2021 Château Gruaud Larose

Tasted blind. Light nose. Dry and streamlined. Not a very strong message in this wine. Correct and unobjectionable, if you like your claret on the dry side. But not long, with a rather messy finish. Almost 15.5 … (JR)

The 2021 Château Gruaud Larose checks in as 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Franc that spent 18 months in 95% new French oak. It's concentrated and medium-bodied, with a relatively closed, inward style in its black cherry and redcurrant fruit as well as subtle tobacco and graphite-laced aromas and flavors. I love its overall balance, as well as its mid-palate depth and polished tannins. It needs just 2-4 years in the cellar and is going to drink beautifully over the following decade or more.

The 2021 Gruaud Larose is developing nicely now that the wine is in bottle, the vineyard having been converted to organic viticulture two years earlier. It has a refined bouquet that needs a little more coaxing than other Saint-Juliens this vintage: brambly black fruit, a hint of cassis, that Pauillac element I commented upon from barrel dialed down, at least at present. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, quite fresh in the mouth, with fine depth and well judged acidity. I'm not sure it will be a long-term prospect, yet there is appreciable tension on the finish and more precision than you would have found in vintages a decade earlier. Elegant and refined.