Wine Advisor
Sarget De Gruaud Larose 2016
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
The 2016 Sarget de Gruaud Larose is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon and 31% Merlot with smaller parts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, bottled in May 2018. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it offers up expressive redcurrants and blackberry compote notes with hints of cassis, unsmoked cigars, dried herbs and rose hip tea. Medium-bodied, soft, very fresh and with exhilarating vibrancy, it has loads of mineral sparks on the finish.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2016 Sargent de Gruaud-Larose is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, with Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The alcohol is 12.66% and it is matured in 15% new oak. There is plenty of fruit on the nose: black cherries, red plum and a touch of violet, the modest level of new oak allowing the fruit to shine. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannin, very pure fruit and a caressing texture. This Deuxième Vin can sometimes be a little disappointing, but not this year. It's just a delicious wine that will give a decade's worth of drinking pleasure.
About the Producer
Gruaud Larose has always tried to give value to the role of man in the creation of its elixir; both to his work and to the bond established with the vineyard. The vine stocks and the grapes are nothing without man, without these makers of Crus, from the most modest to the most powerful. Since its creation, in 1725, four families have succeeded one another at the head of Gruaud Larose: the Gruaud & Larose families, the Balguerie and Sarget families, the Cordier family and the Merlaut family. This family attachment has been passed on to the employees who often work at the Château from father to son and from mother to daughter. The notion of terroir binds geology and climate together. The largest concentration of Grand Cru Wines is in the Medoc, an area which benefits from a microclimate that is particularly favorable for the expression of the vine. The soil, by nature, limits water retentivity, and the summer period, very hot and dry from July to September, is a determinant for good ripening, a good maturity, and the satisfactory transfer between the root system and the grape. East and West winds dry the grapes to keep them from perishing. Every year the heavens play a decisive role in winemaking. Their influence on the success of the wine is different each year; no terroir, man, or technique can alter the part they play.
