Chateau Branaire-Ducru Saint-Julien 1996 bis-hidden They farm old bush vines

They farm old bush vines organically and biodynamically on chalky limestone

and full of various ripe fruits

and a quiet thrum of baking spice

mineral and bone dry sparkling wine done in the style of a blanc de blancs Champagne

Chateau Branaire-Ducru Saint-Julien 1996 bis-hidden They farm old bush vinesBranaire Ducru has long been the connoisseur's Saint Julien Fourth Growth pricing, classical winemaking, no flash. The 1996 vintage is now thirty years old and squarely in mature territory, made in one of those classic cool vintage years where ripe Cabernet held onto bracing Left Bank acidity. The result is everything you'd want from a fully resolved Mdoc: cedar, tobacco, dried red and black fruit, leather, and that beam of acidity keeping it lively.