Goosefoot Chicago Anniversary Celebration Dinner

Goosefoot Chicago for Anniversary Celebration Dinner

For our anniversary, we took a getaway weekend to the City (Chicago) and dined at Michelin star goosefoot® restaurant. Goosefoot is BYOB which we prefer since we can bring our own selection of wines from our extensive cellar, and drink better wines that are much better than are available on all but a few winelists, or that we might not otherwise be able to afford or justify at restaurant winelist prices.

We stayed in the city at the Westin Riverfront Chicago, a wonderful setting with river views and locale to trendy restaurants, sites and museums. We spent Sunday afternoon at the spectacular Art Institute of Chicago and toured the special Manet exhibition.

WHAT’S A GOOSEFOOT®?

goosefoot is a modern fine-dining BYOB concept restaurant in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood owned and operated by Chef Chris Nugent and wife Nina since 2011.

The name goosefoot® is not due to a fondness for feathered friends or feet, but rather, is based on a passion to cook with the highest quality seasonal ingredients grown and sourced from small artisan farms.

Chef Chris and Nina explain: "A goosefoot® or chenopodium genus is actually a plant family of great significance to the culinary world. There are 150-varieties in the family and some of the species in the genus have leaves that resemble the foot of a goose. A few of our favorites are: Chioggia beets, strawberry blite, Swiss chard, Bull’s Blood, Bordeaux spinach, lamb’s quarters, red orach, epazote and quinoa."

Nina Nugent designed the interior of goosefoot® to reflect Chef Chris Nugent’s food: "think classic yet modern, nuanced, approachable and convivial. Like the food and service, the guests will find surprises and detours through the interior."

This weekend that we dined there was the fiftieth anniversary of the Woodstock music festival in New York. The restaurant was adorned with relics of the flower power movement, videos of the rockfest, and music from the period. 

Chris Nugent grew up in a restaurant family in Endicott, New York. As a youngster, upon losing his parents, he lived with chef John Daly and worked at the acclaimed Drovers Inn, an upscale classic French Restaurant in Vestal, New York.

He studied at Johnson and Wales University, College of Culinary Arts in Providence, Rhode Island, and after graduating, he worked at several fine restaurants, including Boston’s Radius, and Tru, Grace, and Zealous in Chicago. We used to be great fans of Zealous during its heyday. In 2009, Nugent was invited by two-Michelin star chef John Campbell to spend time in his kitchen at The Vineyard at Stockcross, located in England.

Chef Nugent worked at some of Chicago's finest restaurants including  Prairie, Mid-America Club, MK, and Park Avenue Café and honed his craft under highly acclaimed chefs Stephen Langlois, Andre Bienvenu, James Beard award winners Rick Tramonto, David Burke, Michael Schlow and Michael Kornick. 

Chef Nugent’s first executive chef position was at Bêtise in Wilmette, Illinois in 2001.

In 2005, Nugent became executive chef at Les Nomades in Chicago where he earned rave reviews and accolades. We also dined at Les Nomades during this period for a special gala celebration dinner. Zagat Survey said of Les Nomades,  “Number one for food in Chicago”, 2010/2011. Under Nugent’s leadership, Les Nomades received ‘four stars’ from the celebrate Mobil Travel/Forbes Guide, and AAA ‘Four Diamond Award’, 2005 through 2011. Chicago Tribune Dining Awards ‘Best Classic Restaurant,’ Phil Vettel, 2011 – Chicago Sun-Times Restaurant of the Year, Pat Bruno 2010 – James Beard ‘Best Chef-Great Lakes’ semi-finalist, 2010 and 2011. Phil Vettel awarded chef Nugent ‘four stars’ in the Chicago Tribune, and Pat Bruno, Chicago Sun-Times, ‘three and a half stars’ in 2009. Chef Nugent received ‘three and a half stars’ from Chicago Magazine and was awarded ‘Rising Star Chef of the Year’ from Starchefs.com Magazine in 2008. Nugent’s first fan, Sherman Kaplan of North Shore Magazine, gave him a perfect ‘K-Rating’ of ’20/20′ in 2005.

At goosefoot®, Nugent crafts seasonally inspired menus, a blend of disciplined French technique and 'a passionate forward thinking modern vision', showcasing the restaurant’s relationships with regional small artisan farmers.

