1996 has been hailed as ‘the greatest ever Cabernet Sauvignon vintage’. It’s certainly one of the great post-war vintages for the Médoc and arguably one of the top four of the last century. St Julien is one of the appellations offering the best wines from 1996 and these are now perfectly mature, offering sensational drinking now. This wine is a wonderful example of the quality that can be found in 1996 from a ‘Super-Second’ estate: one which consistently outperforms its classification and produces wines that taste instead like those of a First Growth.

Ch. Gruaud Larose’s wines are famous for being tannic while young but also for becoming marvellously harmonious with age, so this is a superb opportunity to enjoy a fully mature example. With pure, rich blackcurrant fruit and elegant notes of liquorice and herbs, this is a complex, beguiling wine, and one which will make any Christmas memorable.