Winemaker Notes
A deep red - violet color. A jammy nose of red fruits. Notes of licorice and vanilla. On entering the mouth it is silky with an exceptional melting quality. Highly precise tannins with exceptional elegance and length.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
What a gorgeous and supple young wine with ultra-fine tannins and vivid acidity. Medium to full body and direct and driven tannins. Shows such beauty. Better in 2020 but already beautiful.
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Wine Enthusiast
New wood flavors give a dry toast character to this wine. Its fruitiness takes a while to show through the dry exterior. It does have the weight to sustain the wood as it develops. Barrel Sample: 91-93 pts
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Wine Spectator
Well-steeped plum, fig and boysenberry fruit is richly layered, supported by embedded brambly grip and backed by waves of ganache and sweet tobacco on the finish. Best from 2023 through 2038.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that saw 40% new oak, the 2015 Château Gloria is a beautiful Saint-Julien that’s well worth seeking out and drinking. Blackcurrants, damp earth, spicy oak and hints of leafy herbs all flow to an upfront, elegant, yet fruit forward 2015 that has sweet tannin and good freshness. It’s no doubt a charmer, yet will see its 20th birthday in fine form. Tasted twice.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A notable success in the vintage, the 2015 Gloria exhibits aromas of sweet dark berries, cigar wrapper and loamy soil, followed by a medium to full-bodied, rich and fleshy palate. Impressively concentrated and seamless, it's built around ripe, powdery tannins that are so supple that the wine can already be approached with pleasure.
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Decanter
Fine, fragrant nose and succulent fruit. It has a lovely texture, rounded tannins and fresh finish, with more finesse than in past years. Barrel Sample
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An icon of balance and tradition, St. Julien boasts the highest proportion of classed growths in the Médoc. What it lacks in any first growths, it makes up in the rest: five amazing second growth chateaux, two superb third growths and four well-reputed fourth growths. While the actual class rankings set in 1855 (first, second, and so on the fifth) today do not necessarily indicate a score of quality, the classification system is important to understand in the context of Bordeaux history. Today rivalry among the classed chateaux only serves to elevate the appellation overall.
One of its best historically, the estate of Leoville, was the largest in the Médoc in the 18th century, before it was divided into the three second growths known today as Chateau Léoville-Las-Cases, Léoville-Poyferré and Léoville-Barton. Located in the north section, these are stone’s throw from Chateau Latour in Pauillac and share much in common with that well-esteemed estate.
The relatively homogeneous gravelly and rocky top soil on top of clay-limestone subsoil is broken only by a narrow strip of bank on either side of the “jalle,” or stream, that bisects the zone and flows into the Gironde.
St. Julien wines are for those wanting subtlety, balance and consistency in their Bordeaux. Rewarding and persistent, the best among these Bordeaux Blends are full of blueberry, blackberry, cassis, plum, tobacco and licorice. They are intense and complex and finish with fine, velvety tannins.