Château Gruaud-Larose - St.-Julien 2020 (750ml)
Price: $110.00
# 25 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2023
| Producer | Château Gruaud-Larose |
| Country | France |
| Region | Bordeaux |
| Subregion | St.-Julien |
| Varietal | Bordeaux Blend |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Sku | 1005729 |
| Size | 750ml |
Decanter: 98 Points
Detailed and delicate this has a seductive charm to it slowly displaying scented blueberries and raspberries before layers of salty minerality liquorice and cooling blue fruits come into play as well as tobacco and liquorice adding a savoury touch. It’s not immediately upfront - more calm and collected slowly growing in stature and presence. Tannins are fine but mouthcoating giving the structure this isn't a light wine but it's supremely elegant and excellently textured. Impressive complexity and drama here still very serious but it's sublime too. A luminous wine I'd love to own.
James Suckling: 96 Points
A lovely softness and texture to this wine with a medium to full body plenty of fruit and fine velvety tannins. It?s lovely to taste now and will age beautifully. Really seductive. Hard not to drink now but one for the cellar. Best to try after 2025.
Jeb Dunnuck: 96 Points
Coming from the talented Virginie Salette (the head winemaker since 2017) and tiny yields of 32 hectoliters per hectare the 2020 Château Gruaud Larose is 79% Cabernet 14% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc which continues the trend at this estate toward more and more Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. Beautifully done with a terrific sense of finesse it offers a great nose of both red and black fruit as well as leafy tobacco spring flowers licorice and spicy oak. Pure medium to full-bodied and wonderfully balanced with fine tannins it shows the focused inward almost understated style of the vintage without any rusticity or austerity. It needs a solid 7-8 years of bottle age if not a decade and is going to be very long-lived. Bravo.
The Wine Independent: 96 Points
The opaque purple-black colored 2020 Gruaud Larose comes bounding out of the glass with exuberant notes of crushed black cherries juicy blackberries and fresh black currants followed by hints of sassafras dark chocolate and violets. Medium-bodied the palate is very tightly coiled at this nascent stage featuring firm ripe grainy tannins and beautiful freshness to support the bright black berry and floral layers finishing long and fragrant.
Wine Advocate: 96 Points
A serious more obviously structured effort than the suave 2019 the 2020 Gruaud Larose opens in the glass with aromas of blackcurrants and blackberries mingled with subtle hints of burning embers pencil shavings and violets framed by a deft touch of classy new oak. Medium to full-bodied deep and concentrated with rich powdery tannins and vibrant fruit flavors it concludes with an impressively penetrating finish. However it appears likely to require patience.
Wine Spectator: 95 Points
Rock-solid with a core of dark plum boysenberry and blackberry compote flavors held together with cedar savory tobacco and singed apple wood notes that add texture and energy through the finish. Built for the cellar. Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2030 through 2040. 9250 cases made.
Vinous: 95 Points
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. - By Antonio Galloni on December 2022
dJane Anson: 95 Points
Beautiful depth and character here with violet flowers on the first nose. Supple but present tannins there is architecture and a firm core to this wine
