Chateau Branaire-Ducru Saint-Julien 1996 bis-hidden most of today’s Finos give

most of today’s Finos give only a poor imitation of that thrill ride

Separate vinification of villages

They farm old bush vines organically and biodynamically on chalky limestone

A single cask rum matured and bottled in Scotland

Chateau Branaire-Ducru Saint-Julien 1996 bis-hidden most of today’s Finos giveBranaire Ducru has long been the connoisseur's Saint Julien Fourth Growth pricing, classical winemaking, no flash. The 1996 vintage is now thirty years old and squarely in mature territory, made in one of those classic cool vintage years where ripe Cabernet held onto bracing Left Bank acidity. The result is everything you'd want from a fully resolved Mdoc: cedar, tobacco, dried red and black fruit, leather, and that beam of acidity keeping it lively.