Tasting Notes
JancisRobinson.com 17
Salty zesty nose with great liveliness. Sweeter than the 1986 Las Cases served blind alongside it but less dense. A very pretty wine. This has always been one of the most charming 1986s and it’s still, just about, in fine fettle. Though I wouldn’t keep it any longer.
Anticipated maturity: 2006-2015
Vinous 95
Very youthful deep ruby-red color. Brooding nose offers perfumed blackcurrant, mineral, violet and quinine aromas. Big, dense and rich, conveying an impression of strong extract to the powerful, well-delineated blackberry and herb flavors. The long, tactile finish features chewy but polished tannins and a lingering floral note. Though ready to drink now, this wine will continue to age gracefully. One of the best Gruaud-Larose wines of the past 40 years.
Robert Parker 94
Tasted at The Ledbury Gruaud Larose lunch, a consistent note compared to the one encountered last year, perhaps one of the finest wines of the decade after the 1982. It has a typically backward, distant nose that does not really want to play ball, but reluctantly offers black fruits, tobacco, cedar and retains that Graves-like personality. The palate is masculine, bolstered by rigid tannins, quite tarry in the mouth with hints of mocha towards its stern, finish. Gentleman’s claret! Superb. Tasted June 2011.
