2019 Gloria, St-Julien

Showing beautifully, with the polished, pure, elegant style of the vintage, the 2019 Château Gloria sports a deeper ruby/purple color as well as great aromatics of cassis and assorted blue fruits to go with smoked tobacco, cedar pencil, damp earth, and floral notes. I love its purity, and it's just a quintessential, medium to full-bodied, layered Saint-Julien that can be drunk today or cellared for a solid two decades. It should be a no-brainer purchase for the wine lovers out there.

A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, harvested from September 30th until October 4th, 34% Merlot, harvested from September 23rd until the 25th, 6% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. The yield was 40 hl/ha. A quite fantastic colour in the glass, nearly opaque, a black tulip intensity with a crimson rim. The nose is charged with blended Cabernet and Merlot energy at the start, with sweet blackcurrants and a touch of black cherry, opening out to reveal dark and savoury threads of smoked damson, black olive, hawthorn and summer hedgerow fruits, scented with mineral dust and a little sweet, toasty but subtly integrated oak. Polished but with a sinewy substance from the outset, this has a deliciously open and accessible structure and substance at the start, melding in the middle with threads of grippy tannin, a gently plush substance, good energy and the vintage’s vivacious acid freshness. Ripe, yet poised, athletic and with a long grip no less charged than the start of the palate, leading to a long and spiced finish, this is a fine result for Gloria which pairs the ripeness and energy of the vintage with fine left-bank structure. Super potential here.