CHÂTEAU DUCRU-BEAUCAILLOU
BORDEAUX, FRANCE 1975-2023
Everything you need to know about Ducru-Beaucaillou is this: the Borie family actually lives in a stately and colorful house perched right above the Gironde. That’s about as hands-on, and passionate, as it gets.
The dazzling, 21-vintage vertical we've gathered together for your drinking pleasure — with vintages that span the years 1975 to 2023, and every bottle shipped direct from the Ducru-Beaucaillou’s cellars — is an intimate portrait of Bordeaux at its most wonderfully personal and fiercely independent.
What we have here, in this portfolio tour, is a story that covers nearly a quarter-century in the Médoc, and tells of an estate on a dramatic and magnificent rise.
The 1995, and the 1999 (in magnum), are classic old-school Ducru: aromatic, refined, faintly austere in youth: the wines that led onetime Wall Street Journal critic Jay McInerney to famously (and aptly) dub the estate a "Burgundian Bordeaux." Both are drinking gorgeously now, the fruit softened and secondary, the structure holding firm. (The magnum, incidentally, is the holy grail format for aging older Bordeaux; its slower evolution keeps everything fresher, longer.)
The middle years speak to the turn. When Bruno Borie took full control in the mid-2000s, he tightened the fruit selection, modernized the cellar, and set the estate on an entirely new trajectory. The 98-point 2005 (Jeb Dunnuck) shows precisely what that new discipline yielded: this is a knockout wine that is just now entering its prime. The 2006 carries the same silky tannins, delicate complexity, and charm.
The years 2009 onward are what have put Ducru on the radar of every collector, a run of modern titans that few estates can match. The 2009 and 2010 are back-to-back 100-pointers: the former opulent and downright sexy ("pure perfection in wine,” Dunnuck cooed), the latter structured for a fifty-year cellar (Suckling likened tasting it to "gazing into the blue sky in wonder”). And then we see another summit, later, in the 100-point 2016 (Dunnuck: "a legendary wine") and the Decanter-declared 100-point 2018, two Cabernet-intensive powerhouses of staggering concentration and polish.
It’s not at all an exaggeration to say that this house has vaulted itself into the conversation with the First Growths.
And the fact that they’ve managed to accomplish all of this while remaining, still, essentially, a family business — well, it only makes them that much more lovable.
Folks, this is a terrific chance to catch up on and explore a great and still somehow undersung house, and to replenish your stocks with some of the best Bordeaux of our time.
*Offer NOT valid in-store. This offer is made pre-arrival, with wines estimated to be delivered to your preferred store in Winter 2026 (Dec. 21st - Mar. 20, 2027). All sale prices are the lowest available at Total Wine & More and ONLY valid through Concierge Sales. No further discounts or coupons may be applied. Offer not valid in CT, KS, MI, NY, OK, TN, or WA. The price reflected on your order form is subject to change after the order is placed in the event of a change in tariffs or taxes that are imposed by the U.S. government, or in the case of currency fluctuations of 10% or greater. This offer will expire on Sunday, August 30th, 2026, or until items are sold out.