Saint-Julien · vintage 2014
Château Branaire-Ducru 2014
Ageing potential20 years and over
Why this vintage
- 95/100 from Wine Enthusiastand 4 other scores above 90/100.
- The 2014 vintage in Saint-JulienA gloomy summer redeemed by an Indian summer: the cabernets are radiant and the freshness is true to the Médoc.
- Ageing potential20 years and over
Critic scores
- Wine Enthusiast95
- Vinous93
- Wine Spectator93
- Decanter92
- Jeb Dunnuck90
The 2014 vintage in Saint-Julien
Vintage benchmark: 90/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: A gloomy summer redeemed by an Indian summer: the cabernets are radiant and the freshness is true to the Médoc.
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
Today, Branaire-Ducru 2014 joined the home style by showing an expressive and rich nose with ripe fruit, but keeping the freshness. The mouth is fleshy at the attack, developing along a dense body. The final is complex, the good acidity level gives a beautiful balance.
Blend of the 2014 vintage
- 65 % Cabernet-sauvignon
- 27 % Merlot
- 6 % Petit verdot
- 2 % Cabernet franc
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2014 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 2014 sheet
- 39 hl/haYield
- 35 yrsVine age
Winemaking
The tanks are made of stainless steel, thermoregulated, different sizes and adapted to the plot. The tanks are filled by gravity. It was the first modern gravity installation in Bordeaux in 1991. The fermentation temperature is 26-28°C and the maceration time is 3 weeks, adapted to each quality of harvest.
Ageing
In barrels for 16 to 20 months, with approximately 60 to 65% new oak
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 2014
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 2014
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, back 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 28, 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.