2000 Château Gruaud Larose, St Julien, Bordeaux

The 2000 Gruaud Larose is a vintage that I have not tasted for some ten years. It has a somehow sedate bouquet of dark red berry fruit, cola and tobacco scents, ever so slightly smudged with age. The mellow, soy-tinged palate is medium-bodied with soft tannins and fine acidity but maybe just a little sauvage on the ferrous, slightly bretty finish. I feel this had more pep several years ago.

Drink 2021 - 2035

Fully mature yet I'd say in the early stages of its drink window), the 2000 Château Gruaud Larose offers a ripe, powerful, medium to full-bodied style as well as lots of currant and darker fruits followed by cedarwood, tobacco, iron, and assorted meaty, spicy nuances. It's a rich, almost chunky effort with a great mid-palate, still present yet ripe tannins, and an excellent finish. It lacks some of the purity and precision of today's wines yet is a satisfying, rich, impressively textured Saint-Julien to drink over the coming 15-20 years.

Drink 2021 - 2041

Bright ruby. Liqueur-like aromas of roasted black raspberry, leather and grilled nuts. Lush, sweet and thick, with an almost unctuous texture and terrific volume. It is a wine of compelling sweetness and chewiness, not to mention sheer mouth-filling size. It finishes with huge, broad, sweet tannins and lingering notes of blackcurrant, coffee and leather—classic, thoroughly ripe Gruaud-Larose.

There was no need to use the concentrators in 2002, said maitre de chai Philippe Carmagnac, and the estate took a light hand with the cold maceration. The wine was fermented at a slightly cooler temperature than normal, with a bit less strenuous pumping over the must, but the maceration time was long. 40% of the wine underwent its malolactic fermentation in new barriques, particularly the Cabernet.

A very strong effort for Gruaud Larose, possibly eclipsed by what they have done in 2009, this is a pure, full-bodied Gruaud Larose with plenty of new saddle leather, cedar wood, black currants, cherries, liquorice, and Provencal herbs. Spicy, earthy, full-bodied, and rich, it has hit its plateau of full maturity, where it should stay for another 20 or more years.

Drink 2010 - 2030

Deep garnet colour. Ripe blackberry and dried plum aromas are joined by a slightly sweaty, hung-meat and leather character with musky nuances of damp forest floor. The full-bodied palate is laden with complex earth and warm, dark-fruit flavours supported by medium acidity and a medium+ level of velvety tannins—long finish.

Drink now to 2029