Chateau Gloria, Saint-Julien 2019

So good, this is a vibrant mix of young and exuberant, luxurious, seriously creamy in texture, crushed stone, baked earth, smoked caramel, damson, sweet blackberry and damson fruits. This is pure pleasure, hard to resist. 45% new oak, 40hl/ha yield, harvest September 23 to October 4. Remi di Constanzo technical director.

Showing beautifully, with the polished, pure, elegant style of the vintage, the 2019 Château Gloria sports a deeper ruby/purple color as well as great aromatics of cassis and assorted blue fruits to go with smoked tobacco, cedar pencil, damp earth, and floral notes. I love its purity, and it's just a quintessential, medium to full-bodied, layered Saint-Julien that can be drunk today or cellared for a solid two decades. It should be a no-brainer purchase for the wine lovers out there.

Sweet berry and cherry aromas with violets, following through to a medium to full body with creamy, linear tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Tight and curated, in a structured way. Try after 2027.

The 2019 Gloria personifies classic Saint-Julien, offering blackberry, wild hedgerow, cedar and tobacco scents, maybe a little conservative in style, but unashamed about that. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, quite firm tannins. Fresh and saline, this gets the saliva going with a precise, persistent finish and leaves hints of graphite on the aftertaste. Excellent.

The 2019 Gloria has turned out very well, delivering aromas of blackcurrants, plums, burning embers and a deft framing of creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, deep and nicely concentrated, with a vibrant core of ripe and fleshy fruit, lively acids and powdery structuring tannins that assert themselves on the youthfully firm finish, this shows considerable promise.

The 2019 Gloria is a powerful, brooding Saint-Julien. Sweet red cherry, iron, dried flowers, menthol, herbs and cedar lend quite a bit of character. In 2019, Gloria is defined by its intensely feral personality and tannins. Perhaps time will help. Today, Gloria does not appear to be quite the charmer that it can be.