Château Gruaud Larose 2016

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2016 Gruaud Larose is a blend of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc this year, picked between 29 September until 15 October (with the Petit Verdot) and matured in 80% new oak, the remainder one or two years old. The alcohol is a modest 13.02%. It has a generous bouquet with scents of blackberry, briary, a touch of sandalwood and tobacco, gaining more precision as it aerates in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, certainly one of the most finessed Gruaud Larose in recent years, with perfectly judged acidity. I love the focus here, a little understated at first but you cannot deny the intensity and precision on the finish. Moreover, this seems to be a slightly more detailed Gruaud, nuanced and long in the mouth. Excellent—and I suspect it might be a little more approachable than some of its peers.

James Suckling

So much sweet-tobacco and currant character with some earth on the nose. Full body, firm and chewy tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Closed and complex still, but a typically beautiful Bordeaux. Try after 2022.

Anthocyanes - Yohan Castaing

Jeannie Cho Lee

Andreas Larsson - Tasted

Nice dark fruity nose with some tar, leather, damp tobacco and floral notes with fine oak in the background. The palate is dense and flavour intense with lovely purity, freshness and balance offering crushed berries. Very cabernet-driven taste with cassis and sage notes, ripe but present tannin offering a nice austerity and lift followed by a very long finish. Stylish and classic with a fine polish.

VertdeVin

The nose is fruity, elegant, fine, frank and offers straightness as well as a good structure. It reveals notes of ripe/fresh raspberry, ripe cassis and slight notes of blueberry associated with small touches of fleshy strawberry. The palate is fruity, juicy, gourmand, elegant, straight, well-balanced and offers fat, tension, a beautiful racy minerality, a beautiful definition, precision, a beautiful finesse, harmony as well as a beautiful silky matter and a small unctuosity in the middle-palate. In the mouth this wine expresses notes of ripe/fleshy/fresh raspberry, fleshy/fresh cherry and slight notes of blueberry, cassis associated with slight notes of chocolate/tonka bean, discreet notes of caramelized oak and a discreet hint of cardamom. Tannins are fine and polished.

Falstaff

Wine Enthusiast

This is a dense, smoky wine with powerful tannins. It follows the line of richness set since the 2014 vintage and balances rich black fruits and concentrated tannins cut with final acidity. Drink from 2025.

Adrian van Velsen - vvWine.ch