The goosefoot® multi-course menu:

diver scallop/lemongrass/coconut/lobster

roasted corn soup/crab/potato/sunflower froth

nina’s pasta/truffle/parmesan/pecorino

spring angus beef

yuzu/apricot/naartjie/olive oil

“goosefoot®” vanilla/matcha tea/truffle/rose hip/pink peppercorn

boysenberry/cacao nibs/cassia buds/caramelized almonds/elder flower/56% chocolate

goosefoot® chocolate

For the special dinner occasion, we pulled from our cellar a selection of several wines and Champagne. Prior to dinner, we drank 'L' Champagne by VD - Veuve Doussot at the hotel with snacks and cheese enjoying the river views from our executive suite. For dinner, we drank a selection of wines we brought from our cellar, selected to match to the extensive food courses: Fantesca Russian River Chardonnay, Marquis Philips (Mollydooker) Integrity Shiraz, and Suduiraut Sauterne.

The dinner courses:

diver scallop/lemongrass/coconut/lobster

roasted corn soup/crab/potato/sunflower froth

nina’s pasta/truffle/parmesan/pecorino

spring angus beef

yuzu/apricot/naartjie/olive oil

“goosefoot®” vanilla/matcha tea/truffle/
rose hip/pink peppercorn

boysenberry/cacao nibs/cassia buds/caramelized
almonds/elder flower/56% chocolate

The wines:

Fantesca Estate Sonoma County Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2009

We acquired this label during one of our visits to the Fantesca Estate on Spring Mountain in Napa Valley. We visited Fantesca in 2009, 2011, and in 2007, and hosted producer Dwayne Hoff in Chicago back in 2006.

This label is produced by the legendary winemaker Heidi Barrett and was her first Chardonnay project. World-renowned winemaker Heidi Barrett has been dubbed ‘the first lady of wine’ and ‘the Queen of Cult Cabernet’ by top wine critic Robert Parker. She has been honored with five 100-point scores from the major critics during her career. Heidi is well-regarded for the exceptional finesse and quality of the wines she has crafted over the years.

In addition to Fantesca, she also consults to notable producers Amuse Bouche, Paradigm, Lamborn,  and has her own labels, La Sirena and Barrett & Barrett. She has worked previously with Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, Jones Family, Grace Family, Vineyard 29, David Arthur, Barbour Vineyards and Showket.

We first met producers Dwayne and Susan Hoff when they acquired the Spring Mountain property in St Helena and created Fantesca. Dwayne visited us in Chicago during one of his early promotion tours for the 2004 release of Fantesca Cabernet. We visited the winery several times during our Napa Wine Experiences. We hold a vertical collection of more than a dozen vintages of Fantesca and their Chardonnay is one of our favorites.

Golden straw color, brilliant clarity. aromas of subtle floral, accents of pear, green apple and lychee, hints of fresh citrus, nicely balanced,  luxurious mouthfeel with refreshing nice, crisp acidity,

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1128577

https://fantesca.com/


Marquis Philips 'Integrity' Mclaren Vale Shiraz 2001

This is the premium release from Marquis Philips, precursor to Mollydooker. and their Velvet Glove premium label. We acquired this at auction a decade ago ... packaged in special gift box - awaiting a suitable occasion for gifting or serving ... OTBN - Open That Bottle toNight! 

This got over-the-top 99 and 97 point ratings from Parker who called it 'virtually perfect'. 

Back in the day, winemaker and producers Sarah and Sparky Marquis considered this the finest they had ever produced. 

We hold a couple dozen bottles of their wines dating back two decades. 

Ironically, we hosted Aussie colleague Peter F this weekend in Chicago and it turns out he is a personal friend of Sparky back in Adelaide South Central Australia! 

Integrity packs a walloping 16.2% alcohol but didn't come across as the least bit overpowering. Parker cited the anticipated maturity out to 2020 so it was supposedly still at but nearing the end of its apex. 

Inky dark garnet purple color, full bodied, big rich concentrated and multi-dimensional, but not as big, forward or unctuously rich as some that we have had, the fruit was also a bit more subdued than expected, black berry fruits accented by white floral, cassis, leather, tobacco, tea and hints of vanilla with fine smooth silky tannins on a long finish. Perhaps the fruit has subsided over the almost two decades. 

