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  • Country ranking ?

    873
  • Producer ranking ?

    7
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2030
  • Food Pairing

    Spring lamb served pink with fresh herbs

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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The Story

The Gruaud Larose terroir is truly remarkable and unique. It is a single vineyard of 80 hectares with gravels from the Gironde estuary, dating from the Mindel Ist and Mindel IInd (about 700 000 years ago), and that in some places are over 18 feet deep. The soil is very poor and sandy, and therefore does not hold water. Drainage is one of the major concerns of a conscientious vine-grower.

It is also an important factor at Gruaud Larose where nineteenth-century underground pottery drains have been found. The natural draining system due to the poor quality of soils, from the hot and dry summers, and mostly from their position on the highest plateau of Saint-Julien - 18 metres high from the sea level -, constantly exposed to the north and west winds, favour both soil and optimum maturity for grapes. In fact, Nature has given here a magical aspect to this unique estate vineyard.

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Wine Information

No vintage in the post-World War era has a reputation as great as 1945. Its legendary status is well deserved based solely on the quality of the wines, but the fact that it is the “victory” vintage following World War II only adds to its luster. 1945 was a remarkably good vintage for virtually every wine region in the world, but it was especially great for Claret. Interestingly, the harvest in Bordeaux got underway on September 13th, the same date as the 1982 harvest began exactly 37 years later. 

The top reds of Bordeaux started out with massive levels of tannin and took decades to develop. Due to the high concentration of fruit and tannin levels, many of the wines still show beautifully today.

 

 

 

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Vintage 1945

The best vintage in the world – 1947 or 1945? Tastingbook has tasted all the best wines from these two great vintages.

If wine producers from different regions were asked to name the best vintages in their wine history, most would name 1947 or 1945 as one of the greats. If we then compared them, there would probably only be one vintage that most, if not all, producers had named on the list – 1947.

We wanted to test this theory and we tasted them against each other and the winner was 1947 – by a long shot.

The 1947 vintage was a magical vintage. It goes down in history as one of the only vintages that all the well-established quality wine regions in the world were blessed with superb weather conditions. Heatwaves have been experienced all over the world and, for example, all of Europe was blazing under the blazing sun and experiencing a heatwave during the summer. This resulted in very concentrated and very ripe grapes. Growers found it difficult to handle very ripe grapes with high sugar levels because there was a constant risk of bacterial contamination in less hygienic wineries that did not have artificial cooling systems. Since there was no technology to use, many relied on huge blocks of ice to cool the room temperature and even put ice in their fermentation tanks.

This vintage has proven to produce very long-lasting wines from around the world. The wines are marked by a sweet, ripe fruit character and warming alcohol. Due to unhygienic winemaking facilities, many wines exhibit volatile characters. Some might find this a flaw, but for many mature wine lovers, this feature is even a favorite character. However, when purchasing wines from this vintage one should be aware that there is a high level of bottle variation and the risk of having highly volatile wines is remarkably high.

1945 was an exceptional year throughout France, from Côte-Rôtie to Bordeaux. Due to the hot and dry conditions, the grapes were very concentrated and produced an extraordinary, but unfortunately low, yield. The 1945 harvest was an early harvest, beginning on the same date as 1982, September 13. The wines started life with massive levels of tannin and took several decades to develop. Due to the high levels of tannins, many wines still show well today.

 

 

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Average Bottle Price

2015 2010 2005 2000 1995
1 290€ +19.8% 1 077€ +36.3% 790€ +80.0% 439€ +16.4% 377€

This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.

Tasting note

ending

Long, Smooth and Gentle

nose

Intense, Opulent and Ripe

recommend

Yes

taste

Complex, Full-bodied, Fresh, Rich, Vigor and Sweet

Written Notes

The 1945 Gruaud Larose was ‘too tannic’ per Bipin. I wrote a few more words, but ‘cold, simple and easy’ were all I could read (90M).
  • 90p

Garnet colour. Elegant nose with balmy spices, discreet minerality and hints of dried fruits in the background. Vanilla and gingerbread spices complementing the nose. On the palate well-balanced with fine acidity, discreet sweet fruit, balmy spices and excellent length. 

  • 97p

Gruaud Larose (magnum) 1945 – dark coloured, sweet raspberry drops and scent of truffles on the nose, well-balanced and tasty wine, smooth finish. 93p.

  • 93p
Château Gruaud Larose 1945 was great, but not so much in the pleasure category anymore. Very firm, well-structured and with very complexe, ageing aromas. But most of it’s fruit had gone, and a certain severeness prevailed.
  • 96p
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Information

Origin

St.Julien, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Good

Investment potential

No Potential

Fake factory

None

Inside Information

“Gruaud gets its inspiration from the soil, the tannins and the terroir. Larose brings poetry, aromas and bouquet.”

Gruaud gets its inspiration from the soil, the tannins and the terroir. Larose brings poetry, aromas and bouquet. So could Abbé Gruaud have described his wine, a wine full of Elegance and Force. Château Gruaud Larose is different from other wines. Abbé Gruaud wanted it subtle, racy, comparable to the most beautiful artworks in the world. Year after year, we continue his work. Always timid and reserved when young, a Gruaud Larose slowly reveals its character. Sometimes showing a capricious nature, it decides one day to express its Force and then another day to reveal its Elegance. One says that it “is very Larose” when it is young, elegant and charmer. But this Larose hides a power that only faithful friends can feel. At the first approach, you feel charmed and wish to meet again to better know and discover its personality.

Further talks and exchanges and then the wine tells you more about itself, it is like a revelation. Only at this point, you can perfectly perceive that the underlining and structuring force, due to a traditional and rigorous education, becomes elegance and refinement. Then, at its most beautiful age, the wine becomes poetry. Suddenly aromas and bouquet, the strong identity of both soil, tannins and terroir seem eternal like for the 1870 vintage.

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