1975 Ducru-Beaucaillou⁣

This is my 3rd and the last bottle over the past year. It definitely sits at its plateau now and fully awake. Difficult to say when the drinking window will close down. ⁣

Lots of energy and precision. Cabernet Sauvignon dominant. Perfumed black currant jam with leaves. Complex tertiary aromas make a beautiful bouquet. Balance of tannins, fruits and acidity at its perfection. Tannins have soften but not yet faded away.⁣

Undoubted 2nd Growth quality.

(94+pts)
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Lovely scene, lovely wine, lovely note. Well done.

Thank you, Neal!

Sadly that was the last bottle. I am glad it was even better than the previous ones. Finished on a high note ))

Wonderful! I just happened to have this bottle last month. Sounds like yours was showing a bit younger. Good luck for you!

Top shoulder fill. Cork crumbled. Decanted through cheesecloth. Immediately released aromas of dried fruit, leather, fennel, sous bois. Palate was coiled at first but slowly started to release after the first hour. Finish was tight, but also mellowed with time. Kept waiting for the fruit to show up, but not much fruit left at this point. A good experience and enjoyable bottle, but not showing much greatness.

Yeah, gotta echo this, nice trifecta, can’t put it better.

That would be a birth year wine for me. Maybe I get fortunate and find one well kept.

What a beaut. My oldest Bordeaux experience is the '82 Ducru and it was glorious.

Also, how’s the book?

Gotta love the '75s. I haven’t had that particular Chateau, but I have some Brane Cantenac and Pichon-Comtesse from 75. Got them in lots and have had one bottle of each with a few more left. The Brane was good, still had structure, didn’t fade in the glass, the expected Left Bank flavor profile. The Pichon blew it away, though. Just more of everything and like you said of the Ducru, balanced.

Great photo, too.

I have just started, but already can tell that’s the most comprehensive book on Bordeaux I have seen in recent years. Great terroir insights, great maps with soil types, producers profiles. Must have for Bordeaux lovers.

Yep, birth year wine for me too.

Now I need to go find one!

Nice read and photo.

I can’t recall having had the 75 Ducru Beaucaillou, but have had successes over the last several years with same vintage Magdelaine, Malescot, Talbot and Gruaud. Not blockbusters, but enjoyable.

Like '66 and '70, '75 was heralded mainly because so many years between '61 and '82 sucked. It is hard for younger wine enthusiasts to grasp what it was like back then because as I have stated elsewhere, between global warming and modern wine making methods, such long bad luck streaks just don’t seem to exist anymore. Back then, the producers, distributors, and retailers were under a lot of pressure to tout weak vintages for the sake of survival. I was just starting to collect wine when the '75’s came out. I drank mine a long time ago-before 2000 came around. I was not lucky enough or informed enough to buy the good ones. I remember having Brane Cantenac and Phelan Segur that were charmless. Tannic and thin. I tend to think that Robert Parker’s palate was shaped by going through that string of bad years and craving fruit.

I’ve got a '75 I’m planning to open later this year. Any suggestions on decanting length or suggest pnp?

Had a '75 Troplong Mondot in March and it was really excellent. Mature, but still a lot going on and not fading or flat.

For both the '75 Brane and Comtesse, I decanted just for sediment. Poured immediately. Don’t remember second fill being weaker or better with either wine. Can’t speak for the Ducru, though.

Thanks! Haven’t opened anything this old before but planning to share at a dinner so trying to figure out timing.

This could be the last vintage before they figured out how to manage tannins better. The wine is 45 years old and still tannic??

Yes, tannins are very present and granular. But that doesn’t bother at all and gives the wine a good energetic lift.

I kept my bottle vertical for a week before opening to make sure all the sediment slides down to the bottom. I then gently poured directly from the bottle and there was no need to decant it. Wine was in a very good shape, so even if I had to decant it, I am sure it would have coped with it ))

1975 was the first decent claret vintage after 1970. There was a lot of hype. Then there were six good vintages in row, '78 to '83, and '75 was forgotten.

Great notes, only '75 Bordeaux I’ve had was a 1975 Mouton, which doubles as my only first growth. It was delicious, dominant notes of mushrooms to an extent I’ve not before experienced; only problem is we drank it next to a 1964 LdH Tondonia which just absolutely blew it out of the water. I do have a '70 Ducru coming in the fall from Envoyer, though - looking forward to trying it!