2009 Ducru-Beaucaillou La Croix de Beaucaillou

75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot. The grand vin is the result of an increasingly strict selection process, with approximately 50% of the production going into the final Ducru Beaucaillou wine and the balance used in the Croix de Beaucaillou. 60% new oak used in maturation, and the rest one year old. Winemaker Bruno Borie. Lively, expressive fruit with a note of oak vanillin. Finely built, harmonious, though a little less full in the mouth than the Capbern is at the moment and more cedar and cassis. Maybe a very very slight bitterness on the finish, hence the minus. Tannins are fine and ripe. (JH)

Another second wine, before Jade Jagger was given the job of repackaging it like a bottle of scent. Relatively pale crimson. Luscious and yet dry on the end. Really well constituted. Dense and set for a great future. (JR)

A bit of oak on the nose. Sweet and smudgy. But quite long and satisfying. Youthful with lots of tannin still in evidence. Attractive freshness. (JR)