CHÂTEAU GRUAUD LAROSE

2013 2ème Cru Classé Saint Julien

EN PRIMEUR

77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc. There's a sort of caramel sweetness in the cherry and blackcurrant fruit, reasonable weight and presence, just tightens a little hairily on the finish, but enjoyable. Drink 2018-2026 Rating: 89-90 L&S (Apr 2014)

* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.

A deep ruby/purple color emerges from this lighter-weight, medium-bodied 2013 Gruaud Larose along with good purity and sweet tannin. With notes of underbrush, licorice and red and blackcurrant, it is a pleasant, fruit-forward wine that should drink well for 7-8 years. 2014-2022 Rating: 85-88 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, www.RobertParker.com (Aug 2014)

Medium ruby. Blueberry and licorice aromas are complemented by graphite, cedar and loam. Sweet and nicely delineated but a little light, with medicinal flavors of dark berries and flinty licorice. In a shell now but shows decent underlying density and fine-grained tannins. Finishes with chewy tannins and good length. One of the lightest Gruauds in memory, but this balanced wine should offer plenty of early appeal. Rating: 86-88 Ian d'Agata - Stephen Tanzer website (May 2014)

Fresh on the nose red fruits are backed by a mix of bilberry and bramble. The mid palate is sweet the fruit ripe with rounded tannins helping the mid suppleness. It is tighter firmer at the back but the finish has some rich flavours. 2020-30 Rating: 89-93 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk (May 2014)

Unusually for Gruaud-Larose, this has seen only new oak. But it definitely has the presence and concentration to soak up the splinters, showing flavours of liquorice, cedarwood, orange peel and smooth black fruits. A deftly handled blend. 2018-26 Rating: 92 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (May 2014)

(77 Cabernet Sauvignon, 21 Merlot, 2 Cabernet Franc) 100% new oak, 12.75% alcohol. Pretty lively attack on the nose - interesting stats to say the least. I wondered if the wine would be too slim and too oaky but the Cabernet fruit has sucked up the oak and in spite of a dry, tannic palate this wine seems to be showing signs of decent balance. There is a hint of sweetness in the core and everything should fall into line in time. Rating: 17+ Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Apr 2014)

Strong liquorice scent, black cherry fruit, light body and medium tannins. Very much a middle-of-the-road bordeaux, with a little violet fragrance on the finish. 2017-2024 Rating: 16 Richard Hemming MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2014)

Lovely lifted Cabernet fruit aromas. Elegant, attractive wine with floral hints. Polished. Drink: 2017-2027. Rating: 16.75 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2014)

Offers a mix of steeped red currant, macerated cherry and raspberry coulis flavors that race along with a good graphite spine and chalky echo through the finish. Solid. Rating: 88–91 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2014)

The Grand Vin is a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc picked on 3 and 8 October cropped at 27hl/ha. It has a crisp blackcurrant and fresh strawberries, with an almost pastille quality with no signs of any pyrazines. The palate is medium-bodied with chalky tannins, noticeable acidity that lends the finish freshness, although it feels a little abrupt. Just 4,000 cases produced - one-third of last year. This will be an early-drinking Gruaud-Larose. Rating: 86-88 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2014)

St Julien Deuxième cru 1855 The story of Château Gruaud Larose starts with Joseph Stanislas Gruaud who developed the estate in the early 18th Century. Two of his descendents ended up with different halves of the Gruaud estate until, in 1778, Chevalier de Gruaud died and left his portion to his son-in-law Joseph Sébastien de la Rose who immediately appended his name to the estate. Gruaud-Larose was split further in 1867, with Château Gruaud-Larose-Sarget and Château Gruaud-Larose-Faure being seperate until 1935 when the Cordier family, who'd bought the Sarget half in 1919, bought Gruaud-Larose-Faure and put the old estate back together again. Ownership by the Cordiers, and the association with other similarly labelled wines in the portfolio - Talbot, Meyney - kept Château Gruaud Larose as a consistent favourite among Bordeaux lovers. Gruaud-Larose is now owned by the Taillan Group. There are 82ha of vineyard, just to the south west of Beychevelle - 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec. A second wine was introduced in 1979 - Sarget de Gruaud-Larose. Gruaud-Larose is among the fuller-bodied styles of St Julien, producing consistently good wines and, whilst the crown of "best estate in St Julien" sits with Leoville Las Cases, the wines of Gruaud-Larose are always worth following.

Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.

Ordering

Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.

Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.

Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.

Confirmation

All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.

Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.

Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.

Delivery

  • Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
  • Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
  • Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
  • Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.

Practical notes - how it works

We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.

When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.

Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.

One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.

Additional charges are as follows:-

  • +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
  • +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
  • +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
  • +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.