TN: 2010 Gruaurd Larose

[JimHow]

Bleh. I had two old school Gruauds last weekend, the 1978 and 1986, with the great old barnyard and Cordier funk. This was not that. The color was promising, a deep purple/black. The nose was modest. But I got nothing of the old school forest floor 1970s-80s Cordier earthiness. It seemed quite flabby, lacking acidity and definition, like some of the 2005s I've tasted. It was 14%, it didn't seem "overly alcoholic" but it did seem flabby. Someone on CT described it as fresh and exhibiting the old school Cordier barnyard style, I'm happy for him because I got absolutely zero of that in this bottle. It wasn't flawed or anything, and it is still a 90 point wine, but nothing approaching the mythical Cordier wines of the golden era of the 70s-80s. I wouldn't necessarily call it "Parkerized," but it certainly seemed internationalized, not boring but certainly not interesting. Rating: 90 points.

[ericp]

Given the expectations on the vintage, that’s a little disappointing. Any thought on if this is a bit of a dumb phase?

I’m sitting on a few GL ‘09s, might finally be time to pop one.

[marcs]

Surprised by this note as I really liked this wine. It had great structure and substance with those 2010 tannins but at the same time had an “easy” and balanced quality with a lot of elegance. However I didn’t come to it with any expectations of “Cordier funk” or the like - GL has been a clean wine for decades now and this was no exception.

[Gerry M.]

Im also a little surprised. I only have a couple of bottles and will just let them sit for a few more years. I still have 2000 and 2005 to try. I know it's not Cordier but I seem to like GL the older the better.

[ericp]

Me too Gerry, the 'cleaner' GL is very good, but is missing a little something from the old school vintages. I too have a few 2000s, might be time to pull one and see if the secondaries are on par with those 80s bottlings.

[RPCV]

I note that the 2018/19 have wax capsules.....never liked those

[ericp]

I hate those things, the wax eventually hardens and makes a huge mess. Have some Dunn Cab bottles I loath opening as a result.

[RPCV]

Right? I was a huge fan of Edmond Vatan Clos Neore Sancerre years ago and recall how frustrating it was to open a bottle and deal with the little bits of wax that inevitably fell into the bottle. Same with Dunn, as you say. I'd be interested in opinions on why winemakers use this method. It may look cool but what a pain in the butt, IMHO.

[NoahR]

I have taken to corkscrewing right through the wax, blowing wax debris right before I finish extracting the cork, the. Taking a wet paper towel and wiping anything else away. Seems to work.

I did a Gruaud Larose dinner a few years ago for Heart’s Delight, and the 86 and 82 were just legendary and incredible but nothing else really inspired me until the 2019. The 2010 was big and tannic but I just didn’t get much from it.