Old World, New Attitude
Bordeaux is a beloved wine region, but it has a reputation for being a little staid. For an elite property, incentives for radical change are few. Take Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, the revered second-growth producer in the Saint-Julien appellation. Founded in 1720, Ducru is celebrating 300 years of exceptional winemaking with the recent release of its 2020 vintage, decked out with a special commemorative label, to high demand at $239 a bottle. The château has had a level of longevity that is hard to grasp: When the estate was formed, the French Revolution was still nearly 70 years away.
“Ducru has historically had an aura about it,” Jamie Ritchie, the worldwide head of Sotheby’s wine department, says of its reputation for plush and long-lived red wines based primarily on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
When the estate was founded, the French Revolution was still nearly 70 years away. “Ducru has historically had an aura about it.”
But the current custodian of the legend of Ducru (insiders use just the first part of its name), Bruno-Eugène Borie, doesn’t quite fit the expected mold. His family took over
