Why this vintage
- 96/100 from Wine Enthusiastand 5 other scores above 90/100.
- The 2016 vintage in Saint-JulienA very wet winter followed by a sun-drenched summer produced a rare balance, combining the depth of great years with genuine freshness.
Critic scores
- Wine Enthusiast96
- Wine Spectator96
- Decanter95
- Wine Advocate94
- Vinous93
- Jeb Dunnuck92
The 2016 vintage in Saint-Julien
Vintage benchmark: 97/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: A very wet winter followed by a sun-drenched summer produced a rare balance, combining the depth of great years with genuine freshness.
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
Il montre une couleur très profonde, un nez complexe déjà très expressif de fruits bien mûrs, qui combine richesse, précision et une belle fraîcheur. Le vin se déroule en bouche avec une réelle homogénéité : le vin est charnu dès l’attaque. La trame de tanins extrêmement fins, est très dense. La finale, sur une grande longueur aromatique, est d’une grande précision. Le millésime combine une densité exceptionnelle et une remarquable finesse. Il rejoint clairement le groupe des millésimes les plus exceptionnels de la propriété.
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Blend of the 2016 vintage
- 64 % Cabernet-sauvignon
- 27 % Merlot
- 6 % Petit verdot
- 3 % Cabernet franc
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2016 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 2016 sheet
- 50 hl/haYield
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 2016
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Texts and documents 2016
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
This wine’s visuals are grouped in the media library. 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.