These are notes from a Commanderie de Bordeaux vertical tasting dinner of Ch.
Gruaud Larose.

It has been said that Pauillac wines can be sorted into three classes €“ the
classic, cedary "British style (many examples), the elegant style (Lafite
and Pichon Lalande), and the exotic style (Mouton, Lynch Bages).

This could be said for St. Julien as well, and one would place Las Cases in
group #1, cedary British, Ducru and Beychevelle in group #2, and Talbot and
Gruaud Larose in group 3 €“ the ones that tend to exhibit tar, spice, and
animal elements and are often brawny wines that need extended ageing. It was
interesting to have the chance to taste traditional vintages against young
vintages to assess possible changes in style.

We started with 1995 Veuve Clicquot Vintage Reserve with some amuses bouches,
and I found it to be very pleasant with a lemony nose and hint of terminal
sweetness.

1998 Pavillon Blanc du Ch. Margaux €“ a surprising amount of oak in this wine,
exhibited both in the toasty nose and on palate. The wine carried it off well,
though, being sweet, juicy and well balanced. A very good bottle.

Served with grilled Atlantic scallops beside coconut flavoured seafood
"cappuccino in demitasse.

We then started into the Gruaud with the younger vintages, served with a
terrine of venison:

2000 €“ yes, infanticide, but with the high ideal of scholarly investigation
in mind, I silently pardoned myself and dug in. Though quite dark, it wasnt
huge in body, and while there was good depth in the nose, it was still rather
simple and undifferentiated as one would expect in a wine of this age €“
primary fruit, and absolutely no gaminess or leather as one expects from
experience with older vintages. Lots of new oak and lots of tannin, though
soft, and abundant fruit €“ this should develop into a very good wine, though
I came to doubt that it would ever be very much like the Gruaud Larose of old.

1998 €“ another dark wine, the fruit a tad sweeter on palate, but with a
higher acidity that gave a leaner impression, and a hint of dill. I think that
this one will drink best early.

With spiced pheasant breast with red kurri squash ravioli:

1989 €“ good colour to the rim. A lot of spice in the nose, good acid and the
tannins soft €“ no rush here, but it drinks well now.

1988 €“ the surprise of this flight €“ wonderful nose, excellent balance,
ready and harmonious with nice sweetness and fruit €“ not what one expects
from this rather neglected vintage! Best of flight.

1983 €“ more gaminess in this nose, and the tannin fairly prominent for the
vintage. Good acidity and good length. A more compact wine than many 83s.

Pity they couldnt round up some of the excellent 1990 to taste with the 88
and 89!

With Achiote spiced Fraser Valley duck breast:

1981 €“ probably the biggest surprise so far. Wonderful nose of cedar and
plum, balanced, harmonious and perfectly ready to drink. I believe you can
still pick this up at lower prices than the 82 and 83 €“ a bargain, and the
best wine so far, with the 88 a runner-up.

1979 €“ I always enjoy a mature Bordeaux nose and so was delighted with this
one, all cedar and dark fruit. No tannins left, smooth on palate and drinking
well, but dont hold.

1978 €“ while this wine had a nose that was slightly better than the excellent
1979, there was a slight vegetal element that some would like and others would
not. Mellow wine, but it finished a bit short. We all agreed that the 79 was
superior.

With truffled lamb ribeye:

1986 €“ still a big, dark brute of a wine with huge tannin and acid, the
flavours largely undifferentiated, but you can see that the quality is there,
much in the stamp of the 86 Mouton, but that wine is showing more than this
backward beast is at this point. If you have it, lose it in the cellar for
another decade! Am I ever glad that I cellared some of this €“ and unhappy I
didnt buy more.

1985 €“ as one expects from this year, the wine was forward and attractive,
soft in the mouth and drinking at peak now. Very nice.

