Château Gloria’s 2018 & 2019 are a brace of wonderful wines which would enhance any cellar. The patchwork of top vineyards that make up the estate were bought from a plethora of famed Châteaux, including such luminaries as Ducru Beaucaillou and Leovilles Barton and Poyferre. Now consistently producing superb wines at a keen price, Antonio Galloni describes Gloria as “one of the best values in Bordeaux.” Under the guidance of Jean-Louis Triaud, the winemaking has become increasingly refined and as Neal Martin asserts, “those rustic Glorias of the 1970s and 1980s are a distant memory”. In 2018 and 2019 the Château has honed two fantastically polished wines from these two contrastingly extrovert vintages. A wine of “terrific balance and tons of class” in the 2018, one that “feels so… effortless”, and a “polished, pure, elegant style” in 2019. We fully endorse this redoubtable pair. Full tasting notes can be found below.
The 2018 Gloria has a wonderful, harmonious bouquet of copious blackberry, briary, cedar and tobacco notes that just feels so... effortless. The very harmonious palate offers pure black fruit laced with graphite. Displaying moderate weight and fine acidity, and quite linear and focused on the finish, this is a very classy Gloria that may warrant a higher score down the line. Vinous – Neal Martin - 93 Points
Read MoreThe 2018 Gloria has turned out beautifully. Medium in body, with terrific balance and tons of class, Gloria will especially appeal to readers in search of a wine that is not super-exuberant, as so many 2018s are. Bright floral notes, blood orange and red berry fruit all run through this wonderfully expressive Saint-Julien. Give the tannins at least a few years to soften. Vinous – Antonio Galloni - 93 Points
The 2019 Gloria continues a strong run of form - those rustic Glorias of the 1970s and 1980s are a distant memory. This has a precise and detailed bouquet that offers blackberry, briary, cedar and light tobacco aromas that gently unfurl in the glass. The palate is very well structured with a lovely citric undercurrent lending freshness and sharpness. This is a nimble Saint-Julien, athletic in build with a sapid finish that urges you back for another sip. Excellent. Vinous – Neal Martin – 93-95 Points
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. Jeb Dunnock – 95 Points