Appellations

Gruaud Larose 2020

St Julien, Second Growth

GBP Price: Size Quantities Units status Actions
Tasting Notes

The 2020 Gruaud-Larose is a powerful, dense wine. Super-ripe dark cherry, kirsch, menthol, licorice, rose petal and espresso infuse the palate with tons of intensity. Unctuous and flamboyant, the 2020 also offers a good bit of energy to keep things in balance. The 2020 is very much an extrovert, a gorgeous extrovert at that. Sweet floral and spice accents, along with a kick of sweet French oak, linger.

Score: 95 Antonio Galloni, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2027-2045 Date: 23 February 2023

The 2020 Gruaud Larose is emblematic of a cleaner, more precise winemaking compared to a decade ago. The bouquet is quite perfumed and beautifully delineated, maybe not the most complex within the appellation, yet very nicely focused. The palate is precise and minerally on the entry, with more tension than the 2019 perhaps, a little more salinity. A combination of Japanese nori and black pepper enlivens the finish. This may well warrant a higher score in the future. There's still a little way to go before this estate reaches the heights of the 1982 for example, but it's definitely on track.

Score: 93 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2026-2060 Date: 08 February 2023

The 2020 Gruaud Larose was cropped at 31hl/ha with one-third of the production in the Grand Vin, picked 14-29 September. The 13.18% alcohol is lower than recent vintages. It is quite tightly wound on the nose with blackberry, blueberry, iris petal, cedar and marine/seaweed aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chalky tannins on the entry and modest depth. That marine element translates right to the end with a dash of black pepper on the finish. Tasted at the château.

Score: 92 - 94 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2026-2050 Date: 01 May 2021

There is purity and power here, everything elegant and stripped back, but with a creaminess to the fruits in the mid palate, and a sense of flexibility in the tannins. Extremely young and crouched, still ageing at the estate for another few months, but already showing serious promise, with spiced blueberry and blackcurrant puree shot through with fennel and liquroice. A yield of 32hl/ha, harvest September 14 to 29. . 95% new oak. In certified organic conversion.

Score: 95 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2028-2046 Date: 17 November 2021

Elegant yet driven with gentle power, nothing going overboard or trying too hard. This takes a beat, then it comes strongly - evident spice and flesh, full of raspberry, blueberry, blackcurrant pastille, fennel, hawthorn and liquorice. The tannins build up through the palate and press in on the final moments. Virginie Salette winemaker since 2017. A yield of 32hl/ha. Vinify at around 22-23°C, so an extremely low and slow extraction. Harvest was from September 14 to 29. A big shouldered St-Julien but with a wide nuance of flavours.

Score: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2028 - 2042 Date: 11 May 2021