WTN: Branaire Ducru vertical at Il Corso

Last night a fun group of 8 convened at Il Corso in NYC for an evening of the wines of Branaire-Ducru. A nice evening with a great group of guys, very good food, and a mixed bag of wines.

While space is a little tight at Il Corso, I was happy with my food (grilled sardines with greens, tagliolini with mushrooms and speck, and excellent short ribs over mashed potatoes. Service was attentive, friendly yet unobtrusive. I'd happily go back.

The wines:
Vietti Moscato d'Asti (sorry, didn't note vintage)
Perfect starter as we waited for stragglers. Light, just a little bubbly, nicely sweet but not enough to screw up palate for later. B/B+

Flight 1

1975 Branaire Ducru (they've changed the nomenclature on bottles over the years, old ones say Duluc-Ducru, but for simplicity I'll just be consistent) (St Julien) (from magnum)
Some funk at first, blows off quickly. I expected a '75 from mag to be a tannic hard wine, but this was surprisingly soft and easy. More red than black fruit, some leather and mushroom. I gave a B at first, but a revisit (thanks Brian for the mag!) drew an upgrade, a pretty mature Bordeaux at B+

1978 Branaire Ducru (St. Julien)
This too has some funk, but this one doesn't blow off. Smells like a little brett and a little asparagus juice. Better on palate than nose, but that's truly not saying much. C+

Flight 2

1982 Branaire Ducru (St. Julien)
This is the one Branaire I've tasted repeatedly (after the BWE convention a few years ago where it was lovely, lots of people bought bottles). There has been a lot of variation (unsurprisingly), this one is in the middle of the pack. Soft, mature, nose of cedar and black plums. Some earth and mushrooms. I enjoy more than some others. B+

1989 Branaire Ducru (St. Julien)
This has a funny almost chemical edge to the nose. Yet on the palate this is lively and fresh, good acidity with young fruit. If I could get past the nose this would have been candidate for Wine of the Night. B/B+

Flight 3

1995 Branaire Ducru (St. Julien)
Bright cassis fruit edged with kirsch, integrated oak, ripe and ready. Nice, maybe my favorite for current consumption. B+

1996 Branaire Ducru (St. Julien)
Tighter than the 1995, though it opens some in glass. Strutured, good depth and length, if it had 7-8 more years in bottle might be the one potential "wow" bottle of the night. B+

1998 Branaire Ducru (St. Julien)
Just to keep this flight from being a winner, a real loser. Someone says the nose could be a CalCab- yeah, one of the poorer 1998 CalCabs. On the nose wood and ripe fruit, but also a little of that chemical thing I got on the 1989. On the palate lean, green, mean. I've been mentally upgrading my opinion of '98 Left Banks, but maybe not all of them. C+

Flight 4

1999 Branaire Ducru (St. Julien)
Soft and easy to drink, good ripe fruit, a touch of graphite, maybe just a touch dilute. But nice enough. B

2000 Branaire Ducru (St. Julien)
Bigger blackcurrant fruit, some vanilla and tobacco, good length. This needs time for oak and tannins to integrate, but pretty good. B+

2001 Branaire Ducru (St. Julien)
I like the flavors here- black fruit, a little coffee, a touch of lead pencil. But there's a scratchiness to the tannins I wouldn't have expected from vintage. B

Flight 5
2002 Branaire Ducru (St. Julien)
Very sweet black plum and currant fruit, ripe tannins, a bit short. Needs time, but don't think this will ever be great. But certainly a servicable Bordeaux. B/B+

2003 Branaire Ducru (St. Julien)
Nice fruit flavors, but you can immediately sense the lower acidity here, and it takes away from the freshness. B

2004 Branaire Ducru (St. Julien)
Sweet fruit, but totally dominated by oak, except for a strange green olive edge. B-

1997 de Malle (Sauternes)
I was concentrating on making my train, and didn't take any notes on this, or even give it any real concentration. My vague impression was a nice enough Sauternes, a bit on the soft side, ready to go now, with some light botrytis and tropical/apricot fruit.

OK, so no wine wowwed me. I didn't jump on Winesearcher as soon as I got home. But there were lots of solid wines (and a couple not so solid ones), and more importantly we all had a really nice time. Thanks to Paul as primary organizer, and to everyone for their contributions, vinuous and conversational.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency

[Jenise]

Enjoyed your notes, as usual. Based on my limited but very good experience with this producer, specifically the 95 and 96 vintages, would have expected at least one A from a so-called easy grader. Were you surprised that not even one registered at that level?

I was hoping something would make it to "wow!" level (the '82 did on one occasion four years ago). But none of these quite did.

