CHÂTEAU GRUAUD LAROSE
2015 2ème Cru Classé Saint Julien
Harmonious nose, ripe and dense as well as supple, fat and silky. Lovely balance of sweetness, dark black fruit and suave tannic concentration. This has quite a lot of everything, although if picky, not huge character. Tannins very present if well-lubricated. Just a slight caramel barrel note on the finish. Rating: 92-93 L&S (Apr 2016)
* 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.
The 2015 Gruaud Larose has an expressive nose, with mainly red fruit (raspberry and cranberry) mixed with cedar and light graphite scents. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins. This is fleshy compared to its peers and lightly spiced with a harmonious, very Saint-Julien finish. Recommended and at 13% alcohol, this is lower than many other Grand Cru Classé. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting at Farr Vintners. Drinking range: 2026 - 2042 Rating: 92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2025)
The 2015 Gruaud Larose is more luxurious on the nose than the previous vintage, with more red than black fruit, slightly medicinal and confit-like, wild strawberry and licorice, and later, touches of incense. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. This is more concentrated than the 2014, with a fine backbone, fresh and saline with a gentle grip towards the finish, and touches of cedar and graphite that linger on the aftertaste. This is just beginning to "motor". Tasted at the Gruaud Larose vertical at the château in February 2023. Drinking range: 2025 - 2050 Rating: 92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2024)
Dark ruby in colour, this has really come into its own over the past 6 years, proving wrong those who underestimated it during En Primeur. Emphasis right now on creamy dark fruits that envovlop everything, with real volume through the mid palate and a slow build along with sinewy tannins that grip the front of the mouth. This has so much potential, and I suggest still giving it another three or four years. 90% new oak (a big jump up from the 2010), harvset September 29 to October 15. The improvements brought by the vineyard restructing programme, that had begun in 2008, were starting to be felt at this point. Drinking range: 2024 - 2042 Rating: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter (Nov 2021)
The 2015 Gruaud Larose has a perfumed and floral bouquet of raspberry coulis and crushed strawberry, well defined if not the most complex among its peers. It has certainly opened up in recent months. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannin, touches of espresso lacing the red berry fruit. Just a slightly lactic finish detracts from overall delineation. I suspect that there will be improvement - it just needs time to settle. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. Rating: 91 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jul 2019)
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. Drinking range: 2018 - Rating: 95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2018)
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. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2018)
Gone are the bad old days of farmyardy aromas and flavours, to be replaced by something that is classic, yet modern at the same time. Polished and well defined, this carries its 100% new oak with ease, such is the structure and depth of the wine. Drinking range: 2022 - 2032 Rating: 95 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (May 2016)
Really very pure, cleanly expressed dark cherry fruit on the nose, with a smoky and sooty edge, suggesting a gentle concentration. The palate feels very pure and correct, with a fresh and rather sweet plushness to it, softly creamed plum fruit, with a firm spindle of central tannins, ripe and sweet. A very pretty wine, showing a little oaky lactone at present, full and fresh. A ripe carapace of tannins, a medium-bodied core, and slightly juicy cherry fruit. A touch of grip in the finish. This has some potential, and is a good effort from Gruaud-Larose. Rating: 15-16/20 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2016)
Very fine florality and purity on first impression – less of the meatiness of past vintages. The classic Gruaud-Larose smoothness is there along with added precision. Great attention to detail; a very fine claret. Drinking range: 2021 - 2045 Rating: 94 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2016)
Mid crimson. Mild, well-balanced nose. Ripe but not overripe. Neat and confident. A good expression of a charming accessible vintage. Neat and comfortable. Drinking range: 2024 - 2038 Rating: 17 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Gruaud Larose is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc, picked from 21 September. It has a rather conservative bouquet, reticent at first, gradually unfolding with truffle-tinged black fruit, the oak nicely integrated but perhaps needing a little more energy. The palate is ripe and rounded on the entry, fleshier than many of its Saint Julien counterparts, quite sumptuous in terms of mouthfeel with a suave texture. There is a sense of linearity here, a strictness that particularly comes through on the finish. The purity is commendable and the tannin, fine, but what it needs is that final flourish. It just misses that killer blow on the finish and saunters to its conclusion. I hope that it gains more in barrel. Drinking range: 2025 - 2055 Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
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. Rating: 88—91 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2016)
A velvety and flavorful red with dusty tannins and lots of ripe fruit. It remains fresh and balanced. Harmonious. Excited to see it develop in barrel. Rating: 93-94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Mar 2016)
Château Gruaud Larose
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.