Château Gruaud-Larose 1928 - 2011

Tasted Saturday, January 31, 2015 by LWI with 908 views

Introduction

I think that there is a definite question mark attached to Gruaud-Larose: Does it really merit a 2nd growth status? It has been consistently inconsistent, with wonderful wines during the 80s, and merely mediocre wines in the 70s, perhaps even more so than many other Châteaus.

Flight 1 (2 Notes)

Flight 2 (3 Notes)

  • 1928 Château Gruaud Larose 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    High fill. Some red, could have guess a wine from the 70s from the color. Some black and red berries, black tea, forest floor with violets; similar in the mouth, pronounced tannins, wonderful length, just a faint hint of sweetness. Bright fruit, crystal clear. Glorious bottle.

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  • 1934 Château Gruaud Larose Flawed

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Extremely dark, some red in there. Prunes and dates, Malmsey, something smoky; some tannin. Although very maderized, it is still drinkable.

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  • 1945 Château Gruaud Larose 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    VTS fill. Some bricking, but still a dosage of red, dark core. Intriguing and complex nose, old drawer, tobacco, dark berries; more dark berries in the mouth, powerful and rich, very long, wonderful balance, complex. Again, this could have been a wine from the 70s or 80s.

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Flight 3 (4 Notes)

  • 1962 Château Gruaud Larose 87 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    A bit unclean smell; dry wood, good acidity, rather short, dry tannins. I guess this was considerably better 20-30 years ago.

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  • 1964 Château Gruaud Larose 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Danish bottled. In neck. Deep and rich nose, slight VA, complex and porty - in good way; less interesting in the mouth; big bodied yet shortish , opulent, saved by decent acidity. With this concentration and fruit profile, I guess that there is much Merlot in this vintage, which was probably harvested before the rain.

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  • 1966 Château Gruaud Larose 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Deep and complex nose; fine length, sweet-and-sour, good complexity, a bit short.

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  • 1969 Château Gruaud Larose 87 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Sweetish with good acidity, classic claret nose; light bodied, decent length.

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Flight 4 (2 Notes)

Flight 5 (3 Notes)

  • 1982 Château Gruaud Larose 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Sweetish pipe tobacco, deep nose, some freshness, licorice, dark berries, also some minerals; powerful and with good structure, concentrated, a bit short, strangely enough. For this famous vintage; could have been more complex.

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  • 1983 Château Gruaud Larose 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Tobacco, fine complexity, spice with some herbal notes, minerals; fresh with wonderful balance, very long and complex, elegant for a Gruaud - very different animal than the 82.

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  • 1986 Château Gruaud Larose 97 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Initially a bit closed, but opens up and sports a very complex nose with dark berries; fantastic mouth feel, tannins very much present, wonderful balance, tobacco and minerals, a very structured wine that also has some sweet fruit in the mid palate. Not yet at its apogee.

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Flight 6 (1 Note)

Flight 7 (3 Notes)

Flight 8 (3 Notes)

Flight 9 (5 Notes)

  • 2000 Château Gruaud Larose 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Deep fruit, minerals black currants, oak, slightly plum/prune; very good balance, dark fruit, ok acidity, to be picky: could have been more structured, smooth, and promising.

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  • 2004 Château Gruaud Larose 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Rich, structured with good tannins, not as complex as the 2000, but a very lovely and easy drinking bottle. Warmer and fuller than expected.

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  • 2009 Château Gruaud Larose 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Meaty, a bitt brett, raw meat, but also something floral, reminded of a modern and young Burgundy on the nose; rich and warm wine, lots of fruit, not particularly complex.

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  • 2010 Château Gruaud Larose 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Both structured and warm, but is there enough complexity there for a great wine? Rich, but very finely balanced. All elements in place, slightly soft.

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  • 2011 Château Gruaud Larose 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Full bodied, modest tanning (but some may be hidden beneath the big fruit), some minerals. Hedonistic, easy drinking. Difficult to foresee its future.

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Flight 10 (3 Notes)

Closing

The variable performance of Château Gruaud-Larose was confirmed. Perhaps just a parenthesis should be placed around the 70s and the 90s? Then its performance would be very good indeed. There is a definite shift towards more extraction from the 1998 on, also of course helped by very warm vintages, but even the 2004 was very full. However, the wines are by no means over extracted. In the contemporary market, price wise they are a steal.

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