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2016 Château Branaire-Ducru, Château Gruaud-Larose, Pauillac de Chateau Latour

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ITEM 9803053 - Removed from a temperature and humidity controlled wine storage unit; Purchased direct from a distributor

Bidder Amount Total
$355
Item Sold Amount Date
I9737522 1 $345 Oct 13, 2024
I9715191 1 $265 Sep 29, 2024
I9524992 1 $245 Jun 23, 2024
I9500508 1 $245 Jun 9, 2024
I9497071 1 $245 Jun 2, 2024
2016 Château Branaire-Ducru, Château Gruaud-Larose, Pauillac de Chateau Latour
Front Item Photo

2016 Château Branaire-Ducru

RATINGS

96Wine Spectator

The core of this red is loaded with pure plum, blueberry and black currant fruit flavors. The polished structure is integrated, with alluring ganache, anise and sweet tobacco notes throughout...

94+ The Wine Advocate

Unwinding in the glass with deep aromas of dark berries, cassis, loamy soil, pencil shavings and cigar smoke, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with a taut, structured profile and a long, penetrating finish. The only missing ingredient here is time.

#16 of 2019Wine Spectator Top 100

PRODUCER

Château Branaire-Ducru

Château Branaire-Ducru is a Fourth Growth Bordeaux according to the official classification of 1855. The 123-acre estate is in St.-Julien-Beychevelle, on the left bank of the Gironde River. It is owned by the Marotteaux family and produces up to 180,000 bottles annually of its Château Branaire Ducru. The vineyards are planted to 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22 % Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. The estate dates back to the late 17th century, when it was acquired by Jean-Baptiste Braneyre. Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that Branaire is “largely ignored by speculators, (but) is favored by wine drinkers…The finest vintages are magnificently scented, deep, rich wines that are as good as other top wines of St. Julien.” The estate's second wine is Duluc de Branaire-Ducru.

REGION

France, Bordeaux, St.-Julien

Saint-Julien is the smallest of the four main Médoc appellations with 2,175 acres of vineyards. It is just south of Pauillac on the left bank of the Gironde, and although it has no First Growth châteaux, its 11 Classified Growth estates are widely admired. Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that winemaking in Saint-Julien from all classifications “is consistently both distinctive and brilliant.” He adds it is Médoc’s “most underrated commune.” The best-known estates are Léoville Las Cases, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Léoville Poyferré, Léoville Barton and Gruaud Larose, and most of those have riverside estates. The soil in this appellation is gravelly with clay. Cabernet Sauvignon is the main grape grown, and it is blended with Cabernet Franc, Merlot and sometimes small amounts of Petit Verdot.
Front Item Photo

2016 Château Gruaud-Larose

Light label condition issue

RATINGS

94The Wine Advocate

...it leaps from the glass with notes of red and black cherries, warm plums and freshly crushed blackcurrants plus hints of violets, oolong tea, aniseed and tilled soil with a waft of garrigue. Medium-bodied, the palate struts tons of elegantly fragrant red and black fruit flavors with a firm backbone of ripe, grainy tannins and loads of freshness, finishing long and perfumed.

94James Suckling

So much sweet-tobacco and currant character with some earth on the nose. Full body, firm and chewy tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Closed and complex still, but a typically beautiful Bordeaux.

94Wine Enthusiast

This is a dense, smoky wine with powerful tannins. It follows the line of richness set since the 2014 vintage and balances rich black fruits and concentrated tannins cut with final acidity.

93Wine Spectator

This has a wide range of red currant, blackberry, black cherry and açaí berry fruit flavors forming the core, with a very sleek iron note lurking underneath it all. The finish uses a fine singed wood stitching to pull the fruit and minerality together. Lovely.

93Vinous / IWC

...a surfeit of red berry fruit laced with rose petal and light crushed stone aromas on the generous, open nose. The palate is medium-bodied with lithe tannins and underpinned by a fine bead of acidity...so supple and lithe that you cannot help falling for its charms.

17Jancis Robinson

Pure cassis fruit on the nose. Great polish and finesse with pure fruit masking the tannin. Very neat and well judged.

