2004 Gruaud Larose
France
Saint Julien Grand Cru Classé
Bordeaux
Red
81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc (2024 vintage)
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2024 - 2034
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2024 - 2040
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2019 - 2032
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Director Georges Pauli told me he has carried out a pre-fermentation cold soak here for the past five vintages "for aromatic expression." The temperature of the wine rises as high as 32oC during the fermentation and then slowly descends to 25oC or so in the cement and wood tanks, at which point it receives another 15 days of post-fermentation maceration. Pauli uses enzymes at the end of the fermentation to get more fat in the wine. "We get bigger tannins but they're never dry tannins," he said. Pauli told me the 2006 shows more aromatic character than the estate's 2004, thanks to the cool nights in August. The grand vin represents less than 50% of the harvest.
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Director Georges Pauli described this property's 2005 as having "great aromatic expressiveness: like the 2000 but more intense and complex." As always, he told me, Gruaud-Larose was the first to begin harvesting in St. Julien and the last to finish, taking a full month to pick. Although the cabernet was particularly ripe, at 12.3% to 12.5% potential alcohol, the blend has firm acidity of 3.5 grams per liter (3.0 to 3.3 is typical here) and a relatively low pH of 3.7. "We had the courage not to acidify," said Pauli, "and the 2005 will enjoy great longevity." Pauli added that he felt the new vintage is "the ultimate expression of this terroir
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Director Georges Pauli and his team carried out a long cold soak of the fruit in 2004, with the objective of getting "maximum aromatic expression." The cuvaison was a relatively long four to five weeks, with the fermentation temperature mounting to 32oC. But what I liked most about the 2004 was the absence of the faintly stewed fruit flavors that have typified this chateau's grand vin in many recent vintages. Incidentally, Pauli noted that the average age of the vines here is increasing. Before this chateau changed hands in 1997, vines were routinely replanted at age 50, but today the old vines are allowed to stick around until they reach 60.
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