TN: mucho Ducru

Seven good geeks gathered last night at Fabio Piccolo Fiore for a vertical of Ducru-Beaucaillou (we were supposed to be 8, but car trouble knocked out one friend). Nice table, a couple of service glitches, but that veal chop is fun.

Opener was the 2007 Ramonet "Les Vergers" Chassagne-Montrachet 1er. Table seems to have divided luck with Ramonet and PremOx, but my experience has been quite iffy, so I'm in camp of drinking up early. Not too painful to drink this early- lemon and pit fruits, herbs (though not mint!), a touch of oak. Nice way to start (and to revisit when the crab salad came around). B+

On to the reds:

1966 Ducru-Beaucaillou (St Julien) I never actually tasted, a sniff was enough, a quick trip to Madeira. Too bad, because good bottles of this are quite nice.

1970 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou (St Julien) Double-decanted in afternoon. Showing well, rather plush black fruit on palate, a touch of animal, some complex tertiary aromas of cigarbox/tobacco/cedar family. Tangy acids, resolved tannins. B+/A-

1983 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou (St Julien) This was quite lovely, elegant and long. A-

1998 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou (St Julien) This was really showing well for RB 1998. Young but approachable, drink now or wait. Midbodied, elegant, tasty. B+

1996 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou (St Julien) I thought this most tight wine of the night. You can feel the weight and density, but most of this wine is in reserve. I think it will be spectacular in 10-15 years. B- for now, could easily be in A territory.

1982 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou (St Julien) This has the '82 ripeness, but it's balanced by good acids and still has some ripe tannin. Medium to full bodied, long, drinking quite well in my opinion. A-

2000 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou (St Julien) Big, powerful, quite primary, I think it'll be very very good, but this and the 1996 were my least favorite for drinking now. B/B- for now, A- potential.

2000 La Croix de Beaucaillou (St Julien) Chris realized when he decanted '66 that it was deader than a MP parrot, so grabbed this. Interesting comparison with the 2000 first wine, similar profile, but this was more easygoing and giving at moment. B/B+

1988 Ch. Mayne Des Carmes Ramon says this is the 2nd wine of Rieussec (now known as Carmes de Rieussec). It was a nice end to the evening, with that lifting '88 acidity, though I thought it a bit foursquare. Maybe not complex, but good freshness and balance. B/B+

Fun night. I could have summed up all the Ducrus with "elegant" and "balanced" Thanks all

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

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DaleW
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Lawrence Leichtman

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