2022 Château Gruaud Larose En Primeur
2022 Château Gruaud Larose En Primeur: Released this morning at £420 per six bottles in bond. Full offer details to follow shortly...
Bordeaux En Primeur, landing in spring 2025.
To order, e-mail us at sales@richardkihl.ltd.uk
Producer Profile
Château Gruaud Larose, St.-Julien
Château Gruaud Larose is a Deuxième Grand Cru Classé in St.-Julien. The estate is first mentioned in the early 1700s as being owned by a knight, the interestingly named Joseph Stanislas Gruaud. Later in that same century, it was owned by a Joseph-Sébastian de La Rose, also adding his name.
In the19th century the estate fell into debt and was split into two halves; Gruaud-Larose-Faure and Gruaud-Larose-Sarget (owned by Baron Sarget, who built the château). In 1917 Gruaud-Larose-Faure was purchased by the Cordier family and the whole estate reunited by them by the 1930s. They sold the estate in 1983 and a series of owners followed (in part accounting for some of the inconsistency in vintages of this wine) until it was bought in 1997 by the Taillan group of companies (which includes Bordeaux merchants Ginestet, a Loire wine business and various other wine holdings).
The vineyards consist of 84 hectares on a gravel-rich plateau to the west of Beychevelle, planted to 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec. The second wine is Sarget de Gruaud Larose.
| RED | 2022 | Château Gruaud Larose | 75cl | £420 per case of 6 | Château Gruaud Larose 2022 / / 75cl £420 per case of 6 |
IB | |||||
Tasting Notes"The 2022 Gruaud-Larose is 83% Cabernet, the most Cabernet ever for the Grand Vin here. A huge, opulent wine, Gruaud-Larose offers up an exotic mélange of blackberry fruit, cloves, espresso, licorice, bittersweet chocolate and incense. This full-throttle Saint Julien is not exactly subtle, but its balance is impeccable. Readers should expect an unctuous, dense wine with tons of concentration, a good deal of new oak and all the pedigree to hold it all together. 93-95 points" Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com------"The progress at this estate continues with the terrific 2022 Gruaud Larose, a blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc that unfurls in the glass with deep aromas of minty blackberries, violets and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, it's elegantly muscular, with a broad attack that segues into a concentrated mid-palate framed by supple, powdery tannins. Richer and more brooding than its 2020 and 2019 counterparts, it confirms Gruaud's return to the Saint-Julien élite. Around one-third of the production made it into the grand vin this year, the château's first with organic certification. 94-96 points" William Kelley, RobertParker.com------"Spicy, intense and concentrated, and yet delivers juicy drinkability from beginning to end, not an easy balance to achieve in 2022. The vintage trace comes through in notes of tobacco, dried herbs, cloves and sandalwood, with tannic build up through the palate, but it is balanced by fresh mint leaf, cassis, bilberry, cocoa bean, and salinity. Firm tannic architecture, excellent quality. 33% of production in the 1st wine, 95% new oak. mint. 96 points" janeanson.com------"The 2022 Gruaud Larose was picked from 7 to 24 September and includes a little more pressed wine this year: 13.5% exclusively from Cabernet Sauvignon due to the quality. This latest vintage matured for a planned 18 months in 95% new oak. Significantly, this is the first year under organic certification (notice two storks on the label signifying this. Maybe they are carrying a little Gruaud baby?) At 13.64% alcohol, this is less than many other properties for those seeking slower intoxication. It has an impressive bouquet with pure blackberry and raspberry fruit, black truffle and sous-bois scents. I am impressed by its delineation and focus; frankly, these are the nicest aromatics I've encountered for a while at this address. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannins. I cannot remember a Gruaud at this nascent stage that exhibits this level of energy and tension deriving from the Cabernet Sauvignon extracted at the beginning of vinification. There's much more precision here. Mineral-driven toward the finish, this easily surpasses vintages made at the estate over the last decade and more. Perhaps like the legendary Gruauds of old (1982, 1961, 1928, even 1870)? Gruaud reborn. 2028-2070. 95-97 points" Neal Martin, RobertParker.com |
|||||||||||
