Ducru Beaucaillou

The 1988 Ducru-Beaucaillou, a late picked vintage (30 September to 12 October) feels a little staid on the nose. Black fruit, touches of lavender, but there seems to be little energy or tension. The palate is better with black cherries and briary, but there is a greenness that is more jarring here than on the bottle I tasted at the estate three years earlier, suggesting that bottles should be consumed in the near future. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château.