TN: Branaire-Ducru

WINE TALK
1

Branaire-Ducru (St. Julien)
From 375-ml. Expressive, sexy bouquet of spicebox, sur maturité, sour cherries, anise, new oak. Medium to full bodied, with excellent concentration in the attack of sweet black cherries. There’s plenty of acid and adequate structure, overall this is balanced. The tannins are mostly resolved already, but the fruit remains fairly primary. In early maturity.

I was impressed by this 2002. Definitely mid-modern in style, this will improve as the oak integrates (right now the bouquet is a bit sickly sweet for my tastes, but this dissipates with air) and the fruit takes on a more nuanced quality. The depth of fruit is what impressed me most, as I’ve had some 2002 Bordeaux that were overly lean. If it continues to blossom over the next 5-to-10, this will be a head-turner. Great QPR back in the day, when 750-ml bottles were $24 on release.

2

Alas for the days when Branaire was sub-30 or even sub-40.

3

The datapoint is appreciated. Nice to see where this is today.
I bought quite a lot of this, currently stored away, at the $23 release mark.

4

I picked up a few bottles when they were released. I do not think I have tasted any BDX from 02 yet. This one sounds like a winner.

5

I’ve never tasted any 2002’s either. Can someone volunteer a general vintage status on how they are drinking now? TIA.

6

Most 2002s are still rather stern/surly. I am holding off for the most part.

7

Most 2002s are still rather stern/surly. I am holding off for the most part.

8

I opened some of my low-to-mid-tier 2002’s, all purchased at release, at the 10-year mark in 2012 and had some mixed results. Fwiw, here were my TNs then:

TN: 2002 Ch. Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
The last time I tasted this was during release and I recall a backward wine with wood and plenty of tannin and that 2002 vintage characteristics. Last night’s bottle, paired with a grilled rib eye, was still consistent in its traditional style, with lean fruit, medium-bodied mouth-feel and hints of minerals and herb. It still had the mouth-puckering acidity that I encountered with the ”at release” tasting. Where it differed was that last night’s wine was more forward, with soft tannin and without the high oak element that I had the first time I tasted. I have to admit that last night’s bottle didn’t excite me as much and to some degree I found the softened structure to be quite boring. I also get that feeling that there’s not much room for improvement with further aging.


2002 Ch. Branaire Ducru, Saint-Julien
Sniffed roasted herb and wood. Very young, highly acidic, classic-style, restrained, medium bodied wine. Everything plus a bit more that I can ask for in a $23 bottle (at release). A-

2002 Ch. Malartic-Lagraviere, Pessac-Leognan
I’ve never bought this producer at any other vintage and am glad I went for this at release of $26 per. There’s that Graves fresh leafy and herb notes. Black fruited with mineral. Consistently good with the one that I had at release. For my taste, just starting to get to that good drinking window. B+