The 2009 Gruaud Larose has arrived

[Houndsong]

And it appears to be in good shape. Bottles cool to the touch, although the weather was rather warm along the way, I think. Capsules tight but spinnable. So this probably marks the end of the Spring shipping season.

The spinning capsules bit - I've had plenty of fine wine in perfect condition from just released vintages where the capsules would not spin, period. So I don't put much stock in that. I mean if it spins, fine. If it doesn't, this is not necessarily significant.

Maybe I'll have one in the near term.

[JimHow]

You lucky bum!
As Benevolent Dictator I order you to drink one in the name of science.

[Bacchus]

I second the BD's order, Hound. And we want a full comparison with 00, 05, and 08!

[Houndsong]

If I can find something decent to eat I'll crack one this weekend.

[Blanquito]

Wow, early delivery, Art. None of my 2009s are available yet, even from retailers who usually get them very early (like WineX).

Where did you buy the 09 GL?

This thread makes me realise I am looking forward to giving these 09's a test drive myself!

I third the call for an immediately 09 GL tasting note, perhaps one of your last *high-elevation disclaimer* tasting notes.

[Houndsong]

MacArthur's. It's interesting because their's was one of the better prices too. Of course not Premier Cru pricing, but then again ...

There'll be a few more 8800' tasting notes before it's over. Might even be a fourteener tasting note.

I also plan on drinking wine at various elevations as high as 13,000+ feet in the Islands.

[Nicklasss]

Ok. I'll try something from 2009 this weekend also.

Nic

[Bacchus]

Nic, you got 09 Bdx on the shelves in PQ?!

[DavidG]

Lots of the lesser wines have been on the shelves in DC for months.

[Houndsong]

OK so I did have this wine this weekend and I am more stumped than usual for adequate description. The overall impression is of a seamless, already integrated wine that drinks very easily and very well. It is so well composed it's almost impossible to pick out the usual component parts. One thing that did surprise me is the wine is very light on its feet, very ethereal in the same way that the 2002 Haut Bailly (and as I've heard other vintages of same) expressed itself. In other words, despite being warm, broad, generous and pleasing: not a blockbuster, which on the one hand is consistent I think with most reviews, yet on the other is somewhat confusing since this is after all the best vintage, overall, ever made - so I've heard - and you think it would somehow smack you upside the head for it. No. No hard edges, no nervy acidity, no stripping tannins. Just ripe, easy dirnking fruit.

In fact, immediately I thought it very similar to the 2009 Capbern Gasqueton. So much so, that the following evening I opened another of those. I have to say I thought the Capern had a bit more oomph, including a bit more body (perhaps "chunky") and more acidity, more sappiness. Maybe a more experienced taster could discern the latent differences in these wines which will manifest themselves with 20 years of bottle age, and tease the Gruaud's class out of the glass. You can take this any way you like; one positive spin I can put on this is that the vintage has really marked itself on these two wines and that predominant mark is of very seamless, easy to drink wines. So easy that I didn't hardly ponder them - there's almost nothing to hang a ponder on.

I'm going to have a look a cellartracker now so maybe that will bring out some of the points that I overlooked, sort of tell me just what it was I did experience.

[Houndsong]

I've found an apt expression I think. This was like a enological lobotomy. Certainly there have been times when I thought an actual lobotomy wouldn't be so bad.

[Tom In DC]

Many 1982's were like that on arrival, Hound - just so well balanced that nothing stuck out, but everything seemed truly delightful. That vintage hasn't turned out badly for something that was "too easy to drink young to make old bones."

[Bacchus]

Very interesting, Hound. If you've tried the 08, can you compare them at all?

[Houndsong]

Haven't tried it, Bacch. Seemed like that was one to just let lie, I think that was your advice.

Just browsing CT last night, I did see a few notes I could identify with. I would be in the camp of, this is not a powerful wine, this is not a wine that will require a lot of cellaring to enjoy (with the caveat that cellaring could well bring added enjoyment/different enjoyment), and this could be considered "old school" bdx only 1) in the context of this peculiar vintage and 2) to the extent that it is not made in a hyper extracted/concentrated style.

[Bacchus]

That's true, Hound, I did say the 08 should just lie. But I never take my own advice, so I don't expect others to, especially given a chance to compare the wines of two such controversial vintages. And I guess your notes on the 09 have intrigued me. Was it really more boring than a 93 Batailley?