RM 93 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=738

Château Suduiraut 1er Cru Classe Sauterne 2002

We enjoy sweet unctuous desert wines with salads, cheese or deserts. This was a nice finisher, a perfect complement to the final course. 

This is a classic Sauterne, a blend of Semillon (94 %) and Sauvignon Blanc (6 %). Château Suduiraut is considered to be one of the finest Sauternes.

The history of Château Suduiraut, dates back to the 1600’s. It was classified as a Premier Cru during the official 1855 wine classification programme. The French conglomerate AXA Millésimes acquired Suduiraut in 1992. 

Golden honey, dark amber colored, full bodied yet delicate, nicely balanced fruit and floral aromas, complex roasted and candied notes of apple, vanilla and honey, medium sweetness and a long smooth silky finish.  Not as sweet and unctuous as some vintages, the fruit is more subdued lacking the apricot nectar and honey of some vintages. This showed plenty of botrytis, with predominate notes of smoke, marzipan, almond, ripe apple, and hints of vanilla on the tongue cloying finish.

RM 91 

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate rated this wine 90-93 points, Wine Spectator, 90 points.

https://www.suduiraut.com/en/vin/1/chateau-suduiraut

Linda and me, anniversary night.

Lewis Ethan's Syrah - Piazza Del Dotto Sangiovese

Lewis Cellars Ethan’s Syrah 2016 Del Dotto Sangiovese 2015 Angeli's Italian

As a warmup, but prior to going into the city for our anniversary weekend getaway, we dined at our favorite local neighborhood trattoria Angeli's Italian. We took BYOB two of our favorite easy drinking wines for the occasion. We were joined by son Sean and Michelle. 

The two of our favorite wines that we took are both drinking superbly at this time and while young, they will not likely improve significantly with further aging. I wrote recently about the joy's and challenges of selecting wines at the right time during their aging profile.

Piazza Del Dotto Napa Valley Sangiovese 2015 

We tasted and acquired this wine during our Del Dotto Estate Cave Tour and Tasting last year. 

A perfect complement to the Angeli's Italian cuisine, this Italian varietal Sangiovese from Napa Valley has become our 'go-to' wine as our regular BYOB selection when dining there. It goes especially well with two of my favorite regular dishes there, the Veal Marsala and the Portabello Mushroom Ravioli, both with a brown sauce.

This was delicious and everyone loved it making me wish I had more than the single case we  acquired on release.

I did acquire more, albeit of the follow on 2016 vintage during our visit to Piazza Del Dotto during our Napa Wine Experience 2018. 

Our first recorded tasting note of the 2015 was when we first took it BYOB to Angeli's. 

My notes from a previous tasting three months ago. "This was dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, this was delicious with sweet ripe raspberry fruits accented by notes of vanilla and almond with supple smooth silky tannins on the lingering finish.

RM 92 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2579868

http://www.deldottovineyards.com/

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/08/del-dotto-piazza-sangiovese-at-angelis.html

We added another favorite wine to the special evening ...

Lewis Cellars, Ethans Syrah 2016. 

Wine Buddy and fellow Pour Boy Bill, and Beth, visited from Charlotte and brought this wine BYOB for our dinner together at Angeli's. We enjoyed it so much I picked up some for the cellar and brought this tonight for our dinner. 

We visited Lewis Cellars together during our  Pour Boys' 2017 Napa Wine Experience . 

I've often written in these pages about the fun we have with this branding, with its signature 'L' on the label, ala Laverne and Shirley, or wife Linda, or her mother Lucy, or our daughter Erin Leigh, or her daughter, our first grandchild/daughter Lucy!

That coupled with the Hoosier heritage of Randy Lewis, Indy 500 race driver from our native Indiana, and, their affinity to family, naming labels after their grandkids - Alec, Ethan and Mason,  we adopted Alec's Blend as a signature label for son Alec and feature it at family celebrations, we more often than not open Lewis wines for family occasions, such as tonight.

This label, Ethan's Syrah, is made from cooler-climate vines, from mountain fruit crafted from small lots selected from Mt. Veeder and Pritchard Hill at the south end of the Vaca range on the eastern range, and Mayacamas range, respectively, on the western range forming and overlooking Napa Valley in between. 

Lewis Cellars Syrah is a nod to the great Rhône wines it's modeled after. It is aged in American oak. 

