Chateau Gruaud-Larose 1961 is at the peak and likely will hold a few
more years. It is still rather dark scarlet with only little evidence of
age around the rim. Everything now is in balance. It is classic St.
Julien that has much more depth and length than usual, as is typical of
most of the top Bordeaux wines of the exceptional year of 1961.
Ducru-Beaucaillou 1961 perhaps was a bit better with more depth and
complexity when I tasted it a few years ago. Of course the star of 1961
is Latour. However the quality of the 1961 Gruaud-Larose is as high as
that of many of the first growths in many other good years. If you have
not cellared the 1961s as I have and have to buy them now, all of the
decent ones are fairly expensive. However the Gruaud-Larose likely
offers as much quality for the price as any of the 1961s. You now would
have to pay a small fortune at auction for the much desired Latorur
1961.

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