Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 2022 (Double-Magnum)

Wineadvocate

One of the Médoc's most powerful wines this year is the 2022 Ducru-Beaucaillou, a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot that opens in the glass with aromas of dark cherries and berries mingled with pencils shavings, vanilla pod and spices. Full-bodied, broad-shouldered and muscular, with a core of ripe but lively fruit underpinned by a chassis of powdery, liberally extracted tannin that asserts itself on the finish, it's a punchy, modern Saint-Julien reminiscent of a hypothetical blend of the 2018 and 2020. - WK 04/2023

Vinous

The 2022 Ducru-Beaucaillou contains less Cabernet than last year and is closer to the normal blend of the Grand Vin, picked between 7 September and 4 October - the longest harvest in their history. The IPT is 95. Matured in 100% new oak, the bouquet bides its time in the glass, almost reluctantly unfurling with scents of blackberry, briary, cigar humidor and sous-bois. At this nascent stage, it is more backward than its peers. The palate is undoubtedly one of the most dense and muscular that I have encountered over many years tasting at the estate, full-bodied with vice-like tannins. Continuing the theme of the estate's other cuvées, there is a lovely Pauillac-like presence throughout, with graphite/pencil lead infusing the black fruit. The finish exerts a considerable grip and feels saline, almost briny on the aftertaste. This Leviathan Ducru-Beaucaillou threatens to overwhelm the senses, uncompromising in many ways, and it will patently take many years for the tannins to soften. I feel that it is only once in bottle that one will be able to gauge its trajectory. - NM 04/2023

Beck

L'intensité du fruit annonce d'emblée de la fraîcheur et du plaisir ! Nuances florales, minérales et épicées complétées par des parfums de griottes et de sureau ! En bouche le vin assure avec sérénité… comme il l’a régulièrement fait au cours de nombreux millésimes. Il ne veut pas briller par son exubérance mais bien plus par sa subtilité, par son aptitude à s'imposer au travers de sa finesse, sa pertinence et son harmonie. Ainsi les tannins sont porteurs et fins tout en conférant une fine amertume qui ne fait que bonifier la persistance de la finale. Ducru a su une fois de plus se surpasser, une fois de plus tout remettre en question avec pour finalité de non seulement défier les conclusions hâtives liées à 2022 mais en plus de rappeler à quel point Ducru sait se profiler dans les nombreux contextes qu'il a traversés au fil des décennies. Un vin serein, éblouissant, fin, puissant, élégant et attachant. 04/2023

Suckling

Some much creme de cassis and blackcurrant aromas and flavors here. Full-bodied with powerful tannins, yet fine and layered. Chewy. You can really feel the thick grape skins here. Excellent length. Tannins spread across the palate. Minerally and crushed stone. - 04/2023

Dunnuck

Moving to the Grand Vin, it's a slightly more Merlot-influenced blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot, raised in new barrels. It brings the same level of concentration and structure as the La Croix but has another level of class, elegance, and purity, with sensational aromatics of crème de cassis, graphite, crushed stone, sandalwood, and graphite. The purity here is truly remarkable, and it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, perfectly integrated oak, silky tannins, and a great finish. This beauty hit 14% natural alcohol with a pH of 3.8 and an IPT of 95. Given its balance as well as its texture, it's going to offer pleasure with just short-term cellaring yet also evolve for decades. - 05/2023