We love Lewis' style of big, spicy, concentrated wines that are balanced, yet full of black fruit and mature, mouth-coating tannins.

This was stunningly good. Dark inky blackish purple, full bodied, concentrated, rich, the 100% Syrah fruit explodes in the mouth with flavors of ripe blackberries and blueberries, notes of spice, smoke and toast. and spice, tongue coating, chewy tannins on the long finish. Spectacular! 

RM 94 points. 

Winemaker's notes on this wine, "Savory  and  sweet  with  ripe  boysenberry  and  blue  fruit, lavender,  pancetta  and  white  truffle,  it  exudes  an  earthy,  engaging  character.  Vivid,  clean  and focused   on   the   palate,   the   wine  finishes   with  a  flourish  of  mineral   and  white  pepper."

Wine Spectator also gave this 94 points; "Plush yet well-structured, with luxurious blackberry, mocha and smoky spice flavors that build richness toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2025. — T.F."

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3060607

https://www.lewiscellars.com/

Chateau Beychevelle St Julien 1988

Château Beychevelle St Julien 1988

Following our recent trip to Bordeaux, I was eager to dig into our extensive cellar collection and enjoy some vintage bottles from the producers that we visited. Such was the case with Château Beychevelle and the remains of this case from the 1988 vintage that I purchased on release. 

One of the learnings from our visit to Château Beychevelle, our tour of the estate, cellars, and library, was that the 1988 vintage was the last vintage release from previous owners, still practicing or making wine under the ‘old school’ techniques and practices. This added to the intrigue and suspense of tasting this bottle, now ‘vintage’ in more ways than just years. 

My recollection was that this was a bit uninspiring and perhaps lackluster on some of the earlier occasions, and perhaps it had surpassed its glory or optimal drinking days. I recall some what I suspected were its finer moments when I served it at wine dinners more than twenty-five years ago.

When I dug into the cellar exploring some of these older St Julien holdings, I found I had several bottles left, not just one, hence I was eager to try it. Much to my surprise, and delight, this was drinking very nicely, exceeding my expectations, and meeting or even surpassing my best recollections of early tastings. 

See my related experiencial tasting blogpost on drinking older vintage release wines.

Tonight's tasting was better than my two previous tastings which were in 2010 and 2016 when I wrote,"Medium bodied, slighly brickish color, nicely balanced soft earthy leather and tobacco tones predominating over the black cherry fruit on moderate, smooth tannin finish. Time to drink." Tonight this was showing a bit of barnyard funkiness on opening that burned off over the course of an hour, but still showing tangy tongue coating notes on the cherry fruit."

Clearly there was some bottle variation between the two earlier bottles and tonight, even though they were all from the same case with the exact same provenance.

Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, black berry fruits with earthy leather and tobacco notes with a pleasant black cherry accented cedar finish with smooth tannins.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/barcode.asp?iWine=19132

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/01/vintage-st-julien-trio-highlight.html

Château Ducru Beaucaillou 1989

Château Ducru Beaucaillou St Julien Bordeaux 1989

Following our recent visit to Bordeaux and Château Ducru Beaucaillou, we opened a special birth year bottle of the top ranked Second Growth St Julien from our cellar. Fellow Pour Boy and wine buddy Bill, and Beth, were visiting from Charleston so we selected a bottle from their son Matt's birth year vintage of which we hold a case that we acquired back upon release.

Our visit to the historic Château was one of the highlights of our trip to the St Julien Appellation. We hold more than a dozen vintages of this label and consider it one of the stalwarts of our cellar, designated as one of the 'signature' wines that we collect for a vertical collection of our kids' birth year vintages. As such we're still holding bottles from the 1981, 1982, 1985 and 1990 vintages, and several in between and many since. We also hold some large format bottles in magnums and 3.0 liter double magnums of the label that should provide for longer term aging.

Château Ducru Beaucaillou St Julien Bordeaux 1989

Like our recent tasting of the 1985 release of this wine, a testament to the longevity of this wine. It is still available at K&L Wineshop in the (SF) Bay Area (for $179), and as Clyde Beffa on staff there notes, "Quite big for the vintage, but has softened up quite a bit in recent years. Good value."

Like the 1985 that we tasted recently, this is also drinking very nicely and doesn't come across as a 30+ year old in the least.

The capsule, label, and cork were all in perfect condition, like new. The fill was into the neck. No signs whatsoever of diminution from age. 

