Community Tasting Notes 177

• pccasey wrote: 92 points

  March 4, 2023 - Beautiful smokey wine.. missing a little fruit bur seductive.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• Juliansi Likes this wine: 90 points

  March 3, 2023 - I was very excited to try this Gruaud Larose, as each vintage I have tried has superseded the previous one, initially the rather average 2014 and the more characterful 2011 last year.
  
  I had high hopes for this... 1996 Bordeaux wines are held in very high regard, and is known to be a high quality vintage for Cab Sauv dominant wines. Many wines from the left bank, especially Pauillac, Saint-Julien and Saint-Estephe region showed their best, as they are ripe, powerful and rich with finesse too.
  
  This opened after 30 minutes of bottle breathing, and kept improving over the 1-2 hour mark, initially with barnyard then lovely tobacco and earth aromas too.
  
  Medium to full bodied with a rather lean and rustic character, with moderately resolved tannins. 20-30 second medium length finish with cassis and sweet tobacco too.
  
  What was the 1996 vintage like and why were there so many amazing left bank wines in Bordeaux?
  
  The weather was warm from March till April. Then came May which was relatively cool. And good fine weather prevailed in June, July and most of August too.
  
  The large rainstorm of end-August had rain mainly fall in the Right Bank and Margaux was somewhat affected too. Fortunately for the north Medoc, almost no rain took fell in Pauillac, Saint Julien or in Saint Estephe.
  
  Conditions were sunny, with warm to hot days, and wonderful cool to cold nights. September 1996's weather saved the day due to the strong winds which helped dry the vineyards.
  
  Château Gruaud-Larose is located in the Saint-Julien appellation of Bordeaux, and was classified as one of fifteen Deuxièmes Crus (Second Growths) in the original 1855 Bordeaux Wine Classification.
  
  It only dates back to 1725 and the knight Joseph Stanislas Gruaud. Back then it was called Fond-Bedeau, and was administered by two Gruauds; one a priest and the other a magistrate! The magistrate, the Chevalier du Gruaud, died in 1778 and his part of the property was deeded to Joseph Sebastian de La Rose, who renamed this property Gruaud-La Rose or Gruaud-Larose.
  
  The property remained intact until 1867 when it was split into Château Gruaud-Larose-Sarget (after the Baron Sarget) and Château Gruaud-Larose-Faure. These 2 chateaus were then reunited by the Cordier family, who purchased the Sarget piece in 1917 and the Faure piece in 1935. In 1983 it was purchased by the Compagnie de Suez, and in 1993 by Alcatel-Alsthom.
  
  Then, in 1997 Taillan Group and Jacques Merlaut took over the property. The vineyards cover a large 82 hectares (200 acres), and are planted with 57% Cab Sauv, 30% Merlot, 8% Cab Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and interestingly 2% Malbec.
  
  Grateful for bro KK who surprised us with this epic vintage as the last bottle of the evening. 6th and final bottle of 6, at Don Julio in Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. Enjoyed this with RL, CL, LYL, DJ and WH too.
  
  Don Julio
  Near Verve Suites, M Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  3rd Mar 2023

  3 people found this helpful Comment

• BoxerBee Likes this wine: 94 points

  December 23, 2022 - Reductive. Dairy, blackberry, tobacco, ground pepper, licorice, grafite. Full, with sweet fruit and dry tannins. Oldschool and perfect with roast meat. Fine. Drink now - 2030.

  1 person found this helpful

• Papies wrote: 92 points

  December 20, 2022 - It has been A good 7 years since we had this last ( Papies 93) and this looked and felt on the young side. We decanted for a good 30 mins which definitely helps but one should probably try a bit longer if possible.
  Still bright red on the color with some bricking on the rim but overall glossy and bright and looked very youthful. The nose is very classic and excellent as always and the reason we rated this a touch lower this time was that the palate felt a touch tight and closed and maybe this (!!) needs a few more years vs others of its kin to fully hit its stride. Still really impressive and great like so many gems from 1996 . 92-93

  2 people found this helpful Comment

• Neecies Likes this wine:

  June 15, 2022 - Cork came out in six pieces but dry, and the wine was sound though, possibly, a tad lighter due to cork condition. Decanted 90 minutes. Typical St. Julien with plummy fruit and cigar box notes, velvet texture and good finish. Came alive with roast beef.

  3 people found this helpful Comment

Pro Reviews 9

Wine Definition

• Vintage 1996
• Type Red
• Producer Château Gruaud Larose
• Varietal Red Bordeaux Blend
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard n/a
• Country France
• Region Bordeaux
• SubRegion Médoc
• Appellation St. Julien
• UPC Codes 071570013721, 087000313804, 087000336810, 087000346178, 3251099803257, 3460270006480, 400005288517, 5010867400702, 639737979176, 649944980643

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 60 (2%)
• In Cellars 1,867 (58%)
• Consumed 1,265 (40%)

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