Review: 2022 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou Madame de Beaucaillou Haut-Medoc

Being one of the iconic Saint Julien Left Bank estates, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou isn’t the least bit shy about its reputation and bona fides. But its Madame de Beaucaillou offering is where the estate can let its hair down for a good time and kick back in the garden, rather than the fifty-foot dining room table. It’s the house in a more conversational register: same familiar pedigree, similar construction in its spine (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot aged 12 months in oak), but does it hold up to the family name? Let us find out.

2022 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou Madame de Beaucaillou Haut-Medoc Review

Tight up front, the wine eventually relaxes and unfolds layers of blackberries, cherries dipping towards liqueur and a brush of cassis. With time, graphite, crushed gravel and violets arrive, as if remembering it has “Haut-Médoc” on the label for a reason, delivering the austerity that keeps Left Bank loyalists returning for more. The tannins have grip but steer the fruit, that light earthy streak, and the floral residue toward a finish feeling elongated rather than amplified.

Madame de Beaucaillou is Ducru-Beaucaillou’s way of reminding folks that even the supposed “second line” has zero interest in phoning it in. This isn’t an anonymous Haut-Médoc commuter wine: it is quite aware of the glamorous address from which it emanates and represents it properly. It is also a polished Bordeaux without the sticker shock of a grand vin and a show right now, very much ready for admiration upon uncorking. However, the underlying structure and that cool mineral line signal with clarity that this is the beginning of the performance, not the end, for a good decade or so.

A- / $30

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