Tonight was consistent with my notes from a decade and a year ago. Garnet color - medium-light delicate body; floral perfume, black cherry and berry fruits with layers of anise, tobacco and black tea and a hint of leather, with floral continuing on a modest tannin finish. Still has some years left but assuredly not likely to improve with further aging.

RM 91 points.

Wine Spectator gave this release a rating of 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1625 

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/08/ducru-beaucaillou.html

@DucruB

A Visit to Château Gruaud-Larose

A Visit to Château Gruaud-Larose St Julien-Beychevelle Bordeaux

Another one of the key visits on our trip to the St Julien Appellation (AOC) in Bordeaux was Château Gruaud-Larose, a 2ème Cru Classé or 'second growth', one of fifteen Deuxièmes Crus (Second Growths) as classified in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.

During our spectacular week in St Julien, we visited Léoville du Marquis de Las Cases, Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou, and Léoville-Poyferré, three other second growth St Julien producers, and Fourth Growth  producers Château Beychevelle and Château Branaire-Ducru. As with all the others, we hold or have consumed a selection of Gruaud Larose dating back several decades to the early eighties.

This label is one of the key holdings in our cellar collection consisting of more than a dozen vintages spanning three decades dating back to 1980 including the birth year vintages of each of our kids, 1981, 1982, 1985 and 1990. We hold many vintages in large format bottles including 3 liter double magnums which we served at daughter Erin's and son-in-law Johnny's wedding.

As I've written in these pages, Gruaud Larose was on our small select set of St Julien producers to visit during our trip to the region. As is our custom on wine region trips, learned from many trips over many years, its important to focus and not over schedule. Too many folks try to see areas that turn out to be far apart, and they spend much valuable time in transit, or worse, arrive late for cherished appointments. As such, we learned to focus on just one appellation per trip, set priorities ahead of time, and schedule only key activities based on objectives for the trip.

Château Gruaud Larose is one of the most historic estates in the Médoc dating back to 1725 when Abbot Gruaud bought just under 125 acres of land and planted vineyards. Since then, four families have succeeded one another at the head of Gruaud Larose: the Gruaud and Larose families, the Balguerie and Sarget families, the Cordier family and the Merlaut family.

Abbot Gruaud passed the property to his nephew, Chevalier de Gruaud who passed the estate to his son-in-law, Joseph Sebastian de La Rose who renamed the property Gruaud La Rose or Gruaud Larose. He also gave his name to another massive Bordeaux estate, Chateau Larose Trintaudon.

In 1812, the family was forced to sell Gruaud Larose to retire their debts, the property was sold to Pierre Balguerie, Baron Jean Auguste Sarget and David Verdonnet.

Shortly after the official 1855 Classification of the Medoc, control of the property was split further among their descendants, but remained intact until 1867 when it was split into Château Gruaud-Larose-Sarget (after the Baron Sarget) and Château Gruaud-Larose-Faure (after Adrien Faure, who married one Sophie Bethmann, heiress to a portion of the estate). The wine they produced was bottled and sold as Chateau Gruaud Larose Sarget.

Baron Sarget constructed the château on the property in 1875. The other half of the original vineyard remained with the Bethmann descendants. The wines were bottled and sold as both Chateau Gruaud Larose Faure and Chateau Gruaud Larose-Bethmann at different times.

The two château were reunited by the Cordier family, who purchased the Sarget piece in 1917 and the Faure piece in 1935 and the château became a centerpiece of the Cordier properties along with Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey and Château Talbot. 

The Cordier family had been negotiants since 1886. They acquired the Bethmann family holding in 1935. This allowed the Cordier family to recreate the original estate and the wine was renamed Chateau Gruaud Larose.

In 1983 it was purchased by the Compagnie de Suez, and in 1993 it was sold to the French conglomerate, Alcastel Alstom. In 1997 it was sold to Jacques Merlaut who also owns other Bordeaux properties under the name of the Taillan Group including Chateau La Gurgue, Chateau Haut Bages Liberal, Chateau Citran, Chateau Ferriere and Chateau Chasse Spleen. The Merlaut family introduced sustainable development and organic farming methods in the vineyards.

The notable Georges Pauli is régisseur and winemaker and has been on staff throughout all these changes. Eric Boissenot serves as consulting winemaker to the Chateau.

