Wine Advisor
Sarget De Gruaud Larose 2021
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2021 Sarget de Gruaud Larose is an attractive wine in the making, exhibiting aromas of sweet berries, cherries and spices, followed by a medium-bodied, ample and fleshy palate that's pure and lively, concluding with a saline finish. It's a blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Bottled in May 2023, the 2021 Sarget de Gruaud Larose has a perfumed bouquet with blackberry, raspberry and light rose petals scents, a little pastille-like in style. There’s fine delineation and more purity than other vintages of this Deuxième Vin. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chalky tannins at the moment, though that is because of its proximity to bottling and will soften with time. It attenuates a little on the finish, but it will still 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.
