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 “Travelling North from Pessac Léognan, traversing through the city of Bordeaux and crossing Margaux is the appellation of St Julien on the left Bank of Gironde. The fourth growth Cru Classé owned by the perfectionist, Patrick Maroteaux who convinced his father in law, a sugar baron to buy it in 1988 was able to turn it around. Results were obvious in the glass.
The chateau benefits from the fact perhaps, that the terroir of St Julien with 1000 hA vineyards has 85% of them under 1855 classification. The gravelly soil which is very good for the aging of Cabernet wines is also the reason why the estate produces mostly Cabernets.
Not as concentrated but quite tannic, the second wine, Ch. Duluc is full of berry fruit flavours with a slight spicy touch. It could pare well with mushrooms, and slightly spicy food. Although 2002 is already drinkable, the tannins will soften in the next 2-3 years.”
These lines have been lifted from a previous article reported in delWine during the previous visit by Patrick in January 2008 which was in my mind when I entered the Prego Restaurant in Gurgaon where I had been invited to the last of the 3 dinners organised with the Chateau wines and the Second wine of this Fourth Growth from Saint Julien on the left Bank of Bordeaux in Medoc. Patrick looked familiar and I told him so. But I was very moved when he told me he vividly remembered meeting me at a tasting 5-6 years ago in one of the Taj properties!!
The visit was in fact in January, 2008 and the article was published on January 11. At that time there were 5 producers with a couple of their labels each at the Taj Mahal Hotel. The evening of last Thursday had 5 wines from Branaire-Ducru being showcased-with Italian cuisine! The evening was to start with the Second wine-Duluc du Chateau Branaire- Ducru 2009 and 2010 and followed by more serious and older wines- Chateau Branaire Ducru 2005, 2000 and 1995.
As with other Grand Cru producers in Bordeaux, and as is true with all other fine wine producers, Patrick emphasised that the Second labels underwent exactly the same production process and had high quality grapes grown with the same viticulture techniques except they were from younger wines-less than 15 years old. The wines are slightly less concentrated and powerful, drink younger and would stay alive for fewer years- 10-12 for good vintages like 2009 and 2010.
 ‘Their philosophy of our winemaking is simple’, says Patrick.’ I like our wines to have pure fruit expression and freshness. They should not be heavy or over-extracted. Keeping them well-balanced is my target. Our wines should give pleasure to drink. They must be as elegant as First Growths,’ he adds.
He gives a brief history of the Chateau going back to 17th centur and the 1855 classification and telling us that out of the thousands of Bordeaux estates there are only 61 estates that are classified (Wikipedia lists 62 estates- First growth (5), Second Growth (14), Third Growth (15), Fourth Growth (10) and Fifth Growth (18). Interestingly as he tells us there are no First or Fifth Growths in Saint Julien which has 11 classified growths (Second 5, Third 2 and Fourth 4) which has a lot of gravel in its soil and is thus most suitable for Cabernet Sauvignon which forms 70% of the vines at Branaire-Ducru, the balance being 22% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot to give structure and colour to the wine.
Although most Indian wine producers do not seem to care to value to the age of the vines (most of them are younger than 15 years) , Patrick says that the optimum age of a vine coincides with a man-s 35 years though they have some as old as 100 years. They replant one hA of vineyard every year to keep the vines at the desirable age as much as possible but keeping the change gentle, using grapes from younger vines for the Duluc.
Since the family took over the Chateau in 1988, Patrick divides the great vintages in the three decade categories distinctly- 2010-2009, 2005, 2003 and 2001; 1996 and 1995 and lastly 1990 and 1989. We were given the taste of 2010 and 2009 through the Second label Duluc de Branaire-Ducru while the Chateau wines from 2005, 2000 and 1995 were showcased through the Chateau label.
The 2009 has been universally acclaimed as a great vintage for Bordeaux although it competes with 2010, making it always an interesting ongoing debate on which tastes better- also at the dinner at Prego. The 2009 was more elegant, more feminine and less extracted whereas 2010 was a bit more powerful, fuller in body and bigger in structure-both were very elegant and homogenous with powerful bouquet. The 2010 seemed more pleasurable although 2009 would perhaps run a longer course. The purity of fruit in the expression and the balance were the key factors in both wines-they were also easier drinking, the tannins were ripe and silky.
The Chateau wines held their charm and kept showing off their multi-faceted personality in the glass. The 1995 seemed to be at its peak while the 2005 still seemed young. It was 2000 that seemed to be at perfect age- an elegant, powerful and yet subtle wine with plenty of finesse and not-in-your-face red berry fruits on the palate.
Patrick has been the President of Union des Grands Crus Bordeaux from 2000-2018 and is currently one of the Vice Presidents. Many would recall a memorable visit in 2012 when 33 producers led by the then President Sylvie Cazes showcased their wines at Hotel Oberoi Gurgaon- for our report in delWine visit Star Interview: Sylvie Cazes of UGC Bordeaux . The prestigious Bordeaux organisation was formed in 1973 to promote top quality Bordeaux wines and is responsible to organise the annual En Primeur event.
Wines from Chateau Branaire-Ducru are meant for drinking and not for investment and offer great value-for-money for Bordeaux lovers, especially because they have pure fruit expression. As an example, at an average price of $112+tax for the 2005 (source-wine searcher.com) Chateau Branaire-Ducru costs merely one tenth of the First Growth Chateau Margaux ($1132+tax). In every respect, it is a great value -for -money top Bordeaux wine for the connoisseurs who drink not to impress others with their wealth but for their own pleasure. For an ordinary mortal with impeccable taste, the Duluc at 40% of the cost ($50 +tax) would be an absolute steal. Of course, the prices are only an indicator and with multiple layer of partners involved in India- State being the biggest one, it costs many times more in India.
On his fourth outing to India, Patrick has been kept very busy with a hat-trick of wine dinners planned in Delhi-NCR region with more or less same wines at each venue from 4-6 March. Although each of the hotels Pullman, Taj Chambers and Westin had a different ambience and different cuisines, it was inevitable that there would be comparisons by those who had attended more than one.
 Parag Tripathi, a Connoisseur Member of the Delhi Wine Club who attended all three and achieved the rare hat-trick (next year he plans to run the famous Medoc Marathon where choicest wines and excellent food are served during the race through the vineyards and this was apparently a mental exercise to prepare for the same), felt that the food at Pullman was the best followed closely by the one at Prego. Interestingly, the one at Pullman was organised by a private organisation and cost Rs.45,000 per person notionally (it is a member-only enterprise with 4 dinners included annually). The Taj dinner was a more down-to-earth event at Rs.5000 a head. Delhi Wine Club had managed to get a special price of Rs.3000 AI per head for its Connoisseur Members giving them an excellent opportunity to indulge in a super- fine wine and food evening and interact with a highly acclaimed producer of a Classified Growth Chateau of Bordeaux on the ascent. It is an interesting trivia that at the 1855 Classification, ‘Chateau’ was used for the top growth only- it was later that the estates adopted the name.
Credit for the ‘Evening at Prego’ goes to the General Manager of the two Westin Hotels (both the Sohna and Gurgaon properties are owned by the Vatika group) Sanjay Sharma, his F & B Team Prego and Chef Emiliano di Stefano who crafted excellent Italian cuisine. Like a fine wine, he has been getting better and more mature with every passing day, and has made Prego worth visiting for an excellent Italian meal-even when paired with Classified Growth French wines like Chateau Branaire-Ducru.
Subhash Arora |