The Gruaud Larose Chateau and estate sits just outside the village of St Julien-Beychevelle at the southern end of the appellation located on the plateau to the west of Château Beychevelle. on the opposite side of the D2 Route from Ducru Beaucaillou and Leoville Barton.

The vineyards of Gruaud Larose have the highest point of elevation on the Saint Julien plateau and has a distinctive 'tower' which serves visitors a vantage point to view the entire estate.

The tall tower stands out as a landmark and can be seen from across the region. Interestingly, while the toward provides a view of the entire estate, little can be seen of the village or beyond or of the neighboring Chateau due to the trees.

The tower sits atop a modern contemporary hospitality center that overlooks the property. It includes a welcome center, gift shop, wine bar and tasting center. 

On display is a vertical collection of Gruaud Larose in magnums spanning thirty-three vintages.

The vineyard has not changed much since it was created in 1781 and is the same today as it was when it was classified as a Second Growth in the 1855 Classification of the Medoc. The Chateau has a culture as a family organization with employees working at the chateau from father to son and from mother to daughter.

The 200 acres of vineyards are planted in the Bordeaux sanctioned varietals of Cabernet Sauvignon (65%), Merlot (25%), Cabernet Franc (8%) and Petit Verdot (2%). The vineyards are adjacent to those of Chateau Talbot and Chateau Branaire Ducru which have smaller parcels. The property is divided into 110 parcels with the best terroir found in the 2 sections that surround the chateau and that adjacent to the park.

Chateau Gruaud Larose has a terroir of the St Julien legendary gravelly soil with quartz and a higher proportion of clay than that closer to the river, with more sand and limestone down deeper below.


The average age of the Gruaud Larose vines is 46 years with some of the Cabernet Sauvignon dating back more than 80 years.

Chateau Gruaud Larose is one of the few Bordeaux estates with a hail reduction canon, a high tech system system with radar that fires when hail is detected. The canon fired shock waves serve to break up the oncoming hail thereby protecting the delicate grape vines. We heard the canons firing in the the night  during a thunderstorm passed through the area.

Chateau Gruaud Larose vinifies the wine in a combination of 30 oak vats ranging in size from 55 to 115 hectoliters and 32 concrete vats that hold 50-100 hectoliters. The malolactic fermentation takes in place in cement vats and oak tanks.

The wine is then aged in an average of 85% new, French oak barrels for about 18 months with the duration and percentage and treatment of new oak determined based on the characteristics of the specific vintage.

Chateau Gruaud Larose on average produces close to 18,000 cases of Saint Julien wine each year.

Like most quality Bordeaux labels, like all boats rising with the tide, Gruaud Larose releases it best wines in the great Bordeaux vintages such as 2018, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2010, 2009, 2005, 2000, 1990, 1986, 1982, 1961, 1959 and 1945. Gruaud Larose produced exceptional releases in 1961, 1982, 1986, 1990 and 2000 that were considered some of the best representations of the vintage.

Gruaud Larose maintains a library in the cellars that contains the leading vintages as well as age-worthy vintages that date back as early as the middle of the 19th century.

Chateau Gruaud Larose is known for wines that are concentrated, complex, full-bodied and long-lived, best consumed after several years of aging, typically at least 12 years or more, and often reach their peak maturity and optimal drinking window after 15 years and often last 35 years or more after the vintage release.

When young they tend to be tannic, tight and closed and should be decanted for 2 to 4 hours to soften and open. Older vintages might only need decanting so as to remove the sediment.

Mature, Gruaud-Larose with proper bottle ageing becomes more integrated and elegant with characteristics of complex concentrated black fruits, cedar, spices and licorice.

As part of our tasting and tour we were served a vintage 1999 release of Chateau Gruaud Larose, and a  Sarget de Gruaud Larose 2012.

Chateau Gruaud Larose produces a second wine, Sarget de Gruaud Larose that was introduced starting with the 1981 vintage. The wine is named for the Sarget family, previous owners of the estate who sold their interests to the Cordier family in 1917.

The second wine is comprised of grapes not deemed worthy of or suitable for the grand vin and is produced to be more approachable and at a more affordable price point. Reserving and dedicating the best prime grapes for the flagship label results in the highest possible quality achievable from the estate vintage release.

https://www.gruaud-larose.com/en/