The Bordeaux châteaux that were ranked as First Growths in the famous classification of 1855 produce some of the most sought-after wines in the world. But the so-called “super seconds”—Second Growth estates that consistently craft wines of fantastic quality and age-worthiness—represent reliably excellent and often exceptionally age-worthy reds that tend to vastly outperform their prices. Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is a beloved and highly regarded example.
The estate traces its roots back to 1720, and in our own times, it’s been owned by the Borie family for three generations, now under the watchful eye of Bruno-Eugène Borie. The name Ducru-Beaucaillou is a reference to the “beautiful pebbles” (les beaux cailloux in French) that impact much of the estate’s terroir, holding the heat of the day and radiating it back at night, and requiring the vines’ roots to travel deep into the underlying geology in order the get the water and nutrients they need.
Bruno-Eugène Borie is the third generation of his family to own the great estate.
Courtesy of Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou
The wines produced there are consistently delicious and thoroughly indicative of this particular part of Saint-Julien. The 2016 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a fantastic wine, a blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon supplemented with 15% Merlot that absolutely sings with blackberries, cassis, the lift of floral nuances, and tilled earth, pencil led, star anise, and a core of minerality. It’s structured with tea-like tannins, and even at nine years of age, it boasts the detail, acidity, and length to age beautifully for another many decades to come. The 2006 shows just how profound the venerated estate’s grand vin can age. Nineteen years on, this is remarkably vibrant in character, and aromatically it’s incredibly complex with distinct notes of star anise and roasted coffee rising from the glass. On the palate, the lively black cherries and star anise are still so full of energy, and joined by savory notes of cigar humidor and grilled herb as well as a finishing sweep of dried violets, minerality, and acidity. This still has plenty of life to it, but it’s so delicious right now that I’d have a difficult time not popping the cork if I had another bottle.
Ducru also produces the terrific (and terrifically valued) La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou, which can be found for right around $50 and which represents phenomenal quality for the price. A recent tasting of the 2017 revealed a wine rich with incense-lifted blackberry and plum, as well as cigar tobacco and turned earth. It’s still full of energy, and its detail and length promise enjoyment over the next decade-plus with ease. Their Madame de Beaucaillou Haut-Médoc and Le Petit Ducru also showed beautifully at a recent tasting.
These are wines that embody just what make the great Second Growths so exciting in general, and why Ducru-Beaucaillou is so remarkable in particular. They are age-worthy, reasonably priced in context, and deeply tied to their terroir. “We want to make wines that have the taste of their origin,” Bruno Borie told me. “We want to make St.-Julien, we want to make Ducru. We don’t want to make a blockbuster that has no origin and that will taste similar [to wines produced]
all around the globe…We plant the Cabernet or Merlot because it’s the most adapted to the soil, to the given plot, but not for the style of the wine. The style of the wine we want to make is St.-Julien.” Mission accomplished.
Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou is a highly respected ‘Super Second’ in St.-Julien
Amélie Carles
A domestic producer of Cab-based reds (as well as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, rosé, and more) worth exploring is Gentleman Farmer, which not only makes terrific wine, but is also home to some of the most unexpected and enjoyable visitor experiences in Napa Valley.
But first, the wine: Their 2018 Almanac Cabernet Sauvignon is emblematic of what Gentleman Farmer does so well, which is using excellent fruit from top vineyards and crafting it into wine of energy, generosity, and food-friendliness. Almanac is effectively Gentleman Farmer’s reserve tier, and they’re released after their classic Cab, given the additional time they spend in French Oak. This particular one was grown on the Red Hen Vineyard, in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley, and it bursts from the glass with concentrated aromas of plum cobbler, cherry compote, and licorice that all tee up a toasty palate of ripe, generous brambly berry fruit, black plums, crushed blueberries, warm vanilla, and dusty tannins that linger through a tobacco- and mineral-flecked finish. Enjoy this now with grilled meat or over the next decade.
Gentleman Farmer’s Jeff Durham (left) and Joey Wolosz have made a name for themselves with both … More their wine and their hospitality.
Tom Zzasadzinski
On top of their wines, Gentleman Farmer also boasts phenomenal and thoughtful programming for visitors. Owners Jeff Durham and Joey Wolosz receive guests (appointments are required for a full food and wine experience) at the impeccably appointed Gentleman Farmer Bungalow, a 1926 California Craftsman house in downtown Napa which, depending on what you’ve booked, will be the centerpiece of an intimate, thoroughly unforgettable experience.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner options are available, including the “Breakfast of Champions,” which starts off with a 5k run through town and along the river—or a guided meditation—followed by a spectacular three-course breakfast (with wine pairings, of course) that includes comforting, brilliantly home-cooked dishes like seasonal berry clafoutis, or an impossibly delicate cheese and herb soufflé, or blue-cheese-stuffed, bacon-wrapped dates. (And whatever you do, make sure to try their homemade mustard, too.) Durham and Wolosz are kind, smart, welcoming hosts—you’ll feel like longtime friends by the time the experience is done…and it won’t just be the wine talking.
The Gentleman Farmer Bungalow is home to some of the most unique visitor experiences in Napa Valley.
Michael Cuffe
Finally, a strong recommendation for a terrific Champagne house that is crafting seriously accomplished wine—Lallier. It was founded in Aÿ in 1906, where its caves still can be found today. Their production, however, takes place in Oger. Their vineyards are primarily Grands and Premiers Crus, and villages like Avize, Chouilly, and Verzenay, among others, are a core reason for the beauty of their Champagnes.
The Réflexion line is their riff on the Brut NV style, yet unlike most, Cellar Master Dominique Demarville’s goal isn’t to produce a consistent wine every year but, rather, to explore the character of the vintage responsible for the base wines. The labels, then, indicate which year the wine is built on—R.019, for example, tells the story of 2019. The R.021 Rosé is a terrific example of the concept, its freshness of red berry fruit and blood orange sliced with mineral yet still broad on the palate, where a wonderful energy pulses through wild strawberries, subtle toast notes, and a lovely sense of texture and depth.
But it’s their Ouvrage Grand Cru Extra Brut that stole a recent tasting. Each iteration is based on fruit from distinct parcels, yet those change based on what Demarville chooses each year. I recently tasted the bottling that’s crafted from grapes grown in 2017 on mid-slope plots in the villages of Aÿ and Oger, and it’s phenomenal, a wine of wonderful texture, chalkiness, and creaminess, broad yet detailed and with notes of oyster shell minerality, lemon pith, warm bread dough, and the quiet salinity of sea air, all layered with great depth and intensity. These are wines that definitely deserve a place in the cellar…and on the table.
Champagne Lallier is headquartered in Aÿ, France.
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