PRODUCER

Château Gruaud-Larose

Château Gruaud-Larose is a Deuxieme Cru, or Second Growth Bordeaux located in St.-Julien-Beychevelle. The estate was founded in 1725 by Joseph Stanislas Gruaud. In the 19th and early 20th centuries the estate remained under the ownership of descendants of Gruaud, though at the end of the 20th century it was purchased several times by corporations. In 1997 it was acquired by the Taillan Group, which owns several other Bordeaux estates. Jacques Merlaut is head of the group and proprietor of the estate. Merlaut has made significant improvements in the recent decade, and many reviewers now note that Gruaud-Larose has become a far more elegant wine. Gruaud-Larose is comprised of 202 acres planted to 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 7.5% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and 1.5% Malbec. About 300,000 bottles are produced annually.

REGION

France, Bordeaux, St.-Julien

Saint-Julien is the smallest of the four main Médoc appellations with 2,175 acres of vineyards. It is just south of Pauillac on the left bank of the Gironde, and although it has no First Growth châteaux, its 11 Classified Growth estates are widely admired. Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that winemaking in Saint-Julien from all classifications “is consistently both distinctive and brilliant.” He adds it is Médoc’s “most underrated commune.” The best-known estates are Léoville Las Cases, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Léoville Poyferré, Léoville Barton and Gruaud Larose, and most of those have riverside estates. The soil in this appellation is gravelly with clay. Cabernet Sauvignon is the main grape grown, and it is blended with Cabernet Franc, Merlot and sometimes small amounts of Petit Verdot.
Front Item Photo

2016 Pauillac de Chateau Latour

RATINGS

94James Suckling

Lots of mineral, crushed stone, iodine and graphite with blackcurrants and blackberries that follow through to a medium body with ultra fine tannins that are ever so polished and give length and energy...

92Wine Spectator

Fresh and juicy, with flavors of red and black currant preserves streaming through, lined with light graphite and iron notes. The nicely focused finish has mouthwatering bay leaf accents and savory hints as the fruit plays out.

92Vinous / IWC

...a compelling, sumptuous wine... Black cherry, graphite, licorice, spice and leather all meld together in the glass. Floral overtones develop nicely with time.

91.5CellarTracker

92Jeb Dunnuck

...gorgeous Pauillac nose of blackcurrants, lead pencil shavings, graphite, tobacco, and damp earth. Rich, medium to full-bodied, and beautifully textured...

16.5Jancis Robinson

Very forward, come-hither and also energetic... Pretty intense, sumptuous nose. Neat, dry palate that's distinctly lighter-bodied...finish is really something. It just goes on and on!

PRODUCER

Château Latour (Third Label)

Château Latour’s long and noble history is summarized graphically on every bottle. The label shows the domaine’s famous tower, a symbol of the château's importance to regional politics and defense as early as the 14th century. And as one of the original four First Growth Bordeaux, the estate has become even more significant in the last 200 years as the producer of one of the world’s most legendary wines. Robert M. Parker Jr. has noted that the wine produced at Château Latour “has been an impeccable model of consistent excellence in great, mediocre and poor vintages.” After passing to British ownership from 1963 to 1993, the château was purchased in 1993 by Francois Pinault, one of France’s most successful businessmen and entrepreneurs. Vineyards total 163 acres, with 75% planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% to Cabernet Franc, 20% to Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. The average age of the vines is 60 years. The chateau produces 180,000 bottles of Château Latour annually.

REGION

France, Bordeaux, Pauillac

Pauillac is Bordeaux’s most famous appellation, thanks to the fact that it is home to three of the region’s fabled first-growth châteaux, Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton-Rothschild and Latour. Perched on the left bank of the Gironde River north of the city of Bordeaux, Pauillac is centered around the commune of Pauillac and includes about 3,000 acres of vineyards. The Bordeaux classification of 1855 named 18 classified growths, including the three above mentioned First Growths. Cabernet Sauvignon is the principal grape grown, followed by Merlot. The soil is mostly sandy gravel mixed with marl and iron. Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that “the textbook Pauillac would tend to have a rich, full-bodied texture, a distinctive bouquet of black currants, licorice and cedary scents, and excellent aging potential.”

VINTAGE

2016 Pauillac de Chateau Latour

3rd label of Ch. Latour