1979 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Community Tasting Notes (32) Avg Score: 89.4 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View mflesh's profile
  • Report Issue

  12/29/2023 - mflesh wrote:

  This one was compared alongside a 1964 Pio Cesare Barolo and an 89 Cos d"Estournel.... One of those kind of similar and one of those kind of not! Compared to the Barolo, this wine had more potash, was a little bit darker red fruit, had a nice balance of mature fig, black plum, saddle leather, pipe tobacco. This one initially had a robust amount of green pepper and even a little bit of green olive, but it blew off after 30 to 45 minutes. This was really an aged West Bank Bordeaux that was in a great place. The 89 Cos really started out with a robust almost youthful black fruit character with a healthy amount of pie spice. However, the decision was made to decant this wine and I don't think it did very well after the decant. Comparison, the 79 Ducru was decanted as well, into a much smaller decanter but after the green pepper and green olive blew off, it was rocking. This wine did not disappoint, and was my favorite of the three aged wines on the table.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View wineappreciation's profile
  • Report Issue

  7/18/2023 - wineappreciation wrote: 92 Points

  Sous bois, unripe boysenberry, hints of leather, vegetal notes; aged and in decline, but elegant, smooth, and with some body, life, and even fruit remaining; long finish, and pleasing in spite of deterioration

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Collector1855's profile
  • Report Issue

  1/28/2022 - Collector1855 wrote: flawed

  Unfortunately corked

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Zerokreap's profile
  • Report Issue

  8/6/2021 - Zerokreap Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Immediately after opening via Coravin, using the vintage needle.
  
  Nose: Ripe, dark fruit. Black current, floral and tobacco hints, menthol, herb/bell pepper.
  
  Cork in great shape. Aged, but supple. Small amount of fuzzy green-gray mold.
  
  Still some youth on the wine. Likely peaking, but could likely age gracefully for another 5 or 10 years.
  
  Nice balance with supple tannins and good acidic balance.
  
  Inky burnt garnet color...some hints of amber along the edge. A good bit if fine sediment.
  
  Rich flavor, but not overly fruity. Vegital with menthol note..Medium-long finish. Still a bit tight.
  
  Day 2
  15% full bottle, small piece of cork keeping it closed and kept in the fridge overnight. I'm at the beach without a decanter, so nothing fancy.
  
  Nose: same as before. Still smells like a wonderful old-world Bordeaux. There's a gamey aroma, with a touch of tar. Still very herbaceous.
  
  With a bit of air in the glass, the nose opens up a bit more. Same as before, just more. A touch of the balance has been lost on the finish, but the initial attack and mid-palate remain unchanged from yesterday. Finish remains medium-long.
  
  I've been contemplating my scoring. I started with a 92, simply because the wine really blew me away yesterday. I can understand why others might score lower. Still definitely 89 or better. It's not the rounded, new-world profile that most enjoy, but for an older Bordeaux I thinks it's on point. I'm revising to 91. This was a good bottle.
  
  Note on the cork: The cork did not withstand the Coravin very well. It did okay with the first poke, but after that it started leaking. I typically open these older wines and drink them, but over the past few years of using the Coravin I find that I am more eager to bust out a bottle because I know I can have just one glass and store the rest for later in the fridge. It's actually quite great. If I want to continue using it with older bottles, I think the best nice is to buy some new cork to use with older bottles. Pop it open, place the new cork, then use the Coravin. Sorry, didn't mean to talk about the cork so damn much.

  4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View pavel_p's profile
  • Report Issue

  1/2/2021 - pavel_p Likes this wine: 89 Points

  Last of my perfect “76” Ducru: in neck fill, label completely gone and a clean cork with only the bottom 20% or so soaked... turns out this cork says “1979” Ducru. Dark garnet with a fairly wide transparent rim. No browning. A fair bit of sous bois on the nose, very fresh on the palate with elevated acidity, plenty of cedar, medium (-) body, somewhat clipped finish. Nice mature Bdx from a perfect bottle but for sure a touch below the 76 Ducru. Drink now but well stored bottles will last easily another 10 years.

  1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

View all 32 Community Tasting Notes

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.