January 31, 2024 - Wow- stunning bottle and levels and this was clear ruby and looking like a 1990 rather than a 1978! So fresh and amazingly open on the nose. Lots of black and red cherry still but with lovely overlay of leather, soil, autumnal leaves, black tea and truffle notes. So clean and energetic still on the palate with the freshness of acidity and no hard edges. You just wanted to keep drinking this- delicious and perfect aged Bordeaux at bargain basement prices if you can still find it!
December 24, 2023 - Xmas eve dinner 2023: decanted for approx. 3 hours (cold storage); dark crimson brown color; intense bouquet of strawberries, mocha and spices; with a mild, however juicy, racy acidic texture on the palate.
This Gruaud Larose 1978 surprised everybody on the dinner table. The label of the bottle looked worn out (see picture), but not so the wine. While certain signs of decline could be detected, today the wine performed on a clearly excellent level.
October 27, 2023 - Double decanted. Plethora of exciting aging notes of tobacco, wet earth, black truffles and leather – this actually smells like the beginning of Autumn. Still fresh red cherry fruit, but also darker plum. The fruit linearly gains in intensity with aeration. Tannin has become ultra-soft but is still present enough to help build an amazing structure.
September 16, 2023 - Perhaps I'm flying too close to the sun with this vintage, but wow, my second bottle in three months and yet another joy to drink. Very similar notes to the bottle opened in July, but contrary to that bottle, the spice didn't fade this time around. The fruit was still intact, albeit fading slightly towards the end, but the earthiness and spices from the last bottle carried over this time around as well. No more bottles of this wine left sadly, but maybe that's a sign not to push my luck!
September 5, 2023 - Once the substantial barnyard aromatics blew off, there was a lot to like here. The green notes resonated, along with some black cherries and white pepper. Good concentration.
August 3, 2023 - Wow - I was not expecting this to be as good as it was. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. The 1978 Gruaud Larose is a gem when it comes from a well-stored bottle. Despite a very soft cork, the wine was still exceptional. The first glass opened up with a highly aromatic nose of spices and smoke that would fade by the last glass. The palette sustained itself for the duration of the bottle, though, as light red fruit was paired with spices, leather and tinges of earthiness and cassis. The finish lingered as the spices came back again and with the softened tannins, the table couldn't stop talking about this bottle all night long. Will be trying to find another well-stored bottle asap.
October 30, 2022 - Surprisingly dark colour. Fruit healthy but very rustic and overall balanced and still drinking but not with great charm.
October 1, 2022 - Another - my second - quite recently acquired pristine bottle, this eclipsed the one I drank two years earlier and opened up magnificently well. It is of course dominated by mature tertiary nuances, woodsy sous bois among many, but this wine show cased how magnificently Gruaud Larose can age, and how well the 1978 vintage can still drink when you stumble across good bottles like this.
December 26, 2021 - The recent tasting notes are spot on with character of this wine, but I can’t give it such haughty numbers. Highly evolved, and the color of a flat cola. Impressive flavors abound with green bell pepper and jalapeño, peppercorn, tobacco leaf orange peel, fruitcake all very present. I cannot see this going much longer.
PS - showing better than 1978 Mouton!!!
November 22, 2021 - 4 Rosé Unicorns & 6 Mature Bordeauxs: Five red Bordeauxs from 1978 to 1998 + one Sauternes 2001. All tasted double blind. Winner - by a margin - was the L’Evangile 1982 (98 pts). Best bottle so far, this showed a lot of intensity and substance combined with a perfect precision. The Pichon Baron 1989 is a quintessential Pauillac in its prime. The complete package. Complex, precise, super harmonious. The Pontet Canet 1996 (95 pts) showed surprisingly layered and seductive. The 1998 Ducru Beaucaillou (94 pts) showed the typical earthy, mineral and herbal profile but had some alcohol notes and showed overall more modern and ripe than today’s DBs. The Gruaud Larose 1978 (92 pts) had a nice fruit core with lots of tertiary aromas wrapped around it but compared to the others was lacking definition and complexity. The Dosiy Daene 2001 (96 pts) is another stunning 2001 Sauternes with a perfect balance of sweetness and freshness.
TN: We discussed a possible cork taint but in the end this was just some murky cellar stink which needed time to blow of. This was quite good with more fruit than I would have expected, nice tertiary notes, some burnt sugar notes, a bit of minerality. Not super clean, not super precise but quite fun to drink. Melted tannin structure, high and well-integrated acidity, ok-ish tension, light and airy texture and good length. Good but not great and no comparison to the legendary 1982.
Decanting: No extensive decanting necessary.
Glass: Conterno Sensory