Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is one of the leading Super Seconds and for many is the quintessential St Julien, producing wines that are deep-coloured, powerful, ripe and exquisitely well-balanced.

"Ducru has always been a wine of finesse rather than sheer brute power, a kind of Burgundian Bordeaux." Jay McInerney

It is said that the best wines of the Médoc are produced from vines in view of the sea. Ducru-Beaucaillou has 50 hectares of vineyards on the banks of the Gironde estuary overlooking the water, all with the famed Médoc well drained gravel, with stones up to 2.5 inches in diameter. The name of the château in fact is derived from these as ‘Beaucaillou’ means ‘beautiful pebble’. The vineyards are planted with 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot.

Ducru-Beaucaillou is owned and run by the illustrious Borie family who also own several other châteaux, including some that carry their name. It was here in the late 19^th century that the cure for the mildew plague that decimated the vineyards of Bordeaux and elsewhere was created, safeguarding the future of viticulture. Bordeaux mixture as it became known is a copper-based preventative spray permitted in organic farming which wards off mould and mildew very successfully.