TN 2000 Gruaud Larose

[William P]

I had this with a friend on New Years Eve. It’s a baby, but one with all-star potential. The nose has cedar, black fruit, and earth. The body is medium weight but with an excellent concentration. I would not be surprised if it gained weight with age. Super balanced. Tannins are mildly assertive but refined and not harsh. It is should be noted, it was open for about five hours before consumption and still rather tight. Complex palate. Fruit, minerals. Deep and rich. Excellent length.

There have been complaints about the LG funk in some bottles. None was found in this one. I admit to being tannin tolerant so be warned if you open one. I believe this wine has a LONG life in front of it. It will hit it’s plateau in maybe ten years and last for many more. I thoroughly enjoyed this preview of what is to come.

[JimHow]

Thanks Bill, is this the only quality GL since '90?
Would you characterize it as modern or traditional?
Yet another 2000 vintage success story.

[William P]

In my humble opinion this is closer to traditional than modern.

[Comte Flaneur]

Jim the answer to your question is no

The 1996 G-L is quality

[JCNorthway]

Bill,

Glad to hear your report on this wine, especially that you think it leans more toward traditional than modern. I have a case of this safely tucked away, waiting for it to develop. Sounds like a few more years will be required. I'm glad that I have a few 95s, 96s and 98s to fill in those years of waiting.

Jon

[hautbrionlover]

I did a G-L vertical a few years back, and my (admittedly vague) recollection concurs with what Comte Flaneur said - that the 1996 was excellent.

[JimHow]

That's how great 2000 and 1996L are: Even GL made great wines.

[DavidG]

Bill: thanks for the update. I too have a few of these in the cellar and will look forward to uncorking one... in another 5 years or so based on your not.

Jim, GL hit some home runs in the '80s ('82, '86) and some solid doubles and triples ('81, '83, '85, '88, '89), so yes their performance in the '90s pales in comparison. Great potential, I hope they can get back to their former quality levels some day, with or without the funk.

[Blanquito]

The 2000's are not ready, nor the 1995s and 1996s (I love that y'all know I'm referring to Bordeaux here). Shoot, I just had a La Louviere 1990 at Xmas which was still pretty darn primary (it's a very good wine, but it needs more time). Of course, there are exceptions, but I'm reaffirming my commitment to drinking "mature" Bordeaux. We had the 1978 GPL the same night as the Louviere, and despite interior raw materials, the GPL kicked some Pessac butt.

I'm guessing the 2000 Gruaud will need another 10-15 years to reach my maturity threshold. Young Bordeaux can be grand, but aged claret has no substitute.

[Comte Flaneur]

Didn't G-L have an altercation with RMP and banned him from visiting?

I agree that the 80s was a stronger decade than the 90s, but I still like the style. I prefer the 1983 to the 1982. The former stakes a strong claim to be wine of the vintage.

Btw Jim, when are you going to announce BWE woty 2009??

[DavidG]

I preferred the '82 and drank them all up years ago, but I also loved the '83 and have one bottle left in the cellar. Here's my last note, from a year ago:

1983 Gruaud Larose: This is a bottle that spent its first decade in my dad's basement at temps in the 60s before finding its way to my temp controlled cellar. The fill is within 1/2" of the cork, which is wet and soft but comes out intact. The wine has a dark red core, lightening to rim. but with no bricking. Nose is shy at first, with some currant and earth, medium body, and a bit plain on the palate at first. As it warms up a little more fruit comes forward, but it takes a good hour to really start opening up. When it does, the nose starts showing cassis, dark cherries, and a nice complex mix of road tar, smoke, and forest floor. The wine spreads out on the palate, becoming medium to full bodied, with nice fruit and complexity following through from the nose. Balance is excellent, and finish shows persistent cassis and now darker fruits, smoke, road tar and forest floor with a little tannin still present. Still getting better after another hour with some additional sweet complexity starting to show up. Neither the color, nose nor the palate show any signs of the wine tiring out. This is excellent, and should continue to drink well for another 5 years if stored well.

More recent notes on CT seem to suggest it is still going strong.

[dstgolf]

I agree about the 90's not serving GL well. The 2000 will be special. The 2004 is pretty good but I was impressed with the 2006. Not a typical GL with nice ripe fruit,little funk and soft ripe tannins. Certainly the 06 has years of life but drinking unexpectedly well now.

David,

I've enjoyed the 83 GL as well. The last bottle that I opened was at the BWE dinner at Charlie Palmers in Washington. I thought that it was "a point" drinking beautifully. Every bit as good if not better than the couple of 82's that I've had. I think that there is one more left in the cellar.

Danny

[chris kissack]

Thanks for this note - I have 6 of these tucked away. Wish I had bought more at the price I paid.

Any opinions on the '02? I bought a few, suckered in by the dirt-cheap price (same for Lafite, Pichon-L, Léoville-B and a few others that vintage).

[Comte Flaneur]

Although I would like to say the 02 Gruaud is great, truth is there are a lot of way better 02s out there...mind you if you can get it for $40 or less thats not bad qpr...in St-Julien for example Lagrange and Leoville Barton are waaay better

[chris kissack]

Comte, I bought these en primeur - w-a-a-a-y less than $40 (I think, allowing for exchange rate) - price for the GL was £15 each.

I have some '02 Lagrange and Léo-B too, so shan't be too worried!

[JimHow]

Chris, I'm a big fan of the 2002 left bankers, although I have not had the GL.
I concur with Comte that Lagrange and Leoville Barton are excellent in that vintage, as well as Leoville Poyferre.
Seems like maybe it was a St. Julien kind of vintage.

[Blanquito]

The 2002 Leoville Barton could be had for $35 back in the day. Not dirt cheap, but a price hard to imagine for the L-Barton ever since, especially one that got a 92 from Parker Almighty.

[William P]

The leoville poyferre was $25 on sale as I recall. Another wine that vanished too young.

[Winesense]

For trinking right now and good PV ratio I recommend the 1999 GL.

My tasting Note from last year:
Expressive, powerfull nose. Barnyard. Black cherries. Medium body. Can trink now but will improve for a few years.
92

When we look at cellartracker we can see that the 2000 is rated at the same level as the famous 1986.
From 1999 to 2005 only 2001 is rated a little below an average of 90.
Very consistent, is n't it?

[DavidG]

GL isn't as consistent to my palate as it is to the "average Cellar Tracker score." Perhaps in part because large groups tend to average out divergent opinions.

[JimHow]

That 1986 GL is an immense wine, winesense, one of my favorite Bordeauxs ever along with the 1982 GL.
The 1986 GL is to the 1982 like the 1986 Pichon Lalande and Mouton are to their 1982 counterparts.

[Rick]

Had a number of GL 80s recently and they were all very good wines

I agree with Jim
I would rate the 86 GL one of these best wines I have ever had ......I have had it 4 or 5 times

rick

[stefan]

I brought two '86 Gruaud Larose to the first BWE-Chicago but we only drank one of them. The other will return to Chicago for the second BWE-Chicago.

stefan

[JimHow]

Wow! One of the original bottles from Chicago '01 will be present at Chicago '10!?! Historic! We will have to do a ceremonial tasting of the '86 GL!

[JCNorthway]

Stefan,

That is pretty amazing. You absolutely must bring that bottle to BWE 2010. One thing we don't need to repeat is the dropped bottle of port!

Jon