Château Gruaud-Larose
About Château Gruaud-Larose
Château Gruaud Larose in Saint Julien is one of the largest single block vineyards in Bordeaux. It was purchased by Jacques Merlaut in 1997. Under the Taillan Group he owns numerous Bordeaux vineyards such as Château Haut-Bages-Libéral and Château Chasse-Spleen.
With vineyards that haven't changed since the creation of the estate in 1781, they sit at the highest point of elevation on the Saint-Julien plateau, just to the west of Château Beychevelle. Although yet to be certified, Gruaud Larose has begun farming 100% of their vineyards following only biodynamic principles, starting with the 2019 vintage, and they are currently in the last year before organic certification.
The 82-hectare vineyard of Château Gruaud-Larose is planted with approximately 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Some of the parcels of vines are in close proximity to Château Talbot and Château Branaire-Ducru. Since the 2019 vintage, the estate has adopted organic viticulture and biodynamic practices that will undoubtedly take Château Gruaud Larose to new heights.
Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
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Bordeaux | 6 | 95-97+ (TDB) | HK$9,350.00 | |||||
The Drinks Business (95-97+)Gruaud Larose (St Julien; 84% Cabernet Sauvignon; 12% Merlot; 4% Cabernet Franc; 12.5% alcohol; tasted between appointments at the property with Arnaud Frédéric and, later, at Lagrange with consistent if initially rather hastily written notes). I had some trouble tracking down a sample as this was not presented at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin. But I am really pleased that I persisted as this is staggeringly brilliant and definitely one of the wines of the vintage – as, indeed, it was in 2020 (not that many people tasted it en primeur either). A very dark cool-vintage Cabernet nose – of brambles and blackberry, with a touch of cassis that builds in the glass with aeration. There is great presence and intensity to the pure dark bright, fresh crunchy fruit in a deeply expressive and impressively aromatically striking nose. Thyme, freshly plucked from the stalk, a stony minerality, and graphite and pencil-shavings. On the palate, this is plunge-pool deep, dense and compact yet with a wondrously graceful lift and elegance to it. Archetypally Gruaud Larose – with all that graphite minerality– but taken to a new level texturally. The 2021 is fabulously intense, deep dark and utterly captivating. There is incredible purity, great layering and pixilation, and yet a degree of density and profundity that is really rare in the vintage, even in St Julien. The bright aerial fruit provides loads of mid-palate interest. On the finish this is lively and racy, with a touch of cool menthol and a lovely grip from the tannins that ripple gloriously to a distant vanishing point, cleansing the palate as they do. This really flows and there is a brilliant tension between the tannins that want to strap the fruit to the compact linear spine and the exuberance of the fruit that glides and glistens in a brilliant sinuous crystalline river of fresh juiciness. This is right up there with Las Cases for me in this vintage. |
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Bordeaux | 20 | 90-92+ (TDB) | HK$2,210.00 | |||||
The Drinks Business (90-92+)Sarget de Gruaud Larose (St Julien; 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot; tasted, hastily, at the property with Arnaud Frédéric). Like Le Petit Lion, this is a very fine genuine second wine in a vintage in which they are few and far between. Pure, precise, crunchy cassis fruit on the nose and, again, on the palate. This is impressively constructed for a second wine in a difficult vintage. The quality of the tannin management is particularly notable, imparting a lovely svelte texture despite the not inconsiderable density. Brilliantly fresh and nicely balanced on the finish. Bravo |