Gruaud Larose 1997

This is a charming, elegant, fleshy, dark ruby-colored wine with copious amounts of sweet black fruits intermixed with roasted herbs, smoke, and earthy overtones. This delicious 1997 will drink well for a decade. Anticipated maturity: now-2011.

This is the most impressive Gruaud-Larose since the 1990. The wine possesses a saturated purple color, and a knock-out nose of jammy blackberries, cassis, earth, and vanillin. Rich in the mouth, with outstanding purity, super extraction, and well-integrated tannin, this wine has low acidity, but more delineation than many of the bigger-styled wines of the vintage. Some chocolate and cassis flavors linger for over 30 seconds on the palate of this impressively-endowed, medium to full-bodied, outsatnding Gruaud Larose. Moreover, unlike many vintages of Gruaud Larose, the 1997 will drink superbly when young. Anticipated maturiy : 2001-2015.