Medium ruby, medium garnet rim. Full spectrum of the nose. Fruitside: drier Blackcurrant, plums, olives; fully developed secondary tones of leather, smoke, wet stone, and earth; tertiary tones of cedar and tobacco. Quite complex. Palace reflects the same, with fewer fresh fruit and spices. Rich, medium-bodied, with lifted acidity. It is rare to find this full range of tones with wine at this price level. Bottle-decant suggested—some sediments.
RP92. Neal Martin wrote, 'This is the most impressive Gruaud-Larose since 1990. The wine is saturated purple and has a knock-out nose of jammy blackberries, cassis, earth, and vanillin. Rich in the mouth, with outstanding purity, super extraction, and well-integrated tannin, this wine has low acidity but more delineation than many of the bigger-styled wines of the vintage. Some chocolate and cassis flavours linger for over 30 seconds on the palate of this impressively-endowed, medium to full-bodied, outstanding Gruaud Larose. Moreover, unlike many vintages of Gruaud Larose, 1997 will drink superbly when young.' Edited.
All three vintages are unmistakably Michel-Roland Parker wine: Rhone-like, powerful and full-bodied. ABV in the higher range of 14 to 14.5%. New oak. The composition is mostly 90% Merlot, with the rest shared by Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. All vintages are opaque with tight purple rims. The taste profile is chocolate, graphite, blackberry, blueberry, cassis, inky, and massive with extended fruit length.
Awarded 96 points RP, 2000 understandably is better integrated than fruit, extract, and richness outweigh the wine’s structure. Anson says the north-facing orientation gives good acidities; JR also supported this. Vinous says it has developed the missed charm and has a certain elegance. Jeb Dunnuck talked about the balance; JS on the power; WE on the freshness, admitting high ABV content; WS on the harmony. Awarded RP95, 2011, fresher and has more structure than 2000. Granted 94RP and other 95 points, 2013 is spicy, full-bodied, atypically rich, and concentrated. Underlying the fruit palate is a fine chalkiness. All commentators view 2013 favourably on fruit, structure, nice acidity and certain edginess.
All good in their peculiar big way.
Updated: Apr 29, 2023
Deep ruby, purple-tints- tight rim-dense and weighty-dark-fruited(cherry, plums, truffle) and the once brooding and unyielding tannins turned velvety supportive after all these years. The palate offers a natural, elegant, with balance bringing spice, charming cedar, cardamon, and leather tones into the mix with an air of modernity and a combination of power and elegance. According to some, this wine is perfect for current drinking and will be cellar well for at least another four to five years. The ABV is right on, at 13.5%; the acidity is harmonious and balanced, with a pleasant finish.
The value of Certan de May is its style, reminiscing certain elements of Petrus in the form of power and richness with great eleganceAsas one of the three Certansthe bottles, it is particularly well-liked by critics and professionals for the unique nerve and minerality, alongside VCC for ripeness and Hosanna for power. It is unique because its fruit is from a single parcel of clay-gravel soils from 50-year-old vines (at the vintage time)! Production is mere 2000 cases. Grapes' composition is 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon(for vintage 2006), broadly reflected in the blend of the end wine. Grapes are hand-picked; after vinification, the wine rests in 70% new oak for 18 months.
While quality cannot always measure through scoring, its scores are consistent and high, such as RP95.
