Saint-Julien · vintage 2012
Château Branaire-Ducru 2012
Ageing potential20 ans et +
Why this vintage
- 94/100 from Wine Enthusiastand 3 other scores above 90/100.
- The 2012 vintage in Saint-JulienA late cycle closing with rain gave an uneven vintage: the cabernets hold up, the merlots remain taut.
- Ageing potential20 ans et +
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Critic scores
- Wine Enthusiast94
- Decanter92
- Vinous91
- Wine Advocate90
The 2012 vintage in Saint-Julien
Vintage benchmark: 85/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: A late cycle closing with rain gave an uneven vintage: the cabernets hold up, the merlots remain taut.
Overall reading of the year’s season across Saint-Julien. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.
Tasting
Tout est mis en œuvre, pendant les vinifications et l’élevage, pour exprimer le potentiel des raisins et par là-même le terroir, dans un vin où le fruit, la complexité aromatique vont de pair avec la richesse et l’équilibre, sans surextraction ni lourdeur. On peut commencer à boire le Château Branaire-Ducru entre 5 et 10 ans, et le garder 15, 20 ans et plus selon la richesse et la puissance du millésime
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Blend of the 2012 vintage
- 67 % Cabernet-sauvignon
- 24 % Merlot
- 5 % Cabernet franc
- 4 % Petit verdot
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2012 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with 70 % cabernet sauvignon, 22 % merlot, 4 % petit verdot, 4 % cabernet franc — a vintage blend departs from the area under vine as the year dictates.
Figures from the 2012 sheet
- 13 % vol.Alcohol
- 41 hl/haYield
- 35 yrsVine age
- 300,000 bottlesProduction
Winemaking
Les cuves sont en acier inoxydable, thermorégulées de tailles différentes et adaptées au parcellaire. Le remplissage des cuves se fait par gravité. Ce fut la première installation gravitaire moderne à Bordeaux en 1991. La température de fermentation est de 26-28 °C et la durée de macération de 3 semaines, adaptée à chaque qualité de vendange.
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Ageing
En barriques durant 16 à 20 mois, avec environ 60 à 65% de bois neuf
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Terroir
The Branaire-Ducru vineyard is made up of several separate parcels, but with a terroir that remains homogeneous, on a very fine gravel rise at Beychevelle. The soil consists mainly of Quaternary gravelly-siliceous alluvium lying on a bed of alios (iron hardpan). The average age of the vineyard is 35 years. The blend at Château Branaire-Ducru is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot and 4% each of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Planting density is 8,000 vines/ha, for a yield of 40 hl/ha. Harvesting is by hand, with rigorous sorting in the vineyard and on sorting tables. Viticulture is conventional.
An offer on Château Branaire-Ducru 2012
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 2012
The texts below copy in one click for your product sheets, catalogues and social channels. The printable sheet condenses the whole page onto a single A4 page.
Visuals
For this vintage, the media library contains: packshots, labels. High-definition packshots, labels, back labels and lifestyle photos are reserved for clients and partners, on the Compagnie Médocaine’s VinCod media library.
Sheet checked on September 21, 2026. Technical data: the estate’s VinCod sheets. Critic scores: sources cited above, with their date. Vintage benchmarks and character: Compagnie Médocaine’s own editorial read. Soils and relief, where shown: the Compagnie Médocaine’s parcel survey and the Mapbox/IGN terrain model.