Chateau Branaire Ducru 2014
Dense, fresh, dark fruit profile with an intense mid-palate, this 2014 Château Branaire-Ducru registers in a style that the Château usually calls "Maison". Indeed, it offers a rich and expressive nose of well-ripened yet fresh fruits. This 2014 vintage palate is fleshy from the attack and then develops into a St Julien texture with a perfect acidity that confers an exceptional balance. With ample and Fine tannins, this 2014 vintage of Château Branaire-Ducru was from vines growing on the old vineyard of Château Branaire Ducru. It is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Some complexities.
Scores are significant: 94WE, 92RP, 93WS, 93JS, 93V.
94 points Wine Enthusiast
*Cellar Selection* Spicy, rich and full of ripe fruit, this wine has excellent potential. It is structured and dense while bringing out a stylish elegance. Blackberry fruit dominates the tannins to create a wine that has both concentration and delicate fruit. Drink from 2022. (RV) (2/2017) Edited.
93 points, James Suckling
This is a slightly shy mid-weight wine that is anything but a flashy one. Suppose you have some patience; it has plenty of subtlety and sophistication. Drink in 2021. (2/2017). Edited.
93 points Vinous
The 2014 Branaire Ducru is soft, polished and super-inviting. Succulent red cherry, plum, lavender, spice and mint give the wine its attractive, open-knit personality, while silky tannins add to an overall impression of sensuality. 2014 should drink well with minimal cellaring. Today, it is among the most accessible in Saint-Julien. (AG) (2/2017). Edited.
93 points Wine Spectator
Very pure and expressive, featuring lovely violet and cassis aromas and flavours that stream forth, backed by light anise and graphite hints. It maintains a fresh feel through the finish, with delicate minerality engaging with the fruit. Best from 2019 through 2028. (JM) (3/2017). Edited.
92 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Château Branaire-Ducru blend 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc picked between 24 September with the early-ripening Merlot and finishing on 11 October. The yields came in at 40 hectoliters per hectare, and Patrick Maratoux explained the importance of waiting for the correct maturity of each parcel. It has a tightly wound bouquet with black cherries and orange peel aromas, focused, if not as complex as, say, Château Beychevelle. The palate is medium-bodied, sinewy in the mouth with tensile tannins. This wine seems to be making a considerable effort in this vintage, but I would like to see more finesse manifested on the finish by the bottle's time. You know, I think that will develop. That 12 to 13% in de presse lends this Branaire Ducru impressive sustain on the finish, and I suspect it will coalesce throughout the barrel, ageing in two-thirds new oak (though the sample shown at the château was 100% new oak). (NM) (4/2015)
