Drink 2008-2015
-Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide No 7

An exotic perfume of tapenade, new saddle leather, damp earth, black currants, cherries, and smoke jumps from the glass of this impressive, powerful 1999. The wine is medium-bodied with moderate tannin. This dark plum/ruby-colored St.-Julien requires another 2-3 years of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2015.

Full medium ruby. Highly aromatic, expressive nose combines currant, espresso, saddle leather and roasted meat. Sweet, lush and smooth, but given definition by its vinosity. Not especially refined, but plummy and mouthfilling. Ripe tannins saturate the teeth and the sides of the mouth on the long finish.

Offering up aromas of weedy blackcurrant fruit mingled with notions of cigar box and grilled meats that reveal plenty of Brettanomyces, the 1999 Gruaud Larose is a medium-bodied, rather lean and meager wine that illustrates the extent of this estate's decline in the 1990s.