Chateau Gruaud Larose 2016

DECANTER: "This is well built and powerful, not exactly subtle, but then none of these wines are. Instead you get complex, layered and concentrated inky fruits, with some aniseed too. The balance and elegance of St-Julien comes in through the tailored and fine tannins on the finish, but while these tannins may be fine, there are lots of them. 80% new oak. Drinking Window 2024 - 2040"

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2016 Gruaud Larose is blended of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it leaps from the glass with notes of red and black cherries, warm plums and freshly crushed blackcurrants plus hints of violets, oolong tea, aniseed and tilled soil with a waft of garrigue. Medium-bodied, the palate struts tons of elegantly fragrant red and black fruit flavors with a firm backbone of ripe, grainy tannins and loads of freshness, finishing long and perfumed."

JAMES SUCKLING: "So much sweet-tobacco and currant character with some earth on the nose. Full body, firm and chewy tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Closed and complex still, but a typically beautiful Bordeaux. Try after 2022."

WEINWISSER: "69 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 29 % Merlot, 2 % Cabernet Franc, 13 vol %. Ausbau in 80 % neuen Barriques für 18-24 Monate. Sattes Purpur mit lila Reflexen und violettem Rand. Veilchen satt im offenen Bouquet, dahinter Brombeere und dunkle Kirsche, heller Tabak und schwarze Johannisbeere. Am kräftigen Gaumen mit engmaschigem Körper und reifem Tannin, was für eine Konzentration im Rückaroma! Eine volle Ladung blauer Beeren und Lakritze. Grandioser Gruaud mit gewaltigem Potenzial!"

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, dezente Randaufhellung, zart floral unterlegte schwarze Kirschen, kandierte Veilchen, etwas Lakritze, Mandarinenzesten. Mittlere Komplexität, feine Pflaumenfrucht, integrierte Tannine, dezente Fruchtsüße im Abgang, ein Hauch von Nougat im Nachhall."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "This is a dense, smoky wine with powerful tannins. It follows the line of richness set since the 2014 vintage and balances rich black fruits and concentrated tannins cut with final acidity. Drink from 2025."

WINE SPECTATOR: "This has a wide range of red currant, blackberry, black cherry and açaí berry fruit flavors forming the core, with a very sleek iron note lurking underneath it all. The finish uses a fine singed wood stitching to pull the fruit and minerality together. Lovely. Best from 2023 through 2038. 12,200 cases made."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Medium/full-bodied, with a leafy, herbal edge and a touch of spice and smoke to the right red fruits, give this at least a decade in the cellar before pulling a cork."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Tasted blind. Pure cassis fruit on the nose. Great polish and finesse with pure fruit masking the tannin. Very neat and well judged."