Why this vintage
- 96/100 from Vinousand 5 other scores above 90/100.
- The 2018 vintage in Saint-JulienAfter a spring marked by mildew, the heat concentrated a small crop: rich, ripe wines with great depth of material.
Critic scores
- Vinous96
- Wine Enthusiast95
- Jeb Dunnuck94
- Decanter94
- Wine Spectator94
- Wine Advocate93
The 2018 vintage in Saint-Julien
Vintage benchmark: 95/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: After a spring marked by mildew, the heat concentrated a small crop: rich, ripe wines with great depth of material.
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
Le nez déjà très expressif offre une belle complexité de fruits bien mûrs, bien équilibrée par des notes plus fraîches. Il se développe intense à l’aération. L’élevage est déjà joliment intégré. L’attaque en bouche est immédiatement très ronde, d’un volume impressionnant, mais sur des tanins extrêmement fins. Le vin se développe lentement, progressivement, avec une belle logique, et montre un charnu profond, une belle densité, tout en raffinement. La complexité aromatique, mais également une belle acidité, portent le vin sur toute la dégustation, qui s’achève sur une belle longueur de fruits. La signature maison se retrouve clairement dans Branaire-Ducru 2018 avec un fruit expressif, une grande finesse et un équilibre dans la fraîcheur, mais avec une profondeur, une densité et un raffinement exceptionnels.
Content available in French
Blend of the 2018 vintage
- 58 % Cabernet-sauvignon
- 33 % Merlot
- 5 % Petit verdot
- 4 % Cabernet franc
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2018 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 2018 sheet
- 53 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 2018
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 2018
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.