. (RP) 95+
(05/2011)
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James Suckling
94
Wow. This is really impressive for the vintage, with a solid core of raspberry, currants and spices. Full and round, with velvety tannins and a long, long finish. Superb winemaking for the vintage.
(12/2010)
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Wine Enthusiast
94
Chocolate, coffee and sweet plum notes give this wine great richness. It has wood that needs time to integrate, although the main character is beautiful, velvet-textured, ripe fruit and plenty of sweet tannins. (RV)
(04/2011)
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Vinous
93
The 2008 Ducru Beaucaillou has a very well defined bouquet with blackberry, bilberry, mineral and smoke. This is very focused and detailed, the oak beautifully integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin, a fine line of acidity, crisp and detailed with a harmonious finish laced with white pepper that lingers in the mouth. There was a point where the 2008 came across as a little stemmy however, this element has clearly been subsumed and it should age with style over the next two decades. (NM)
(05/2018)
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Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar
92
Ruby-red. Pungent, vibrant aromas of cassis, bitter chocolate and graphite. Silky and seamless, but with terrific lift to the tight core of raspberry, mineral and chocolate flavors. Strong but integrated acidity gives superb vinosity to the wine's racy fruit. Finishes brisk, perfumed and long, with suave, dusty tannins. This wine went into a shell with aeration, suggesting that it will need at least several years of bottle aging. I would not be surprised if it merited an even higher score ten years down the road. (ST) 92+
(08/2011)
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Wine Spectator
92
This is dark and brooding, with a tarry wall holding the black currant, melted licorice and espresso notes at bay for now. Extra roasted sage, cedar and briar push in on the finish, which shows an old-school hint. Rock-solid. (JM)
(04/2011)
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