WINE =======: 1999 Gruaud Larose St. Julien
AOC         : Saint-Julien
Tasting Date: 2005-07-18
Varietal    : Cab Sauvignon,Merlot,CabFranc,Pet Verdot,Malbec
Score       : 80
Country     : France
State       : Bordeaux

Notes
-----
Okay, my review can be summed up in two words: baby diaper.

We had this at a wine dinner, and other people had opened up
the bottle and were sharing their initial impressions. I
couldn't help overhearing the term "baby diaper." Now, I
don't know about you, but that's not really a term I want to
hear about a wine I'm about to drink. I understand that it
may be one of those terms used to describe wine that sounds
bad, but isn't necessarily a bad thing, like sweaty leather
or "barnyard" (translation: manure) or asparagus, but
somehow I can imagine all of those things smelling okay, at
least in small doses. But baby diaper? I tried to keep an
open mind while tasting, and to score without considering my
personal reaction to the wine. 

But come on. This wine smelled like a dirty baby diaper. At
first, that's ALL it smelled like. Just try to get past that
and focus on the taste. I couldn't really do it. On to the
specifics....

The color was a dark garnet, maybe a light beet-red. The
initial nose was pure baby diaper. It did fade with time,
but it never went away completely. Other people detected
smoke, evergreen, and herbal scents, but I couldn't smell
anything but baby diaper. On first taste, the tannins were
noticeable, but subdued. The fruit was a little like sour
cherry, and a bit acidic, with a bit of gameyness. This was
so not my personal favorite, but others seemed to think it
was okay, so I'll conclude that I have an irrational dislike
of baby-diaper wine and say that if you like baby-diapery
wine, you'll love this one.

Production Notes
----------------
Vineyard is planted with 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot,
6.5% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec.
Output generated by La Wine Club - http://LaWineClub.com/
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