[DavidG]

I've got a half-case of this on order from PJ's. I ordered it pretty late, just a few months ago, based on someone's positive reports (don't recall where). Too late to get it locally - sold out by then at Macarthurs. I'll have to figure out a time to shoot up to NYC to pick it up. Maybe we can arrange a BWE dinner with some of the NYC contingent, which could be a lot more exciting than the wine is showing right now. But it's early days and I suspect (hope!) this will develop some interesting complexity in a decade.

[JimHow]

Hmm I wonder if 2009 Gruaud Larose has a shot at the 2012 BWE Wine of the Year...

[JCNorthway]

It's been really interesting to look at the tasting notes and related comments about this wine. I'm sure I'm showing my age and 'out of touch tastes" with this comment, but I feel like I did not hear the word "tannins" in this discussion. I don't have a lot of experience with GL vintages, but I can say that 82, 86, 89 could not be described at this point in their lives without the word "tannin" with a capital T. I don't know what that means for the future of this wine, but I do think it means the wine will see a different evolution than many of those older vintages.

I had the honor several years ago to taste the 1949 GL at a dinner with friends - served because it was my birth year. And at 50+ years, that wine still had tannins. What do we think the 2009 will taste like in 50+ years?

[DavidG]

I haven't tasted this yet either, Jon, and I'm pretty certain I won't be around to taste it 50 years hence, but that won't stop me from throwing out an opinion.

It's possible that the absence of references to stripping tannins could be a sign of weakness, but it could also be a sign of ripeness and balance. More like the '82s, which I didn't think were Tannic with a capital T. Or maybe I'm thinking of the '82 Talbot?

FWIW, here's what RP says about the '09 Gruaud. He notes "abundant, but sweet, well-integrated tannin."

As I wrote in my barrel tasting note, the 2009 appears to be the finest Gruaud Larose since their 1990. Some of my concerns about too much brett in previous vintages are long gone as the purity of the 2009 jumps out. Copious notes of sagebrush, cedar, cigar box, licorice, incense, blackberries and lead pencil shavings suggest a big Pauillac rather than a St.-Julien. Broad, rich and full-bodied with good balance and abundant, but sweet, well-integrated tannin, this big, masculine Gruaud Larose reveals remarkable finesse, richness, extract, density and a cascade of fruit that nearly hides the lofty tannins. This beauty should be at its best between 2020-2045.

I think I'll hold mine a decade.

[Houndsong]

I've had only 2 2009s, but I'll say that the GL was the least of the 2 when it comes to the adjective "big". It is also nowhere big in relation to about every 2005 I've had, and that's more than a couple. Again, maybe such a man as a professional taster would be able to discern in what way this wine is "big", but big was not a word that came to mind when I drank it, immediately, after the third glass, or later on as I reflected on it.

It may indeed be "big." I'm the least of the tasters on this board, and certainly have no claim to accurately describe a wine when it comes to the pros. Enjoy your experiences with them. My overall impression was favorable, if at odds perhaps with some.

I think I've said this once before but I think "masculine" is one of the dumbest descriptors ever applied to wine.

[Bacchus]

Hound, you undersell yourself. You are not alone in seeing the 09 GL as not-big and not-masculine, whatever "masculine" may mean as a descriptor for wine. Chris Kissack, for example, completely agrees with you, describing it as "elegant rather than weighty." Elaborating further, he explicitly contrasts GL's style with the rest of the 09 line-up. And he seems to appreciate it's (unique) approach amongst the more powerful wines of the vintage: it provides, he writes, a "respite from the sweet flesh of the vintage." He gives it 17.5/20. Sounds like a resounding success.

[JimHow]

Trying to think back to different styles of Gruaud Larose from the past. Usually GL is not associated with elegant, no? Certainly not 1982, 1986, 1989, etc.
Even 1983, 1985, 1988, 1990 I would hardly call elegant, no?

[Blanquito]

It is truly something wonderful when a wine can be elegant-refined-light-introspective while also possessing depth-layers-length-power. In my tastings, Bordeaux does (did?) this balancing act better and more consistently than any other region.

[Nicklasss]

In my book, when I tasted these wines, the 1982, 1983, 1986 and 1988 Gruaud Larose are elegant wines. It always depends with what other wine you compare them.

I think blanquito has the right definition of an ''elegant wine'' and I agree with him that there are more ''elegant wines'' in medium aged Bordeaux than anywhere else around.

Another way to see it, think about Yquem : each time I have tasted Yquem, I always thought ''everything's there, but no component overhelm the others''. A powerfull wine but with a power that is hard to define. The most complex of all Sauternes.