As noted, I don't make claims of consistency (or objectivity). And maybe the '95 at a dinner table might have gotten a A-. But at a vertical with a group of serious Bordeaux guys (with this group I've done verticals of Gruaud, Lynch-Bages, Sociando-Mallet, horizontals of 1982, 1986, 1990, 1996,countless other themes) my "wow" factor is probably a bit higher. Offhand an A- or A from me with this group has been wines like '86 & '90 Margaux, '86 Lafite, '86 Talbot,'92 Mouton, '86 & '89 Gruaud, '88-90 Lynch Bages, '82 & 90 Sociando, '83 & '85 Cheval Blanc, '82 L'Evangile, '82 &'90 La Conseillante, 1982 Leoville Barton, '82 Poyferre, '82 Magdelaine, 1990 Trotanoy, '02 Latour, '83 LMHB, '88 or '90 HB, etc etc etc

I liked a lot of wines, but this is probably the only time I remember coming home and NOT checking winesearcher. I'll happily drink Branaire,and buy if I run across at good price, but not actively looking (btw, if anyone is looking, the '02 and '95 were mine, and the '95 was a recent acquistion from Pops for $59). I'd also note we didn't have the '83, '85, '86, '88, or '90.

Here is my take on the event:


1975
A little funky, nice sweet middle. Rounder than most 1975's.
B+

1978
Nicely mature, a bit thin. Long finish. Some dollop of dark tar inside.
B/B-

1982
Rich, lively, round and mature. Sweet tannins. Some acid.
B++

1989
Sweet tannins. Strong with a little weak center, friendly with dark flesh. Good maturity with powerful fruit.
B+

1995
Full flavored with strong sweet tannins.
B/B+

1996
Young, strong with lots of dark structure. Beefy. Needs a little more time, but close. Will be very nice.
B++

1998
Sweet clove nose and outer. Lacks weight in the fruit. Short.
B-

1999
Soft, sweet and a little light on fruit. Drinking well, won't last long.
B

2000
Dense, solid. Acidic tannins need to resolve. Should mellow nicely.
B+

2001
Soft & sweet. Almost lush. Nice long finish. Some baking spices. Not as strong as 2000. A little acidic. Lacking.
B-

2002
Round with some sweetness. Nice lush fruit. A bit of structure.
B

2003
Lush soft fruit. No structure. No acid.
B/B-

2004
Very sweet edges, but lacking core. Some acid on finish. Baking spices. A bit empty in the middle.
B/B-

Matt, welcome to WLDG. I know you're a tougher grader than I, but it sounds like you also found a lot of solid wines, but no "wows."

Thanks Dale for these notes. We received a case of 2003 Branaire Ducru from a friend for our daughters birth back in 2003. I have not tasted any yet...we are hoping to hold it at least 5 more yrs. Too bad it wasn't one of the "better" vintages you tried...I was hoping that because it was such a warm yr that it would be pretty good. Do you think it will get better with age or do you feel it will always be a B- wine?

Thanks Dale!

I'd say that's accurate. I was not wowed by anything, although I think the 1982 and 1996 are very very nice. I was surprised that the more recent wines came off as so sweet; when we do our annual new release horizontals I always find them rather restrained and on the classic end of the scale.

I wonder if the 2001 was showing at it's best. I bought it on the way to the dinner from a retailer's shelf, where I'm sure it has been sitting for some time.

Thanks and welcome, Matt -- it was great to compare your notes with Dale's -- it's always fun to see how different tasters react to the same wine.

Dale, thanks for posting. I've got some bottles from this winemaker in our cellar, but haven't ever tried any. You've given me a good roadmap, as usual.

Regards, Bob

Maria,
I just looked at CT notes, and the notes on the '03 are mostly positive (with some very positive notes from tasters I respect a lot, like David Bueker and an earlier take from Matt). Never forget that any tasting is just a look at that bottle. And I certainly am more of an acidhead than most Bdx drinkers.

Matt,
I dunno, but maybe will pick up an '01 if I see at a good price and retry. The best thing about Branaire is how reasonable it is, maybe I'm piggy to want to be wowwed.

Bob,
be sure to post when you pop!

Will do, Dale. It looks like I have the '82, '86 and '95 and I'll plan to open the '82 or the '86 soon, and revert.

Regards, Bob

Dale,
Thanks for the notes. Just finished my cellar inventory and have one bottle of '89 Branaire, no other vintages. I always condidered them a value buy, never wowed you but seldom disappointed. Surprised you didn't find a couple more enjoyable. Anyway, the '89 went on my "drink up" list.
Walt

Walt- I've had several 1989's over the past couple of years. I think it's a very nice wine. It took wine of the night honors at one St. J tasting. It has "wowed" me in the past.

Maria- I loved the 03 at the time. Don't give up, maybe this is an awkward stage.

Dale- If you buy a 2001, don't get it from Garnet. I'm not saying they killed that bottle, but if we're curious to see if it was an off bottle then that's not the place to test from.

By the way, I enjoyed the 01-04's more in the past than I did the other night. I can't really explain it.

Thnaks. I've generally decided that my occasional Garnet purchases will all be very recent releases. Some say basement is cool, but store itself can be fairly warm