Chateau Branaire-Ducru Saint-Julien 2001 Consignment Mostly Chardonnay from the limestone

Mostly Chardonnay from the limestone vineyards of Vertus

It's white Burgundy with real soul

The seven botanicals—fig

ready to drink from 2028 onward

and the wine has slipped into that gorgeous secondary phase of dried cherry

Chateau Branaire-Ducru Saint-Julien 2001 Consignment Mostly Chardonnay from the limestoneThe 2001 Saint Julien vintage has always sat in the shadow of 2000 and 2005, which is exactly why bottles like this are still worth drinking the wines were classically built, never overripe, and have aged on a long, steady curve. Branaire Ducru's Fourth Growth, traditional style is a natural fit for this kind of vintage: now well into the secondary stage, with cedar and tobacco coming forward but plenty of fruit still in the mid palate. A drinking