1982 €“ this one would give pause if tasted blind, for the structure is larger
than most 82s and the tannins still harder €“ I think Id be floundering
around guessing several years younger. The wine is absolutely wonderful €“ it
has amazing weight, impeccable balance, and abundant tannins. The nose showed
the expected leather and ripe fruit elements and perhaps a shot of cocoa as
well. I wish I had a case of this to taste beside the 1986 over the next 20
years!

We finished with:

1997 Ch. Suduiraut €“ sweet melon and pineapple nose, not too sweet on palate,
very tasty with good acidity. My first taste of a wine that should last well.

Conclusions?

Our Maitre asked the question €“ did we consider that Gruaud Larose merited
its second growth status? My answer was undoubtedly yes. There was the
consistency in all years, the ability to show well in slightly weaker vintages
like 1981, and the ability to perform at what was really first growth levels in
excellent vintages like 1982 and 1986.

I have a small stash of 1975, which I intend to drink beside the 1975 Las Cases
over the next few years while I muse about what a shame it is that younger wine
fans will never have the chance to enjoy these finally drinkable monsters of
old. The style of the wine has changed, I fear, and the young examples from the
90s, while very good wines are no longer made, it seems, in the old style.

Unlike many Bordeaux, traditional Gruaud seems to mature at about the age of 15
years in good vintages, and 15 €“ 25 in great vintages. It is possible that
future great vintages may emulate that record, but at this point it seems
doubtful. I must say that I am a big fan of the likes of Gruaud and Talbot,
even though they are not often accused of being elegant€¦..impressive wines.

Thanks Bill for the notes. I tried to not read TOO closely, because I
don't want to add to my preconceptions- we're doing a Gruaud vertical
in March. I'm bringing the '75 & '81, glad to hear the latter is doing
well. One of the attendees is in Christie's wine department here, so
he's tracking down the only bottle we don't have that we really want -
the '85. Otherwise we have '66, '70, '75, '78, '81, '82, '83, '86, '88,
'89, '90, '95, '96, '97, '98, '99, '00, '01.
After I post notes in March I'll call this back up to compare.
Thanks

> 1982 - this one would give pause if tasted blind, for the structure is
> larger
> than most 82s and the tannins still harder - I think I'd be floundering
> around guessing several years younger. The wine is absolutely wonderful -
> it
> has amazing weight, impeccable balance, and abundant tannins. >
> We finished with:

Bill
A wine that has always impressed, a big wine in many respects. Not quite in
PichonLL class but far better than the LLascases which I have always been
underwhelmed.
I have a few bottles of the Gruard, the last I tasted a couple of years ago
and reading your notes, I will leave for a few years before trying again.

John

Hi Bill,

Hmm it's been some time since I've wandered the newsgroup here.

Nice to see you still posting.

Enjoyed your Commanderie evening notes. I've not opened my '82 yet
but I've placed almost all of my '82s on a "get to them this year
list".

I, along with many of the Commandeurs around have found disappointment
in the fact that their '82's are really waning. My only personal
experiences were with '82s from Palmer, Talbot and Margaux .. each of
these, IMHO, were in decline.

Bordeaux, Toujours Bordeaux!


Art Stratemeyer
=============================
http://www.stratsplace.com
A Community Celebration the Joy of Wine,Gardening and the Arts

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The 75 Gruaud is one of the few better known 75s that has turned out
very good in the long term(very few 75s were atractive in the short
term). Clive Coates rates it as 17/20 in his new book and says drink now
until 2008+. Compare this to his ratings for the swills from Lafite 75
(14/20) and Ch. Margaux(13/20). Of course Latour did rather well in 75.

There are several other older vintages of Gruaud Larose that still are
drinking qute well. A vertical needs the 1970, 1961, and 1959, although
this is not possible in many cases these days.. The 1959 might be he
best Gruaud around that still is holding well, but it must have had
perfect storage and needs to be consumed very soon. The 1961, of which I
have some, probably will hold several more years. It is perhaps second
best to the 59 by a hair. The 1970 is very good and was still drinking
well about a year ago.

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