Château Branaire-Ducru 2025 Saint-Julien 4e Grand Cru Classé - OWC6

James Suckling
96-97 punten
Voluptuous dark fruit, cedar and a touch of tar on the nose. Medium- to full-bodied with an expressive yet concentrated profile, a precise structure and fine-grained, high quality tannins. Chiseled and balanced.

The Wine Cellar Insider
95-97 punten
Flowers, licorice, cherries, smoke, mocha, currants, cedar, and tobacco fill the aromatic profile. The palate is medium-bodied, energetic, soft, polished, and refined. There is good concentration. Texturally, the wine feels elegant on your palate. There is freshness, giving the wine a vibrancy, making it effortless to drink. The sweetness in the fruits, paired with spice, mocha, espresso, and crushed stones, tastes and feels great. The finish starts off strong and keeps on going. 2025 is clearly in competition as one of the best vintages ever produced at Branaire Ducru. The purity here truly makes an impression. You can enjoy this with pleasure quite early in its life and count on at least 20 more years of enjoyment. The wine blends 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petit Verdot. 13% ABV. The harvest took place September 4 - September 22, making this the earliest end to a harvest in the history of the estate. Yields 33 hectoliters per hectare. Drink from 2029-2060.

Jeb Dunnuck
94-96+ punten
Deep purple-hued, the 2025 Château Branaire-Ducru is a gorgeous Saint-Julien based on 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, and 6% Cabernet Franc that's still resting in 62% new French oak. Harvested between September 4th and the 22nd, it has a perfumed nose of darker black and blue fruits intermixed with loads of leafy tobacco, smoky herbs, flowers, and spice, with a kiss of Pauillac-like graphite. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied with wonderfully integrated oak, beautifully polished tannins, and a supple, charming, round, and velvety style that's already hard to resist. It checks in at 13% alcohol with a pH of 3.65, and this is a seriously impressive barrel sample.

Wine Advocate
94-96 punten
The 2025 Branaire-Ducru is a compelling wine in the making, revealing an open, refined bouquet of cassis, mulberries, spices, flowers and pencil lead, with its new oak largely remaining in the background. Medium- to full-bodied, it’s sapid and perfumed, built around a seamless, layered core of fruit framed by finely grained, velvety tannins and concluding with a long, fresh and precise finish. Matured in 65% new oak, this blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 6% Cabernet Franc captures the estate’s signature style-polished, balanced and texturally refined-while clearly reflecting the brightness and freshness of the vintage.

Decanter
95 punten
Blackcurrant, raspberry leaf, liquorice and wet stones on the nose. Smooth and supple with nice clarity. A little tight at the moment but great clarity and purity with blueberries and wet stones. So much minerality. Succulent and mouthwatering, this is generosity and friendliness in a glass built on a really crushed stone mineral base. 3.65pH. A yield of 33hl/ha. 6% Petit Verdot completes the blend.

Fastaff
94 punten
Deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, violet reflections, delicate rim brightening. Delicately floral black forest berry confit, a hint of blackberries and cherries, inviting bouquet. Complex, fine extract sweetness, delicate hints of spices, fine tannins, fresh acidity, an elegant food companion with secure ageing potential.

Jancis Robinson
17/20 punten
Blackcurrant and blackcurran-leaf aromas. Fruit fresh and generous on the palate. Juicy, bright and lifted, the tannins finely honed and integrated. Should be Good Value.