Curiosity got the better of me so I popped one. My curiosity was piqued by the 2014 vintage getting more mixed reviews in the last year or so, rather than universally glowing ones. This bottle had been standing up for two weeks and was opened three hours before drinking and double decanted an hour before the first glass was poured. It is 13.5% abv and 100% new oak, which is still the norm for Ducru. I had tried this once before a few years ago and was mightily impressed, so ended up with seven bottles. This one was the sixth plus oneth, and drank out of a Grassl 1855.
The thesis here is that this wine is a candidate for wine of the vintage and is of first growth quality. I can’t comment much on either, not having tried any of the FGs apart from a Mouton barrel sample, but it is an excellent-to-outstanding wine. It is still quite primary with blue and red fruits initially, then dark berries and a pronounced minerality and crushed rocks (the famous ‘beautiful pebbles’ - exhibit to the left, above). It is approachable and pleasurable now but has the structure to age and improve further.
It is a wine of great precision, but not yet of great complexity, which will probably develop with more age. I would prefer a less prominent new oak regime - say 50% rather than 100% - but you could hardly accuse these wines of being conspicuously over-oaked. Hand in hand with the heavy bottle, and purple loo roll in the chai, Bruno Borie flirted with the dark side, but never really went there.
A really accomplished wine, especially for the vintage, and I am glad to own a half case. It is so moreish and delicious. You just keep going back for more, your subconscious takes over, so you become almost oblivious to what your right hand is doing. I think it will reach its plateau around in 3-4 years from now. I would put it a smidge behind the 2018, 2016, 2010 and 2005 Ducrus I tried in November … 94 pts, with upside potential (though certainly not worthy of 98 and 99 pt ratings I have seen bandied around).
Hi Arv
I would say from the 20 year mark. A 2005 tried late last year was surprisingly accessible, and so was the 2010 actually in the same vertical. However the 1995 and 1996 took a bit longer than 20 years to reach peak performance.
My favourite Ducru for current drinking would probably be the 2002. Or if you want something with a bit more grunt, the 1996.
Ducru is of course a long lived wine so you can still find great bottles from the 60s,70s and early 80s, but you have to avoid the late 80s bottles unless they have been reconditioned.
2014 Château Tronquoy-Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (5/3/2025)
Absolutely terrific. Time has been kind, as the tannins have softened and it's starting the develop wonderful aromatics. Black fruited, but of spice and minty herbal notes. The palate has some rather coarse tannins that will keep this from the next level, but wrapped with black fruit and pepper spice notes. Clean and complex--but still with that rugged rustic edge one expects from St Estephe. Finish still has some austerity, which I suspect will be prominent for a long time. Drink or hold. (93 points)
Just over a year since the previous bottle.
Medium to deep garnet, some signs of maturity at the rim.
Good nose of cedar, pencil/graphite and dark plum and blackcurrant. What I would expect from Pauillac.
Fruit forward, not overly concentrated. As with the nose dark fruit and cedar. Tannin is light, acidity moderate. Feels like it won’t make old bones but enjoyable in a fairly light format. ***1/2 or 91ish.
The US market doesn’t get much of it because critics panned it a long time ago, so there’s not much demand other than Bordeaux enthusiasts who want to ‘check a box’.
Well time for another bottle of VCC. At a friend’s party yesterday. Great showing. The color deep, deep crimson remarked on by a couple of people.
Still a favorite, it took ten or fifteen minutes in a decanter to start strutting. Complexity but also some primary fruit, the cassis probably comes from the Cabernet Franc.
Hard to believe the alcohol is north of 14% as it seemed so well integrated. Finish was long and layered. 18
A local store had 2014 VCC at what appears to be very sharp sale pricing ($137) so I bought the small amount they had remaining based on the enthusiasm in this thread, Southwold, and other sources.
I also grabbed some 2014 Leoville Barton, also on sale ($70). I tasted a big range of the 2014 wines last year at a different shop’s “Southwold” style event and thought L-B was really good (crisp, stern, classic) but will need some time; those are going in the back of the locker. I pulled one bottle of VCC home and the rest are resting in the locker, not quite so far buried but to be ignored best I can. Excited to try the sample bottle of Vcc sometime soon here and will report back.
Had a 2014 Pichon Lalande last weekend recently purchased off the shelf at under $100 closeout pricing. Given the questionable storage history I decided to give it a pop.
Decanted 4 hours, back in bottle, followed over course of evening. Graphite, cedar, tobacco, notions of mint and mineral blackberry on a medium+ body frame. Savories definitely leading the way here and I loved it. This bottle was beginning to enter tertiary mode and with air it was absolutely beautiful to drink now. On pop it was a bit awkward and smudged. My guess is a great many bottles out there will still be shut down and the questionable storage may have been working in my favor here. Will let the other bottles purchased on release slumber a few more years before trying another. This absolutely my kind of Bordeaux - 95+
