Château Branaire-Ducru

Château Branaire-Ducru occupies a scattered mosaic of gravel parcels across St-Julien, and turns them into one of the appellation's most quietly consistent wines. A Fourth Growth in the 1855 classification, the property was revived by the Maroteaux family, who arrived in 1988 and remain at the helm today. The house style prizes freshness and lift — violets and red-tinged black fruit over fine tannin — rather than sheer weight, which makes Branaire one of St-Julien's most food-friendly and fairly priced classed growths. Duluc de Branaire-Ducru, the second wine, follows the same graceful line.