Nic

[JonB]

While I have never tried another vintage of Gruaud, I tried the 2009 at UGC last January and thought it stood out amongst the many creamy, smooth, ripe fruit wines for having a very precise currant palate and nose. It also had slightly more structure than many others. It should be a great wine with time, but as Hound observed there are probably many inexpensive 2009s that will drink as good or better in the early going.

[JimHow]

Interesting that you think those 1980s Gruaud Laroses are elegant, Nic. To me, 1982 and 1986 GL are rough and tumble, ride-em-cowboy bruisers. When we conducted a tasting at Harvard a few years back I described the 1986 GL as a "beast of a wine" to the students, they got a kick out of that description.

[Blanquito]

I've had the 82, 83, 86, and 89 GLs, and I have to agree with Jim: 80's Gruauds always seem brawny, rustic, robust, sometimes even a bit chunky-stolid next to their brethren. Don't get me wrong, I love this wild style but it doesn't seem buttoned-down at all. And while we're not really talking about bouquets but rather the body and texture of the wine, the Cordier funk seems to make this wine come across even wilder, with all those barny-gamey-spicy notes.

[Ramon_NYC]

I'll have to figure out a time to shoot up to NYC to pick it up. Maybe we can arrange a BWE dinner with some of the NYC contingent, which could be a lot more exciting than the wine is showing right now.

I don't have any 2009's (yet). But would gladly help get a dinner going when you come to pick yours up.

[DavidG]

Thanks, Ramon, a dinner in NYC sounds great. Might be a while but let's try to do something.

OK, back to the early-1980s-era Gruauds. Many were funky (some said bretty). That pushed them a little to the "rustic" end of the spectrum. "Brawny" is a good descriptor as well, as is "gritty" or "masculine." But when you get to specifics, once the wines had some age on them they started to show differently. The '81 at 10 years of age was moderately tannic, had nice complexity and even some elegance. The '82 was lush with ripe tannins out of the gate, but with age developed wonderful elegance and complexity married to power with nary a gnarly tannin in sight. Those of us who were treated to Stuart's bottles of the '82 at BWE Miami can confirm this. The '83 was another rustic, funky wine that was fairly tannic in its youth but smoothed out with time. No experience with the '84, don't recall the '85. The '86 was a tannic beast, consistent with the vintage, but a very tameable beast.

I'm hoping the '09 develops like the '82.

[Nicklasss]

For the 80's Gruaud Larose, I am with David and it depends with what you compare it and when you tried it.

For me, I tried the 82 at the Thursday dinner at the last convention and thought it was having a ''wonderful elegance and complexity married to power with nary a gnarly tannin in sight'', to copy David's comment.

The 1986 gruaud Larose I brought to the main dinner at the convention, was a bit more rough, but still an elegant wine to me.

The counterpart would be the 1986 Pichon Lalande I brought to the Thursday night dinner, noting elegant in that wine, so young, powerfull, tannic, a beast that need 10 to 20 more years...

Or another wine I did not found elegant lately was the 1999 Clarendon Hill Astralis : While good, the extreme meaty, old leather strong dry tannins final made it quite special, bur surely not elegant.

Nic

[Houndsong]

I've just sampled from the last ~ 3 oz or so of this bottle, which I accidentally refrigerated rather than freezing, which is my custom, even for overnight storage. (Actually I'd forgotten it entirely). Well it's been six days in a tall bottle with a lot of headspace and rather remarkably this wine doesn't have a whiff of fridge. There's a charcoal/butter/sage aspect to the bouquet. The wine seems about the same scale/heft as before (i.e. more Blanche than Stanley) but it's a bit drier with drying tannins in the finish. It's still wedge-shaped in mouthfeel, with the warm, broad fruit being the thick end of the wedge on entry and the drying tannins the tapering finish. Still lower-acid/friendly. Not bad though considering. Probably if I have another bottle next year it will seem considerably drier, if not typically closed. I noticed that with many of the "gooey" (this does not come across as gooey) 05s.

I'm sure it will be all that in time.

[JimHow]

Gruaud Larose is relevant! Gruaud Larose is back, baby!
As Benevolent Dictator of BWE, I hereby declare that there is a "buzz" about Gruaud Larose....

[Houndsong]

And in this mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, world, it's affordable!

[DavidG]

Stelllaaaaa!!!!

[Houndsong]

I assumed all the erudite people here got that, but thank you David. When are you coming to Hawaii?

[DavidG]

I'm sure they all did. I couldn't resist...

We'll be in Kona January 17-27.