The aromatics on this stately 26-year-old wine are just so welcoming. Autumnal leaf, delicate finely-boned tannins, savoury black fruits, feels like you can only be in St Julien, with a caressing if not hugely-persistent structure compared to the 1996. What you get here is a wine with juice, finesse and balance, all extremely moreish if subtle in its charms. Harvest September 15 to October 4. Philippe Carmaigac cellar master, 35% new oak. Drink Now - 2032
Taste November 16th 2021 - Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux

Intense aromas of crushed blackberries, licorice and Spanish cedar. Full-bodied, concentrated and structured. Give it some time.--'95/'96 Bordeaux retrospective. Best after 2008. — JS

Ruby-red with a pale rim. Initially closed nose opens slowly with aeration to offer delicate blackcurrant and mineral aromas complicated by a touch of field herbs. Then richer and deeper on the palate, with flinty blackcurrant, raspberry and herbal flavors carrying nicely through the aftertaste. The chewy, peppery tannins have smoothed out nicely with age. This wine has already developed much more depth and complexity than it showed on release; should it continue to evolve positively, it may yet turn out to be amemorable Gruaud.

Revealing more grip and tannin since bottling, the 1995 Gruaud-Larose exhibits a dark ruby color, and a nose of sweet black cherries, licorice, earth, and spice. Rich, with medium to full body, high tannin, and subtle oak in the background, the 1995 is nearly as structured and tannic as the 1996. The two vintages are more similar than dissimilar. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2020. Gruaud-Larose was purchased in 1997 by Jacques Merlaut, the well-known proprietor of many other chateaux, including Chasse-Spleen. Merlaut was not responsible for making the 1996 or 1995, but is responsible for their elevage and bottling.

Drink 2008-2020
-Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide No 7

Revealing more grip and tannin since bottling, the 1995 Gruaud-Larose exhibits a dark ruby color, and a nose of sweet black cherries, licorice, earth, and spice. Rich, with medium to full body, high tannin, and subtle oak in the background, the 1995 is nearly as structured and tannic as the 1996. The two vintages are more similar than dissimilar. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2020.

An open-knit and less intense nose than the 1996 with notes of cherry and violets. Pretty but weak. The palate is much more forward than the 1996: supple, rounded with almost voluptuous young red fruits. The oak is not as well-integrated as I expected and there is a touch of greenness on the finish, which lacks the flourish of the 1996. Drink from now until 2010. I expected more. A similar note in November 2004. The nose is soft and lack intensity. Develops savory character with aeration. The palate is simple and supple, dominated by Merlot. A bit linear, a good wine but not one that really engages the palate. Meaty finish. Quite forward. Drink now.

Good deep red-ruby. Somewhat more evolved aromas of redcurrant, roasted coffee and smoked meat. Silky and lush in the mouth, but with less intensity and charm than the '96. Seems a bit monolithic today. Tannins come across as slightly dry after the '96.

Light, with rustic tannins and hint of tartness in the berries, the nose, with its tobacco, earth, cassis and barnyard aromatics is fine. But the fruit is losing the race with the tannins on the palate and in the finish. Time will probably not improve this wine. At 19 years of age, it is, what it is. March 2014