Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

The château

It began with a marriage: on May 30, 1720 Jacques de Bergeron married Marie Dejean, heiress of the vineyard. Bertrand Ducru bought the property in 1797, spent heavily on the cellars and the vines, and turned the Gironde house into a Directoire chartreuse facing the estuary. By 1824 his name had replaced Bergeron’s in the table of Saint-Julien owners that William Franck printed in his Traité sur les vins du Médoc, against a crop of 35 to 45 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and his successors joined it to Beaucaillou, the older half of the name. The beautiful pebbles are Günz gravel and quartz brought down by the ancient Garonne, soil that sends the roots deep and gives the day’s heat back at night.

On March 3, 1866 the estate was sold to Lucie-Caroline Dassier, wife of the merchant Nathaniel Johnston, who had Michel-Louis Garros frame the chartreuse with 2 Victorian towers. Fernand Odon Desbarats bought it in 1928, and in 1942 Francis Borie, already the owner of a classified growth in Pauillac, took it from him on a life annuity. Jean-Eugène Borie restored the vineyard and the cellars from 1959. Bruno-Eugène Borie, the 3rd generation, took charge in 2003 and lives at the château. He limited the grand vin (the estate’s first wine) to the vines east of the D2, and the selection fell from 16,000 cases in 2002 to about 8,000 in recent vintages.

The vineyard covers 75 hectares at 10,000 vines a hectare, 35 years old on average, with Cabernet Sauvignon well ahead of Merlot, and the grand vin spends 18 months in new oak; Emmanuel Bonneau is technical director. La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou, about 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, and Le Petit Ducru follow it. La Croix is more than a second wine, in my view: Bruno Borie has made it a project of its own, and the 2011, which I tasted in December 2025, showed in a hard year, fresh and medium-bodied, exactly what the property stands for.

Of the grand vin, the 2008, tasted in August 2024, was big, bold and opulent, still developing but already showing signs of greatness. The 2014, opened in September 2026, was the wine of the night, maybe of the year: it ticks every box, then quietly adds a few more.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Julien

Classification

Deuxième Cru Classé 1855

Owners

The Borie family, since 1942; Bruno-Eugène Borie, 3rd generation, since 2003

Direction

Emmanuel Bonneau, technical director

Vineyard

75 hectares; 10,000 vines a hectare; vines 35 years old on average

Soil

Günz gravel and quartz Terroir of Saint-Julien →

Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon well in the lead, with Merlot

Cellar

The grand vin from the vines east of the D2; 18 months in new oak

Wines

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou; La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou; Le Petit Ducru

The house

A Directoire chartreuse on the estuary, framed with 2 Victorian towers after 1866