TN: 95 Branaire Ducru [St Julien]

[AKR]

95 Branaire Ducru [St Julien] It's a Saturday night, so I have more time to double decant and chill an older wine. I've held this Medoc since release, and it's my last one. I've sauteed day boat scallops and boiled a pot of fluffy polenta (use stock and evaporated milk!) along with broccoli to go with this. The SO and extended family don't want any, so they open an Oregon rose, while I get to enjoy this mostly by myself. This is medium bodied, 13% abv, and has a bouquet of graphite, rhubarb, and cedar. There is still a little tannin left, and the first shades of bricking at the garnet rims. It improves with a couple hours of air, and a cold sleeve wrapped around the bottle to bring it to 60F. I've had this a few times over the years -- and have never been all that enthused -- but this is an excellent showing for the Branaire as it rolls into the quarter century marker. On the palate I get summer cherries with some AFWE zestiness. In my view it's a food wine and went well with some stinky cheese I picked up at Oxbow Market, as I prepped everything for dinner. It's throwing more sediment that I would have expected, even after being stood up for a few days, and the double decant. The fruit really keeps growing here and richening up. Really much better than prior examples. I'd give this an A- in the ledger.

I'm saving a glass for a friend tomorrow. We're grilling NY strip steaks to go with some other BDX.

[JimHow]

I'm not surprised this performed well, this was a very nice little wine from a nice little vintage in St. Julien.

[Comte Flaneur]

Nice note Arv, shame it is your last bottle.

I think it is true to say that 1995 is one of the, if not the, most backward vintages.

I have quite a few cases of various things from 1995 still sitting patiently in storage.

[Blanquito]

Thanks for the look-see.

Yeah, most classified Medoc still need time in my experience. The 1995 Sociando is drinking quite well these days as are some petit Chateau and cru bourgeois. Can’t imagine when the Firsts will be ready.

[Claudius2]

Comte
Sounds like it is time to pull it out of storage and start imbibing.
I have mixed views of the vintage. It was hailed as a very good vintage after a run of poor to average vintages (91-94) and Bordeaux needed a break.
I bought various wines en primeur but sadly sold most at auction after leaving Australia in early 2010.

We did a NYC tasting of 1995 largely organised by Arvind in late 2004.
I still have the notes I took, and was a little surprised that the wines were still largely austere.
The best wine of the night was Angelus, brought by Pappadoc.
My contribution was La Lagune, which seemed more open and softer than the Pauillacs in particular.

At the time, I wondered if 1995 was going to be another 1975, a vintage that produced too many tannic, austere and unbalanced wines (albeit with a few stunners).
So maybe the wines have reached their apogee, but I still think they are largely over-rated.
I looked up the usual suspects to see the ratings given, and most (WS, WA, etc) give the vintage high scores, yet Jancis Robinson and the Wine Insider were not so impressed. The latter in particular.

Maybe it is a classic, long lived Bordeaux year - and I have to say - an old fashioned claret style.