2018 Château Gruaud-Larose

Château Gruaud-Larose is a wine estate in Bordeaux and a second cru of the Bordeaux wine classification system of 1855. It is located in the village of Saint-Julien. For a long time it was one of the main châteaus of the village, overshadowed only by the - originally undivided - Léoville. This cru, located behind Ch. Branaire Ducru and next to Ch. Lagrange, enjoy a beautiful terroir of stone deposits (from the Gironde, 700,000 years ago). It has belonged to the Merlaut family since 1997 and in recent years the wines have received very high ratings without exception and their Gruaud-Larose is above all a super feminine, refined and delicate, but beautifully concentrated St. Julien. The vineyards are (or are in conversion) to organic viticulture.

The 2018 Gruaud Larose is a blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot and Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, with a pH of 3.88 and 14.2% alcohol. In the glass it has a dark red color with a purple tinge. In the nose, the wine is already expressive so that promises something for the future. We smell aromas of ripe cherries, mulberries, canned plums, blackcurrant with hints of menthol, lilacs, licorice and cloves plus gusts of fallen leaves and tilled soil. Medium to full bodied with a tight core of ripe, densely packed, muscular fruit, a firm line of ripe, grainy tannins and plenty of freshness, with a long and spicy finish. As Parker puts it in his review, "Very exotic Gruaud!"