🏰 Château Gruaud-Larose

Château Gruaud-Larose is a wine estate in Saint-Julien, in the Médoc. According to the estate, it was founded in 1725, and since then four families have succeeded one another at its head: Gruaud and Larose, Balguerie and Sarget, Cordier and today Merlaut.

The estate makes two red wines, Gruaud Larose and Sarget de Gruaud Larose. According to the estate, its soil combines humus, clay, sand and pebbles left by the river, over a subsoil of red, yellow or blue clay; conversion to organic farming began with the 2019 vintage, and the 2022 vintage was the first to carry the organic label.

Saint-Julien is a protected designation of origin (PDO) for red wines made within a delimited area of the commune and its surroundings. In the 1855 classification, kept today by the Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855, Gruaud Larose is a Second Cru (second growth).

Why it matters to you. An organic label refers to how the grapes are farmed and is certified separately from the PDO and the 1855 rank; the vintage on the label tells you whether that wine was certified. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.