1988 Gruaud-Larose, St-Julien
SKU #950454
92 points
Wine Spectator
This tight and powerful red has lots of tannin and fruit concentration. Full-bodied, with lovely violet and berry aromas and flavors. Built for aging.--1988 Bordeaux horizontal.
(11/1998)
90 points
Vinous
At 30-years of age it has moderate wide bricking on the rim though the core remains quite deep in colour. The bouquet is fully mature with scents of sage, liquorish and allspice permeating the dark berry fruit; fleeting glimpses of black tea and bay leaf surfacing with continued aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with a tang of soy and marmalade on the entry. It is nicely balanced; a little rustic in style yet displays admirable depth and more freshness than some of its peers on the Left Bank. There is just that residual tobacco note lingering on the finish. If you like old school, traditional Saint Julien then this will suit you down to the ground. (NM)
(5/2018)
John Gilman
On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and still quite youthful, with the tannins becoming more pronounced as the other elements shut down. The finish is long, nascently complex and chewy, and I have to imagine that this wine will eventually be quite interesting, but unless my bottle was particularly recalcitrant, this wine needs a bit more time in the cellar.
(9/2020)
Wine Advocate
Dark plum/garnet, with a powerful nose of licorice, roasted meats, smoke, and sweet berry and black currant flavors, this medium-bodied, relatively austere but robust and concentrated Gruaud-Larose still seems like a young wine, and possibly will be longer-lived than its more renowned sibling, the 1989. There is an earthiness and underlying streak of herbaceousness, but there is plenty of depth, concentration, and power to this somewhat burly Gruaud-Larose. (RP)
(1/2003)