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Chateau Gruaud-Larose, Saint-Julien, 1996

Red Wine from Bordeaux, France
$189.99
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A Cabernet-led Second Growth Saint-Julien from a year that combined plenty of sunshine with fairly cool temperatures. The château sums up 1996 as good sugar build-up, malic acid held in the grapes and a very healthy crop. It wasn't an easy season, though. A cold February meant late budburst, frost hit in early April, storms ran through a hot, humid June and July, August was cool, and heavy rain arrived from September 24th, with picking running from September 20th to October 10th. The blend is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, grown on 82 hectares of Garonne gravel laid down more than 600,000 years ago. Fermentation was split between wooden and cement tanks, each one tasted daily, and the team chose four press wines from the barrels before 16 to 18 months in fine-grain French oak, 30% of it renewed each year. (For history buffs: this is the last vintage before the Merlaut family bought the estate in 1997.) Classified-growth Saint-Julien with three decades in bottle is a rare thing to open, and this one comes with a full record of how it was made.

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More about Chateau Gruaud-Larose

Gruaud-Larose is Saint-Julien at its most muscular: a big estate in a single block, making Cabernet-led wines known for needing, and rewarding, a couple of decades in the cellar. For claret that is firm, savory and built for the long haul, this is a house to know.

The story begins in 1725, when the Abbé Gruaud started planting vines here. Later in the century the Chevalier de Larose inherited the estate, added his name and enlarged the vineyard. In the 1800s it was split between two families, the Cordier family put it back together in the 1930s, and since 1997 it has belonged to the Merlaut family.

The 82 hectares of vines sit almost entirely in one piece around the château, in the south of the appellation, on deep Garonne gravel with more clay than most of its neighbors. Cabernet Sauvignon leads, with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and a little Petit Verdot, and the wine spends about 18 months in barrel, much of it new. The farming has moved steadily toward organics, with certification from the 2022 vintage. The second wine, Sarget de Gruaud Larose, made since 1981 and named for a 19th-century owner, comes from the same vineyards.

Older vintages can be sturdy, even rugged; recent ones are more polished without losing the Gruaud frame. Decant, and don't rush.

See all Chateau Gruaud-Larose wines

Wine Details

  • Grape Variety

    Cabernet Franc , Cabernet Sauvignon , Merlot , Petit Verdot , Red Blend

  • Vintage

    1996

  • Size

    750ml

  • Farming Practice

    Traditional

  • Style

    Elegant

  • Sweetness

    Dry

  • Body

    Full Bodied

Flatiron's Take

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Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Perfect Pairings

Rack of lamb with rosemary, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, venison loin, dry-aged ribeye, duck confit with lentils, or aged Comté and Mimolette.

Tasting Profile

Expect the classic Saint-Julien profile: blackcurrant and plum from the Cabernet-led blend, cedar and tobacco from French oak, and Gruaud-Larose's typically robust, earthy, savoury edge. Usually medium- to full-bodied with firm, fine-grained tannins and fresh acidity, the style is built to age, moving toward leather and forest floor with a long, dry finish.

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