The colour is deep ruby. The nose has a spicy and minty character, with green and smoky notes. In the mouth smooth, but not much of an aftertaste worth mentioning.
The 2012 Bordeaux vintage has been a challenging one, due to lousy weather that caused major problems for the ripening of Cabernet Sauvignon. The resulting wines are very variable. This second wine of Château Ducru-Beaucaillou (rated a second growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification) unfortunately doesn’t stand out.
La Croix de Beaucaillou has been produced since 1995, but with the 2009 vintage it got a new image thanks to the current label designed by Jade Jagger, Mick’s daughter. A praiseworthy marketing effort to rejuvenate the image of Bordeaux wine.
Calling a wine “second” somehow gives me the impression that it must be made with the leftover grapes from the flagship wine. In reality, the second wine is usually made from plots that are either underperforming or planted with younger vines. Some selection takes therefore place already at harvest. Additional selection is done after vinification or even barrel aging on wines not judged of enough quality for the Grand Vin.
From the producer’s point of view, a second wine allows the winery to use a stricter selection for its Grand Vin, while still capitalising on its name and distribution channels in selling the second label, which is much more profitable than selling off lesser wine “anonymously”, to be used e.g in negociant bulk bottlings. The practice of establishing a second wine began towards the turn of the century, but it hasn’t been till the 1980s that the praxis has substantially developed.
The second wine may have some hints and characteristics of the estate one, but is typically less elegant and structured than the first label.
The grapes for La Croix de Beaucaillou come from separate and distinct vineyards grown on the lesser-quality lots of the property situated west of the Château. La Croix de Beaucaillou 2012 is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon and 36% Merlot. I bought this bottle en primeur for 35 CHF. I feel that I overpaid.
Country: France
Region: Bordeaux
Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
Type: Red
Vintage: 2012
Producer: Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
Price range: Premium (30-50 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 2/5