Today's wine has numerous claims to fame, not least of all being written as a main character in a short story by the famed British novelist Roald Dahl, titled "Taste". In the short story, a man and women - both ardent wine lovers - find themselves engaged in a heated debate about the true identity of a wine they are blind-tasting. 

The male character Richard Pratt describes the secret wine as "demure and bashful in the first taste, emerging shyly but quite graciously in the second". Later on, he correctly guesses the wine, in a move that impresses his female companion so much that she agrees to marry him. 

And that wine is none other than... drum roll please... the 1934 vintage of Château Branaire-Ducru!

"Taste" by Roald Dahl places Château Branaire Ducru at the centre of the story. 

Pay attention, this might help you win the hand of your beloved... 

The Château Branaire-Ducrua winery itself is located in the Saint-Julien appellation! As with many other Bordeaux houses, this house has roots trailing way back to the late 1600s. More specifically in 1680, one Jean-Baptiste Braneyre's foresight led him to purchase a valuable section of the Beychevelle estate, a decision he made after being drawn to the potential of its stony terroir.

The actual Château as we know today was built in 1824 by his descendants the Du Luc family. Soon after, the estate was then inherited by a relative, Gustave Ducru and remained in the family until 1919.

Patrick Maroteaux and his son François-Xavier Maroteaux.

Oddly enough, it remained a bit of a sleeping giant until about a decade later. In 1988, Patrick Maroteaux and his family acquired Château Branaire-Ducru. They helmed an ambitious revitalization of the house, transforming every facet from vineyard to cellar, culminating in the restoration of the Château itself. His son, François-Xavier Maroteaux took over the management of the estate in 2017.

Nestled in Medoc between Margaux and Pauillac, the vineyard itself comprises roughly fifteen distinct micro-terroirs spanning across an impressive 60 hectares (nearly 150 acres). The vines grow in a mixture of gravel and pebbles, deposited there by the River Garonne in the prehistoric Quaternary Period. From the top of their hillocks, called “mounds”, they overlook the vast Gironde Estuary.

The house's vineyards.

With an average vine age of 35 years, the vines benefit from the silicious and gravel alluvium, which are said to contribute to ideal phenolic ripeness levels of Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as the general health of Merlot.

The house's vineyard highlights a 65% planting of Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by 28% of Merlot. The house is also proud of its smaller planting of 3% of Cabernet Franc, which it says contributes floral notes. Finally, Petit Verdot accounts for the remaining 4% and is said to enhance the house's blends with spicy nuances.

Annually producing approximately 15,000 cases, the house's "main" wine is Château Branaire (often referred to as Château Branaire Ducru). Utilizing a gravity-flow style winery, which is novel for the area, the estate's wines go through three weeks of stainless steel fermentation, a third of which undergoes malolactic fermentation in new oak. The entire production ages for 18-24 months in 50% new oak barrels.

So how does the house's wines taste? Let's do a taste test of our own!

Château Branaire Ducru 2021 - Review

The 2021 vintage began promisingly with mild winter rains and a warm March triggering early vine budding. While localized spring frosts caused minimal damage, a cool, wet spring delayed flowering and heightened mildew risk.

A dry, temperate summer from August onward allowed for gradual grape ripening, preserving acidity without excessive concentration, while late September rains accelerated ripening.

This blend consists of: Cabernet Sauvignon (66%), Merlot (22%), Cabernet Franc (6.5%) and Petit Verdot (5.5%).

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Garnet

Aroma: Deep and evocative florals of rose petals, along with some dark cherry preserves, as well as a more earthy side of freshly tilled soil, touch of barnyard, all really aromatic, raw and fresh, with that rustic quality. It’s got a good depth here and richness too.

Taste: Medium bodied here with good richness, it’s on to raspberry yogurt marshmallow gummies with that gentle hit of sourness and acidity, a little milky even. More on dark cherries and some clove spices too. It’s plush yet holds back on developing greater depth.

Finish: Some herbaceousness of dried herbs comes through here, a little bit savoury too. Dark cherries persist in their light tartness. It’s firm yet with a good richness, leaning into those darker tones at the finish.

My Thoughts

This felt like a good all rounder, balancing power and richness, with quite some expressiveness. On the nose it was rustic and raw, really vibrant and vivid, with roses to one end and dark cherries to the other, all of which held against this pure earthiness.

The palate came through with a good richness, with this light pucker, it had a satisfying velvety plushness, although it did feel like it could have easily taken us down to greater depths which would have completed that total richness. It nevertheless felt balanced and restrained, with a good cohesiveness to it. The finish brought out more by way of savouriness and dried herbs, complementing that delicate tartness of dark cherries, all of which built into a nicely firm finish.

*Suspiciously racoon-like noises*

Contributed by @Definitelynotthreeracoons