2016 Château Gloria
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The 2016 Gloria put in an extremely promising performance. It has an intense Pauillac-like bouquet with graphite-infused black fruit that has real drive and intensity. The palate is medium-bodied with sapid black fruit, black olive, a tad more citrus-fresh towards the finish, which is tensile and delivers the sapidity to urge you back for more. Superb. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting.
Critic scores
James Suckling
Wine Spectator
More reviews and scores
Plum colour, with spiced damson and raspberry leaf aromatics. A good few years from being truly open and ready to drink, this is nevertheless superbly enjoyable, even if closed in. Unrolls to show waves of cocoa bean, dark chocolate shavings, espresso, crushed rocks, bilberry and blackcurrant fruits. The chewy tannins are confident and dominating the structure, exerting quiet control over the shape and form of the palate. Bursting with poential. 40% new oak, with one of the latest harvests in the vertical, running from September 29 to October 17. Remi di Constanzo technical director.
The 2016 Gloria is showing brilliantly and appears to be entering the beginning of its drinking window. Offering up a deep bouquet of sweet crème de cassis and blackberries mingled with sweet spices and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with fine concentration, ripe tannins and bright acids, it's a vibrant, precise wine from this sometimes rather flamboyantly styled estate, impressing for its purity of fruit and structural seamlessness. Gloria in excelsis!
The 2016 Gloria is noticeably deeper in color than its peers. It has a charming bouquet of blackberry, briar, brown spices and touches of sandalwood, complex and developing loamy elements with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a fine bead of acidity. Quite mineral-driven, leading into a composed, precise finish that indicates careful winemaking from great terroir. Superb. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting.
About the producer
The modest Ch. Gloria was only created in the 1940s, when Henri Martin – a cooper – purchased some vines. With parcels dotted in amongst the region’s Classed Growths, it produces impressive wines. Today it's managed by Vanessa and Jean Triaud (Henri Martin’s granddaughter and grandson-in-law).