Ignoring the holidays in the UK and US, second growth Château Gruaud Larose was launched onto the market yesterday, along with its popular second wine Sarget de Gruaud Larose.
Half the vineyard here is now farmed biodynamically and this may account for what seems to be an increased transparency and detail in the wines.
Gruaud (at £310 per 6 bottles IB) looks a reasonable buy for a second growth: we liked it (‘rather a glorious unforced style‘), many of the critics liked it even more than us, Neal Martin writing ‘I love the focus here, a little understated at first but you cannot deny the intensity and precision on the finish. Moreover, this seems to be a slightly more detailed Gruaud, nuanced and long in the mouth. Excellent. (93-95)‘.
Sarget (at £210 per dozen bottles IB) remains one of those wines which offer early drinking and excellent value, and which we recommend buying in magnums and double-magnums for spoiling parties. A claret with a gliding ease which is so Bordeaux – and so Saint Julien. For Neal Martin this is ‘a delicious wine that will give a decade’s worth of drinking pleasure.’