2015 Gruaud Larose

The ultimate in fine, traditional claret, Gruaud Larose combines clean, modern winemaking with traditional style. Black cherry, blackcurrant, pleasant stony character. Supple, round texture, good intensity and nicely balanced. Real polish, expression and purity of blackcurrant and cherry fruit. (60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc.)

Medium garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Gruaud Larose simply sparkles with bright, vibrant red cherries, ripe raspberries and fresh black currants notes with underlying suggestions of cinnamon stick, rose petals, fallen leaves and dried Provence herbs. Medium to full-bodied and possessing tightly wound red and black fruits layers intermingled with spicy accents, it has a firm, grainy frame and great vivacity, finishing long and perfumed. I'm probably being too conservative with my score here and expect this could blossom in 4-6 years into an even more impressive beauty! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Interim Issue Mid-February 2018, The Wine Advocate

The 2015 Gruaud Larose has a clean and precise bouquet, a little more sophisticated than it showed out of barrel. It seems to have manifested greater mineralité and delineation that enhances the vivid blackberry and bilberry fruit infused with cedar. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannin, blackberry infused with graphite and cedar that render this Gruaud Larose almost Pauillac in style. No, it does not provide that killer blow on the finish, preferring to remain quite linear and taut (unlike the 2016 that may prove to be superior). Yet this shows careful, judicious winemaking and it may continue to improve in bottle. Anticipated maturity: 2022 - 2050. 


– eRobertParker.com, Feb 2018

Nicely focused, with a beam of red and black currant fruit inlaid with subtle spice notes and carried by velvety tannins. A little shy on range, but this is solidly built.

– James Molesworth (WineSpectator.com, April 2016)

Concentrated and elegant with a great harmony of dry tannins and ripeness (but no hint of overripeness), this has a long finish with a lot of drive and enormous freshness. You could drink this now with red meat, but it’s got decades ahead of it.

Mid crimson. Mild, well-balanced nose. Ripe but not overripe. Neat and confident. A good expression of a charming accessible vintage. Neat and comfortable.Drink 2024-2038.

– jancisrobinson.com, Apr 2016

Dark, powerful and brooding, the 2015 Gruaud-Larose is a real bruiser. Iron, gravel, smoke, mocha and licorice wrap around a core of intense dark fruit, all with a backbone of big, rustic tannins that give the wine its shape. The 2015 needs a good few years to come together. There is certainly no shortage of personality or character. vinous.com, February 2018