Chateau Branaire-Ducru Saint-Julien 1996 NO20231115 with lemon-lime on the nose

with lemon-lime on the nose and tropical fruit on the palate

a saline savor and that almost burly density that marks the very best Corton-Charlemagnes

deeply cocoa-like and deliciously rich

Its aroma is one of toasted oak mixed with vanilla bean

The Reserve offers an approachable entry into the estate's range

Chateau Branaire-Ducru Saint-Julien 1996 NO20231115 with lemon-lime on the noseBranaire 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.