Why this vintage
- 94/100 from Vinousand 4 other scores above 90/100.
- The 2017 vintage in Saint-JulienApril frost cut the crop in half: the plots that were spared give fine, classic wines, and the vintage must be judged estate by estate.
Critic scores
- Vinous94
- Wine Enthusiast94
- Decanter93
- Jeb Dunnuck90-92
- Wine Spectator92
The 2017 vintage in Saint-Julien
Vintage benchmark: 85/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: April frost cut the crop in half: the plots that were spared give fine, classic wines, and the vintage must be judged estate by estate.
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
Branaire-Ducru 2017 has a lovely character. The nose is expressive, harmonious and complex with good evidence of red fruits. With an immediate presence the palate has fine, silky tannins. There is a wonderful freshness, due in no small part to the combination of moderate levels of alcohol (13.2%) and good levels of acidity (pH 3.65), this freshness gives a lovely lift to the astonishingly long finish. The 2017 vintage which started in difficult conditions, has, in the end allowed us to make a wine of character, true to the style of Branaire-Ducru and redolent of the great vintages.
Blend of the 2017 vintage
- 65 % Cabernet Sauvignon
- 24 % Merlot
- 6.5 % Petit Verdot
- 4.5 % Cabernet Franc
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2017 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 2017 sheet
- 13.2 % vol.Alcohol
- 39.6 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 2017
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 2017
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 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.