Delivers fabulous aromas of crushed red fruits, with leather, tar, tobacco and mint. Full-bodied, offering supersoft and silky tannins, as well as a beautiful polish. Open and luscious, with amazing richness of fruit and decadence at the same time.
—James Suckling, '89/'99 Bordeaux Blind Retrospective (2009)

Tasted at The Ledbury Gruaud Larose lunch, the 1989 was one of the standout wines of the tasting. It displays wonderful definition on the nose, more clarity than the 1990 alongside, with hints of sandalwood, Provencal herbs, white fennel and a touch of mint. The palate is medium-bodied and beautifully balanced, demonstrating a tad more composure than the 1990 with good weight on the linear finish. I like the control here, the sense of finesse. Drinking perfectly now.
-Neal Martin, eRobertParker, Jan 2012

Bordeaux Book, 4th Edition January, 2003

Somewhat of a letdown when tasted side by side with the 1990, the dark garnet-colored 1989 Gruaud-Larose offers up notes of cedar, tobacco leaf, red and black currants, and some hints of compost. The nose smells sweet, on the palate it is relatively ripe and sweet, but then the wine seems to have plenty of tannin and toughness without that incredible sweet, chewy mid-palate the 1990 possesses. The wine still seems somewhat disjointed, but there are plenty of good things to be found. Perhaps the real problem is that it just suffers in comparison to the profound 1990. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2018. Last tasted, 5/02.

In this blind tasting, the 1989 Gruaud-Larose was corked, but a bottle secured through a friend and tasted under non-blind circumstances was excellent, nearly outstanding. The herbal side of Gruaud-Larose was more noticeable in the 1989. The wine revealed a deep ruby/purple color (but not the opaqueness of the 1990), more obvious tannin, without the mid-palate and sweet inner-core of fruit exhibited by the 1990. It is a big, tannic, spicy wine, with plenty of potential, but not the sweetness and chewy texture of the 1990. The 1989 needs more time to shed its cloak of tannin; give it 5-8 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 20+ years. (89)