Buyer beware - Ducru Beaucaillou 1988

WINE TALK
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I noticed on an auction site here in France that Ducru Beaucaillou 1988 is still being sold and bought, at very high prices (around 100€).

I was served one by a friend a few weeks back - like all the others I’ve tried, it was undrinkable.

You probably know, but in case you don’t, Ducru had a problem with their cellar, from around 88 to I believe 94. They had treated the ceiling with a wood-stain product, which tainted the wine, producing an effect similar to TCA. The 88 vintage was particularly badly affected, but others were too. I had a case of 88, of which not one bottle was unaffected and I understand that only around 10% of bottles produced were not tainted. At the time, I complained to the owners, who ignored my series of letters. I was amazed at the time - and I still am - that they were allowed to get away with it. They knowingly sold hundreds of thousands of defective products. I suppose that nowadays, it would not be possible.

It’s interesting to compare their reaction with that of Phélan-Ségur, who withdrew from the market two entire vintages, after a similar issue created by a pesticide they had used.

I’ve written to the auction site, who should, at the very least, display a warning of some kind, but if you come across bottles and are tempted, don’t be. Leave well alone.

1 Like
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I too am surprised that these wines don’t sell at a more substantial discount Julian but then again white burgundy prices keep going up. I know we are not comparing apples with apples here.

In my experience 1989 was the most severely affected vintage. I have had some good 88s and 90s but over half have been defective whereas every 1989 I have tried has. Such a shame because the combination of Ducru and a vintage like 1988 could have been terrific.

I have never tried the 1987 but the 1986s can be variable but are generally pretty good. I didn’t know the problem persisted that far beyond 1990. The 1995 was a welcome return to form. Indeed I think 1995-2000 was the best ever period for this Chateau.

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I thought affected years were 1986 - 1989 and some 1990s but not all.

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I have had TCA inflected bottles of 1986 as well

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Yes, I remember that the problems with '86 were recognized fairly early on.

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I bought a bunch of the 1990 vintage at Wine Chalet in Chicago, around 1998, for $30 each. It seemed a worthwhile risk. Every bottle was great, although I was clearly dancing through a shallow minefield with deep-cleated, extra-wide snowshoes.

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White burgundy is indeed fairly scandalous, but Ducru is, as you say, something else. I never tried any 89 or 90 but I had read about similar tales of woe. Yes, they should have been something special, in the context of the vintages.

It took me years to start buying Ducru again and I’ve never really “forgiven” them.

What was also extraordinary was the lack of reaction from most critics, who seemed to turn a blind eye. I vaguely recall Coates writing something, but I think RMP only made limited noises.

Anyway, I had assumed that the 88 was long forgotten about, so to see bottles still on sale really annoyed me. It’s one thing buying when you know there’s a risk, quite another when you don’t.

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Interesting post - and I was unaware that the same ‘systemic’ problems that a number of wineries experienced here in the US also affected wineries in France.

Have any of these wines been tested for levels of TCA to see what they are? And if this is a systemic issue, on would think that all bottles would have been affected, no? I know that you said ‘similar to TCA’ but from what I’ve seen, these types of issues will show up on standard TCA tests as well.

Did anyone from the Wine Spectator note the TCA? Laube seems to have a ‘super nose’ when it comes to it, and has lead the way uncovering systemic issues at Hanzell, Montelena, and elsewhere . . .

Cheers

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I forgot - I remember reading somewhere, a few years ago, that Ducru had “replaced” the corks on affected bottles and that all were now “ok”.

Quite apart from the fact that this is clearly absolute nonsense, knowing the quantities produced, I read today some notes on CT which were pretty clearly about affected bottles, so if they did do something, it was by no means all the bottles.

Larry, I don’t read the WS, but I did read a blog post by Suckers in which he described various misadventures with affected bottles.
From what I remember, and it was something I had tried to forget (!), there was a chemical reaction sparked off by the product, which resulted in something similar to TCA. Again, from memory, the corks were affected, but also, obviously, the barrels.

I think that at the time, these were early days and this sort of issue was not dealt with by the media as it would be now. In the same way, the authorities today would intervene, I would imagine, since this was clearly a case of damaged goods, if not outright fraud, although how a business could continue to blithely sell off products it at least feared to be damaged, over a number of years, does seem incredible.

For example, I had absolutely no idea that Phélan had withdrawn the 86 (I think it was) until I visited the estate a few years later. They were horrified to know that I had actually drunk it (it was indeed appalling).

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As I recall, the wood product that was used at Ducru posed problems for other properties, too. The late 80s were flush years in Bordeaux, so lots of estates expanded and remodeled their cellars.

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John, I had no idea other estates were affected too.

I was wrong about Phélan - Looking in my little red book it was the 85 I had drunk, and they withdrew three vintages - 1983, 84 and 85. Awful but impressive.

What is more appalling is that the auction site has been selling recently some 83 and 85. Incredible. These wines were actually considered dangerous!

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Ducru did recork some of these bottles. I just had a 1988 this weekend which stated on the back of the label that it was recorked at the chateau, and it was a wonderful bottle of wine.

But you are correct - obviously not all were recorked, so caveat emptor.

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I cannot fathom how recorking cures a TCA taint. The recorked bottle was not tainted.

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I can’t comment on whether or not they’ve “cured” any TCA taint as I agree I’m not sure how that would work, but I’ve had a number of these recorked bottles and they’ve been fine. It’s possible this was simply Ducru’s way of saying the bottles have been checked for the taint and are fine.

This isn’t my way of telling people to go out and buy late 80s vintages of Ducru - I’m not putting anything up for auction.

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Definitely from 1986 until (at least) 1990 … (I´ve never had a 1987).
Some 1986s, many 1988s and 1989, a lot of 1990 …
I´d say around 40-50% are totally off …
[head-bang.gif]

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I think the idea would be that the bottles are opened and tested/tasted, then good ones are topped up and recorked and bad ones discarded. That gives some confidence in the recorked bottles.

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Greg - lucky you!! I would have loved to have tasted at least one normal bottle.

Robert - From what I remember, it wasn’t quite the same as TCA, more like a general off, sour and bitter taste. Anyway, I can only assume they tasted the bottles before re-corking them. Sounds like an exercise in damage limitation for PR purposes.

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They’re out there - good luck! The back label will have the specific language. [cheers.gif]

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It wasn’t a cork issue. It was from the treatment on the wood beams and it affected some lots but not others. Hence, they could open the bottles, test them, and recork, as Craig said. They tossed the tainted wine.

According to the Winex site, based on a visit, it was TBA (tribromoanisole), not TCA, but I’m not sure how much to trust that since that site says it was naturally occurring, and I believe it was a chemical treatment on the wood.

The chateaux opened, tested and recorked all their remaining stocks. I don’t know if they tested and recorked any wine that left the property.

Clive Coates says that six of eight bottles of '88 he tried were tainted.

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BV (Barf Vineyards) took the same deny-and-disregard approach when its cellars were tainted around 1998.
One official from its parent company told me that its customers were too stupid to know and the company was too big to care.