Chateau Gruaud-Larose (St. Julien) 1999

Christmas Eve dinner was prime rib roast for which the 1999 Gruaud-Larose made a wonderful match. Despite having thrown a substantial amount of sediment, the wine was still quite a deep ruby. Complex bouquet of blackcurrant, blackberry, cedar, leather, and earth. On the palate, there is still a lot of dark fruit, but also leather, cedar, spice, and earth. Long finish. Well integrated tannins. Perfect balance of alcohol, tannins, and acid. For a wine from a middling vintage, it showed quite well. Grade: 93