2006 Château Gruaud Larose, St Julien, Bordeaux

2006 Château Gruaud Larose, St Julien, Bordeaux

Product: 20068004383
Prices start from £630.00 per case Buying options
2006 Château Gruaud Larose, St Julien, Bordeaux

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
Case format
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12 x 75cl bottle
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £630.00
6 x 150cl magnum
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £550.00
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £900.00
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Description

This is an abnormally luscious and seductive wine for Gruaud Larose; especiallysurprising in a vintage like 2006. The powerful, spicy dark fruit nose withhints of violets acts as a highly enticing welcome. But, fear not, alongsidethe abundant, creamy, blackberry and strawberry fruit it has good tannic grip,freshness and lots of breed and elegance, in that typically chunky GruaudLarose way. Manager David Launay was ruthless with his selection, using only45% of his crop for this wine. The result is very satisfying, providing onceagain an irresistible combination of value and quality.
Simon Staples - Fine Wine Director - Jun-07

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate88/100
Tasted at Bordeaux Index's annual 10-Year On tasting in London. The 2006 Chteau Gruaud Larose can be a divisive wine. At ten years of age, it shows some inertia on the nose: sultry blackberry and briary fruit, nicely defined but lacking what I call flow. The palate is medium-bodied with dusty tannin, rather rustic red berry fruit laced with sandalwood and tar, fading a little towards the soft, easy-going finish. Not bad...but I have encountered many superior wines from this Saint Julien estate. Tasted January 2016.
Neal Martin - 30/05/2016 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW17/20
Blackish crimson. Zesty nose with the merest hint of oak. Well put together even if embryonic - super smooth and easy and there is absolutely nothing for anyone to object to even if no-one would go to bed dreaming of this wine. I am churlish to even voice a hint of complaint. Very well done, if slightly bureaucratic.
Jancis Robinson - Apr-2007 Read more
Wine Spectator90/100
Shows plum and raspberry aromas, with hints of flowers. Full-bodied, with super well-integrated tannins and pretty fruit on the middle palate. All there in balance and finesse. Best after 2013. 20,000 cases made
James Suckling - Wine Spectator - Mar-2009 Read more
Decanter93/100
Deep, intense brambly fruit unfurls gently over the palate. Not yet reached its tertiary stage but this knows where it is going, and doesn’t mind taking a pause before softly sliding towards autumnal flavours. Tannins have a little extra bite on the finish. A very classy, classic St-Julien.
Jane Anson - Decanter - 2016

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About this WINE

Chateau Gruaud Larose

Chateau Gruaud Larose

Château Gruaud-Larose is a 2ème Cru Classé property that produces one of St-Julien's most full-bodied and long-lived wines.

For many years Gruaud-Larose was owned by the négociants Cordier, who also own Château Talbot. It was sold in 1993 to the French conglomerate, Alcastel Alstom, which in turn sold it to the Taillan Group, owners of Chasse-Spleen and  Haut-Bages-Libéral, in 1997. The talented Georges Pauli has remained as régisseur and winemaker throughout all these changes.

Gruaud-Larose has 84 hectares of vineyards located on a gravel-rich plateau just to the west of Château Beychevelle. The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (65%), Merlot (25%), Cabernet Franc (8%) and Petit Verdot (2%). Vinification takes place in a mixture of wooden vats and cement tanks and the wine is aged in oak barriques (30% new) for 18 months.

Gruaud-Larose can be tannic and ungainly in youth but with bottle ageing it becomes marvellously harmonious and develops complex and beguiling characteristics of concentrated black fruits, cedar, spices and liquorice.

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St Julien

St Julien

St Julien is the smallest of the "Big Four" Médoc communes. Although, without any First Growths, St Julien is recognised to be the most consistent of the main communes, with several châteaux turning out impressive wines year after year. 

St Julien itself is much more of a village than Pauillac and almost all of the notable properties lie to its south. Its most northerly château is Ch. Léoville Las Cases (whose vineyards actually adjoin those of Latour in Pauillac) but,  further south, suitable vineyard land gives way to arable farming and livestock until the Margaux appellation is reached.  

The soil is gravelly and finer than that of Pauillac, and without the iron content which gives Pauillac its stature. The homogeneous soils in the vineyards (which extend over a relatively small area of just over 700 hectares) give the commune a unified character.

The wines can be assessed as much by texture as flavour, and there is a sleek, wholesome character to the best. Elegance, harmony and perfect balance and weight, with hints of cassis and cedar, are what epitomise classic St Julien wines. At their very best they combine Margaux’s elegance and refinement with Pauillac’s power and substance.

Ch. Léoville Las Cases produces arguably the most sought-after St Julien, and in any reassessment of the 1855 Classification it would almost certainly warrant being elevated to First Growth status.

Recommended Châteaux: Ch. Léoville Las CasesCh.Léoville Barton, Ch Léoville Poyferré, Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou, Ch Langoa Barton, Ch Gruaud Larose, Ch. Branaire-Ducru, Ch. Beychevelle

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Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.

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