Duluc de Branaire-Ducru, Saint-Julien 2019

The 2023 vintage looks good but the yields are down, some warm damp weather in summer means the Cabernets have out performed the more delicate Merlot. The wines of 2022 are excellent showing a lovely balance of ripeness and juiciness that give them great balance. The 2021 vintage has made wines that are medium bodied with good freshness, in a similar style to 2017. The 2020 vintage yielded wines that are aromatic and concentrated, quite big in structure with freshness and balance. The wines of 2019 are very concentrated, fresh, ripe and plentiful, all in all a very well regarded vintage. 2018 was a very good vintage in the end but mildew, hail, and a heatwave all served to reduce yields. The harvest across the region took place in near ideal conditions. 2017 is good in terms of quality but short on quantity, following frosts in the Spring that decimated certain properties. 2016 is a worthy successor to 2015, on a par qualitatively and looking very promising across all wine types. A hot summer but with cool nights has produced wines with fruit and freshness. 2015 is exceptionally good across the region for reds, especially the Right Bank, Pessac-Léognan, dry whites (better for Sauvignon than Sémillon) and sweeties: it is certainly the best vintage since 2010. 2014 is a very good Cabernet vintage, particularly in the Médoc where the wines are fresh with fine tannins. Overall, ripeness levels are good and so are quantities.