Croix de Beaucaillou

In discussing 2013, Bruno Borie draws comparisons with 1966 and 1971, neither of which I was around to taste as young wines. Yields are down about 35% across all three St. Julien properties. Borie used optical sorting for this top two wines, the Croix de Beaucaillou and Ducru. Temperatures were kept low during fermentation, with minimal pumpovers, just enough to aerate the wines, while post-fermentation macerations were shorter than normal, all pretty typical responses to the year. As for the wines, well, they are terrific, Ducru in particular. Both Croix de Beaucaillou and Ducru are aging in 100% new oak barrels, all of which they have handled quite well thus far.