TN: '94 Chateau Gruad Larose

[Van The Man]

1994 Chateau Gruad-Larose; St. Julien, Bordeaux, 2nd Growth - $39.95

Nice, typical color. Attractive bouquet with classic pencil shavings, black cherry and plenty of earthiness. On the palate, nice splash up front with plenty of fruit promised on the nose in addition to some black tea. Short through the middle but a nice finish, maybe a bit hollow. Missing the depth I would have expected. Well structured but lacking the stuffing which would make this a long term wine in my opinion.

[Bucko]

Most ratings that I have seen for the 1994 vintage have been 84-85. Thus I am not surprised at your findings. If you got the bottle at a good price then it was probably worth it, but I suspect you paid more than the bottle was worth. The French prices are astronomical, but their bubble is bursting with all of the 96 & 97 sitting around without buyers.

Bucko

[Van The Man]

Bucko -

I've had a number of the '94 Classified Bordeaux (We bought a lot as it was the year we got hitched.) and this was about the lightest of the bunch I've had.

I do agree that almost none of them, with the noted exception of Leoville Barton, are as good as their younger brothers from the '95 and '96 vintage.

As for prices, they were rumored to be coming down, but I gotta tell ya, I've yet to see it.

I got a note from Sokolin yesterday and 1st Tranche '98 prices from the Chateaux were rumored to be 20% below '97 offerings and guess what? Sokolin, who is VERY well respected in Bordeaux, had his prices on par with '97. Perhaps retailers are going to try to cash in on us as those in the know are claiming '98 to be superior to '97.

It'll be interesting to see who sells what and how.