All vintages(2011, 2017 and 1988) look young and robust enough, with a tight rim. All vintages give a consistent, confident, complex nose of floral, black cherry, truffle, thyme, and plum aromas (compared to the En Primeur Team tasted back then). Full-bodied, rich, and concentrated drinking in 2011 has a good structure. 2017 gives clean fruit and tastes modern. Back to traditionality, 1988 gives a complex, dry fruit, minerality and classic spice.
Rauzan Seglas is well-liked by us because of its:
Silky smooth tannins and freshness (premium fruit quality, sorting, parcel by parcel vinification, relatively low alcohol at 13.5% still despite higher merlot content used) that lingers on your palate and adds exceptional ripeness to it(higher merlot composition for the class, manual harvest);
Vigorous mid-palate intensity good structure(increased to 10,000 vines per hectare, efficient drainage with a new drainage system, crop thinning, smaller vats);
Reasonable complexity integrated primary, secondary and tertiary tones(4 royal grapes by design);
Medium Power(vinification takes place at 35 Celsius for suitable extraction, malolactic fermentation in smaller vats for fixing even better fruit, the wine aged in an average 60% new, French oak barrels for between 18 months, hence the richness)
Of course, this wine holds a special place amongst veteran importers because John Kolasa, the winemaker, was and still is a friend to many Hong Kong tasters. He was replaced in 2014 by LVMH's other winemaker.
It is priced super effectively as a Super Second of Margaux (sic, President Thomas Jefferson of USA), coupled with the ability to age and develop. If you like Margaux, 2017, Rauzan Segla deserves a place in your cellar. 2011 is more for immediate consumption, and 1988 is for nostalgic appreciation.
Full decanting is recommended. That evening, when we tasted it, its virtues come close to frailty, as if silence speaks even more than the sound of music and cadence tells as much as arpeggios. It is a wine for dining at candlelight and whispers, accompanied by good dishes and an intimate friend.
Updated: May 8, 2024
We tried the 2000 Barde-Haute many years ago and haven't had a chance to taste it since then. Based on the standards of the Grand Cru Classé, it's a simple, well-balanced wine with a ripe taste. The structure of the wine is almost perfect, with ample and fine tannins. This wine and vintage have received good scores, and many writers have written positively about it, including:
93 points Jeb Dunnuck
The 2000 Château Barde-Haut, a wine that I hold dear, offers a mature, complex bouquet of blackcurrants, toasted spice, tobacco, and leather. It presents a medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced style on the palate. While fully mature and a delight to drink at this point, it holds the promise of evolving gracefully for another 7-8 years. It's a beautiful wine that invites anticipation. (3/2020, edited)
92 points Wine Advocate
A great sleeper, this fully mature wine, made by Helene Garcin, reveals a myriad of deep raspberry and black cherry fruit with hints of liquorice, toasty oak, and a spice box. It is plush, succulent, and indulgent, yet at the same time, it weaves a complex tapestry of flavours. I was enamoured by their 1998, and this wine has also turned out to be a delightful surprise. (RP) (6/2010; edited)
92 points The Wine Independent
The 2000 Barde Haut, with its deep garnet colour and a hint of brick, is a visual treat. Its aroma is a burst of warm blackberries, stewed plums, fruitcake scents, dried herbs, and tobacco wafts. On the palate, it is medium-bodied, elegant, and refreshing, with evolved, plush tannins and a long, minerally finish. (LPB) (1/2023, Edited)
91 points Int'l Wine Cellar
Good medium ruby-red. Explosive Nose combines cherry liqueur, woodsmoke, flowers and smoke. Sweet, fat and pliant but juicy and aromatic. It has the inner-mouth aromatic complexity and complete flavour development one would expect from a cool site that benefitted from a hot growing season and harvest. It is a very sexy wine, finishing with big, palate-dusting tannins and excellent length. (6/2003; edited)
Wine Spectator
Many crushed berry, flower and vanilla aromas follow through to a medium-bodied palate with fine tannins and a balanced finish. (JS) (3/2003; Edited)
Scores are consistently high for Gruaud Larose 2015.
WE95 writes, 'The ripe fruit that is a hallmark of this vintage at th
is estate has been maintained along with solid tannins and richness. This has both tannins and concentration, although the fruit is the main thing, making a wine that will develop relatively quickly. Edited. A similar view is expressed by JS95, who says, 'Concentrated and elegant with a great harmony of dry tannins and ripeness (but no hint of overripeness), this has a long finish with a lot of drive and enormous freshness. You could drink this now with red meat, but it has decades ahead. Also, TA95, who continues, 'Gone are the bad old days of farmyard aromas and flavours, to be replaced by something that is classic, yet modern at the same time. Polished and well-defined, this carries its 100% new oak with ease, such is the structure and depth of the wine. Drink: 2022-32. Edited.
Also, a whopping 97+ from Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW, who writes, 'Gruaud Larose 2015 is medium to deep garnet in colour. It leaps out of the glass with notes of crushed black cherries, blackcurrant pastilles, juicy blackberries, and suggestions of violets, camphor, and black truffles. The medium-bodied palate is fantastically elegant and intense, with fine-grained tannins and bold freshness to support it, finishing long and perfumed. Impressive. Edited.
