- Château Branaire-Ducru 2022 has been released for £474 per 12×75.
- ‘Branaire-Ducru continues its upward trajectory’, said Neal Martin who rated it 95-97 points.
- Buyers looking for value might want to consider the 2020, 2018 and 2021 vintages.
As part of this year’s Bordeaux En Primeur campaign, Château Branaire-Ducru 2022 has been released at €39.60 per bottle ex-négociant, up 26.9% on the 2021 release (€31.20).
It is being released with a recommended retail price of £474 per 12×75 (€46.2 / HK$ 380 / CHF 47.8 / £39.5 per bottle), up 28.1% on the 2021’s opening price (£370 per 12×75).
Based on today’s release, buyers looking for opportunities have several options to choose from in back vintages. See more pricing analysis below.
Liv-ex members ranked Branaire-Ducru among the top ten best wines for value in this year’s En Primeur Survey.
Critics’ scores
Neal Martin (Vinous) awarded the wine a barrel range of 95-97 points, praising its ‘sense of symmetry’ and recommending it for ‘those seeking more classical Saint-Julien’. He predicts that the 2022 will ‘age over many years’ into an ‘excellent’ Branaire-Ducru.
William Kelley (Wine Advocate) also scored it at a range of 95-97 points. In his tasting notes, he commented that it was ‘a brilliant wine’ and ‘the finest young vintage [he had] tasted at this Saint-Julien estate’.
He went on to note that ‘given the Maroteaux family’s sensible approach to pricing, this is likely to number among the must-purchase wines of the 2022 vintage, and it comes warmly recommended’.
James Suckling awarded it a narrower range of 96-97 points and said that there was ‘fantastic definition to this’. With 97-points, Jean-Marc Quarin also noted that the wine was ‘a great success’.
Fair Value analysis
There is no significant correlation between Branaire-Ducru Market Prices and Neal Martin scores – the chosen critic for Liv-ex’s ‘Fair Value’ methodology.
Buyers looking for value may want to consider the 2020 vintage, which is available at a 21.5% discount to today’s release. It was scored 94 points by Neal Martin (Vinous) who noted that ‘there is more weight on the back palate than older vintages’ and that the wine has ‘greater density and backbone’, creating ‘a more satisfying Branaire-Ducru with plenty of freshness’.
The lower-scoring (and cheaper) 2018 and 2021 vintages also look attractive.
Our Bordeaux En Primeur 2022 page contains everything you need to know about this year’s campaign. You can also sign up for our daily En Primeur email alerts using the form below.
Liv-ex analysis is drawn from the world’s most comprehensive database of fine wine prices. The data reflects the real time activity of Liv-ex’s 620+ merchant members from across the globe. Together they represent the largest pool of liquidity in the world – currently £100m of bids and offers across 16,000 wines.
