Chateau Gloria might sport a rather traditional looking old school sort of aesthetics with those red stencil outlines of an arch and two trumpet blowing angels, as well as that gothic styled font, but really the estate hadn't existed until just 1942! Considering the esteem it's held in today, it's quite remarkable that the estate is in fact very new, and finds itself nestled amongst actually historical chateaus that go back centuries.

Yet for us to understand the origins of Chateau Gloria, we first need to talk about the 1855 Bordeaux Classification - yes, that one. For anyone who's into Bordeaux's wines, you'd definitely be familiar with the classification which has long defined the hierarchy of value of Bordeaux's Left Bank estates - First Growths, Second Growths, Third Growths, and so on. It more of less cements who's who in Bordeaux. Yet, the fact is that not only was the classification made in haste when Emperor Napoleon III (his uncle was the Napoleon Bonaparte) had wanted to showcase Bordeaux's wines at the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, and thus it was created based upon a survey of folks in the wine trade, on which wines they thought traded at the best value - also, simply put, this classification is now 170 years old! So much has obviously changed, chateaux have changed hands, almost all of them have gone through bouts of good or bad management, and yet that classification remains static.

For better or for worse, the 1855 Classification largely remains the default hierarchy for Bordeaux's estates.

Of course, some folks argue that those ranked well in the classification have benefitted from more investment which entrenches their status, although without any mobility or reassessment since, it fails to recognise the achievements (and failures) of its constituents.

And one such critic of the classification was none other than Henri Martin. Martin was such a pivotal figure in Bordeaux that he's even gotten the nickname l'Ame du Medoc (or "the soul of Medoc"). His path in the wine trade was pretty much cemented at birth when he was born on the grounds of Chateau Gruaud-Larose (itself a Second Growth by the 1855 Classification), where his father was the Cellar Master. Martin would grow up to take on numerous key positions in Bordeaux, serving as head of the Commanderie de Bordeaux, a brotherhood whose goal was to promote Bordeaux's wines, and was also notably the mayor of Saint-Julien-Beychevelle for 40 years, even at one point having been appointed manager of the legendary Chateau Latour (one of the iconic First Growths).

Wanting to prove that the historical 1855 Classification was limited in its ability to remain completely relevant and authoritative in who was good and who wasn't, Martin, with the help of his very reluctant father, began going about building Chateau Gloria from the ground up. Over the span of several years, Martin would cobble together pieces of vines from a pretty veritable list of highly regarded chateaus, from chateaux Beychevelle to Leoville-Poyferre, Gruaud-Larose, Leoville-Barton, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Lagrange, as well as getting their hands on a chai from Chateau Saint-Pierre, these would all form the new Chateau Gloria. In total the new estate, with itself no historical acclaim, would extend 48 hectares, and be planted with 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot.

The next decades would see Martin raise the flag of Chateau Gloria up high, to the point of becoming one of the commune's most highly regarded estates - at one point it was even proposed by the French regulators that the newly created Gloria be included into a revision of the 1855 Classification! Martin's feat at Gloria was such a spectacle that it has since been praised for helping to raise the overall profile and desirability of the Saint-Julien-Beychevelle commune, demonstrating that its lands was fertile ground for creating great wines.

A tribute to Henri Martin stands on the Chateau Gloria estate.

Today the estate is managed by Martin's son-in-law Jean-Louis Triaud, who lives on the estate with Martin's daughter, his wife, Françoise.

Beyond the vines, Chateau Gloria makes its wines by vinifying its fruit in separate stainless steel tanks, with malolactic fermentation taking place in barrels, where 40% new French oak barrels are used to age the wines for up to 14 months before being bottled.

Let's give it a go!

Wine Review: 2012 Chateau Gloria, Saint Julien

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Garnet

Aroma: It opens up really evocative and earthy, thorough in this rustic purity with mounds of freshly tilled soil, accompanied by some barnyard scents of animal hide, as well as nuggets of raw cacao. At the base is a deep, dark and opulent set of raspberry and plum preserves, lots of stewed dark fruit and fruit reduction, even some tones of mulled wine. It's really rich and heady, superbly perfumed and vibrant.

Taste: Incredibly concentrated here, completely filled in by these dark fruit notes of crushed plums, prunes and figs, stewed and in the form of concentrate. It's complemented by earthy notes of dried tobacco leaves, soil and cacao. It's dark, medium-bodied, yet leans more dry and austere with a really firm matting of dark fruit skin tannins, although it keeps such great structural integrity so as to give it a silky satin-like texture. Just a slight touch of richness on the body.

Finish: That combo of cooked down dark fruits and earth persists, with more of that tobacco leaves, soil, plums and prunes in the form of preserves. It also maintains that firmness and graininess of its tannins. A little bit of salinity begins to come through. The finish has a great seamlessness that feels like an ongoing continuation of what was on the palate. Clean finish, a touch dry, with just a light richness that powers through the finish.

My Thoughts

A deep and thoroughly concentrated red that delivers so much of that rustic purity along with a serious sensuousness of fruit reduction - this is an incredibly intense expression that I really enjoyed so much. On the nose, it's perfumed and heady, completely evocative of the vineyards, with such freshness and rawness. The body on the palate brings on much power in how concentrated the flavours are whilst coming through in this steely, chiselled structure. It's got depth, tension and elegance. It's not ripe, and doesn't lean sweeter or feature an over the top roundedness, it's in fact very nuanced yet completely seamless. This carries through the finish, where there's alittle bit more complexity coming through in the form of some salinity. It has a clean and resolute finish, very firm, just a touch dry, with the tannins firm yet not grippy. If you're into somewhat more funky yet fresh, intense and really concentrated wines, this one's for you!

Really impressive wine from Chateau Gloria!

Kanpai!

@111hotpot