| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
This famous and historic Saint Julien 2nd growth is popular throughout the world and is usually released at the most reasonable price of all the so-called "super-seconds". The 82 hectare vineyard is one of the largest of the classed growths.
Deep garnet in color, the 2016 Gruaud Larose slowly unfurls to offer glimpses at gorgeous scents of black cherries, warm cassis, and lilacs, followed by hints of licorice, dried flowers, and crushed rocks with a touch of cinnamon. The medium-bodied palate is fantastically elegant and refined, with plush tannins to frame the delicate fruit layers, finishing long and seamless.
The 2016 Gruaud Larose has a surfeit of red berry fruit laced with rose petal and light crushed stone aromas on the generous, open nose. The palate is medium-bodied with lithe tannins and underpinned by a fine bead of acidity. It comes across sedate and nonchalant, not determined to become the greatest Saint-Julien, but so supple and lithe that you cannot help falling for its charms. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting. 2023 - 2050
Full-bodied, layered and juicy young wine. Very tannic yet ripe and intense. Powerful finish. This will be excellent. Better than the 2015.
A balanced, measured, incredibly tight delivery of the triumvirate of tannins, fruit and acidity. The architecture hits the level of the 2010, fairly unusual in a year where the tannins have such a deft brush stroke in the main. This is a great Gruaud that is going to run and run. Aged for 18 months in 80% new oak. As of 2017, half of the vineyard (approximately 40ha) is being worked biodynamically.
Drinking Window 2027 - 2050
Tasted blind. Pure cassis fruit on the nose. Great polish and finesse with pure fruit masking the tannin. Very neat and well judged.
Drink 2025 – 2040
This famous and historic Saint Julien 2nd growth is popular throughout the world and is usually released at the most reasonable price of all the so-called "super-seconds". The 82 hectare vineyard is one of the largest of the classed growths. 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc in 2016. Significant smoky oak gives a nose of coffee, nutmeg and cassis. The palate is pure, fresh and clean with soft, ripe tannins allowing the elegance of the fruit to sine through. Smooth and long on the finish, this is a subtle, classically styled wine of great typicity.
Under the fragrances the fruit is rich and ripe a mix of black fruits the palate fleshy and supple. The tannins are rounded well integrated rich fruit in the middle but towards the back there is freshness the finish long but quite firm. 2026-42
It’s a pleasure to see this winery producing clean, well-made wines without any of the farmyards notes of the past. The blend is still quite serious and austere at the moment, with a carapace of firm tannins and plenty of supporting acidity, but the dark berry fruit is there too. 2026-36
The 2016 Gruaud-Larose has quite a fruit-driven, generous bouquet of layers of black and red fruit laced with graphite and tertiary aromas. Is there just a slight touch of brettanomyces here? The medium-bodied palate is earthy and a little ferrous, with rounded tannin, and quite approachable compared to its peers. Slightly smudged toward the finish, but it shows great persistence. Very fine, very Gruaud. Drink 2023-2050
The 2016 Gruaud Larose is a blend of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc this year, picked between 29 September until 15 October (with the Petit Verdot) and matured in 80% new oak, the remainder one or two years old. The alcohol is a modest 13.02%. It has a generous bouquet with scents of blackberry, briary, a touch of sandalwood and tobacco, gaining more precision as it aerates in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, certainly one of the most finessed Gruaud Larose in recent years, with perfectly judged acidity. I love the focus here, a little understated at first but you cannot deny the intensity and precision on the finish. Moreover, this seems to be a slightly more detailed Gruaud, nuanced and long in the mouth. Excellent—and I suspect it might be a little more approachable than some of its peers. Drink 2023 - 2060.
The 2016 Gruaud Larose is blended of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it leaps from the glass with notes of red and black cherries, warm plums and freshly crushed blackcurrants plus hints of violets, oolong tea, aniseed and tilled soil with a waft of garrigue. Medium-bodied, the palate struts tons of elegantly fragrant red and black fruit flavors with a firm backbone of ripe, grainy tannins and loads of freshness, finishing long and perfumed.
Drink Date
2021 - 2043
Initially there's a whiff of sweet oak, and then underneath there is the vineyard and real savour. Ripe but not forced. Good stuff with a 'mineral' whiff. Not a blockbuster but very well balanced with lovely length.
Drink 2025-2045
