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Gruaud Larose 2016

St Julien, Second Growth

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Units Size Case size GBP Price: Quantities Buy
12 75cl Bottle Case 12 £620 per Case Case [Add to shopping basket]
Tasting Notes

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.

Score: 93

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2023-2050 01 January 2019

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.

Score: 93 - 95

Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2023-2060 28 April 2017

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.

Score: 94

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2021-2043 30 November 2018

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.

Score: 95

Decanter, - Maturity: 2027-2050 20 April 2017

69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, aged in 90% new oak. Meaty and very ripe nose with fleshy fruit and a soft as silk texture.

Score: 91 - 94

Albany Vintners, - 19 April 2017

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.

Score: 17 - 18

Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2025-2045 18 April 2017

This delivers a pure beam of cassis and cherry preserves, underscored by a layer of warm dark earth. Stays polished in feel, with lovely freshness on the relatively open-knit finish.

Score: 91 - 94

James Molesworth, Wine Spectator 10 April 2017

Full-bodied, layered and juicy young wine. Very tannic yet ripe and intense. Powerful finish. This will be excellent. Better than the 2015.

Score: 95 - 96

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 24 March 2017