Saint-Julien · 4th grand cru classé in 1855
Château Branaire-Ducru: available vintages, prices and pairings
The grand vin and its second wine, Duluc de Branaire-Ducru, vintage by vintage, with the format, the guide price and what to expect from it today: ready to drink, or to keep. Tick what interests you, and the quote request goes with your selection.
The vintages on the price list
Filter by budget or by “ready to drink”. Nothing is sent until you click on the quote.
Two wines, one estate
Same estate, same team, two uses.
Château Branaire-Ducru
The grand vin. Mostly cabernet sauvignon, merlot, a little petit verdot and cabernet franc (65%, 27%, 6% and 2% in 2015). Softer than the second growths, ready at around eight years, it keeps for twenty years and more in good years.
Duluc de Branaire-Ducru
The second wine, from younger vines and lots not kept for the first wine. Ready at around three or four years, at less than half the price of the grand vin: a wine for a celebration table rather than for the cellar.
The château faces Beychevelle, across the Route des Châteaux. The Maroteaux family has owned it since 1988. To know when a second wine is the right choice, see the second wine of a great château page; the other châteaux of the appellation are on the Saint-Julien wines page.
The vineyard stretches over 60 hectares along an east–west line, in the southern part of Saint-Julien, and brings together some fifteen micro-terroirs. The vines, 35 years old on average, grow on Quaternary gravel and siliceous soils, one of the warmest terroirs in the region; merlot takes the clay beds. The château considers the 2015, born of a dry summer, one of its most accomplished wines of the last thirty years. The 2016, a cool, wet spring followed by an almost rainless summer, ranks in its view among its most exceptional vintages. In 2019, water stress comparable to 2009 marked the whole summer.
What to serve it with
- Château Branaire-Ducru: roast lamb (what wine with lamb), fillet of beef (what wine with beef), game birds for the oldest vintages (what wine with game).
- Duluc de Branaire-Ducru: duck breast (what wine with duck), roast poultry (what wine with poultry), grilled meats.
- With cheese: firm cheeses rather than blue cheeses (what wine with cheese).
Which vintage for which occasion
For a wedding, the Duluc on every table and the grand vin at the top table: one estate, two prices. The which Bordeaux for a wedding page compares the appellations. For a birthday, the birth year, if the table has it (birth-year vintage).
Is Château Branaire-Ducru a grand cru classé?
Yes. It is a fourth growth (quatrième grand cru classé) in the 1855 classification, in the Saint-Julien appellation. Duluc, its second wine, is not classified: the classification applies to the grand vin alone.
What is the difference between Branaire-Ducru and Duluc?
Same estate, same team, same cellars. The grand vin comes from the best plots and the oldest vines and keeps for twenty years and more; the Duluc comes from younger vines, is drunk sooner and costs about half as much.
When should you drink a Branaire-Ducru?
Allow eight years before opening it and twenty-five years of good drinking, a little more in a great year, a little less in a weak year or in half bottle; for the Duluc, three to twelve years. The table applies this rule to each line; it isn't a tasting note, and a badly stored bottle ages faster.
Are the prices shown the prices on the quote?
They're the guide prices from the price list, incl. VAT, per bottle of the format, excluding delivery. The quote confirms the price, the availability of each vintage and the shipping; the delivery grid gives the lead times. For a vintage not in the table, the quote request is still open.