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  • Country ranking ?

    1 308
  • Producer ranking ?

    25
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035
  • Food Pairing

    Beef

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The Story

The name of Grand-Puy-Lacoste is one of the vineyards selected in 1855 by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce, to figure in its famous classification.

This classification only recognized the well established reputation of the properties it listed, and because the first half century before listing were not the best times at Grand-Puy-Lacoste, it “failed” to make a noteworthy impression in terms of prices and reputation, achieving only a lowly 5th Growth classification. The reputation of Grand-Puy-Lacoste has improved a lot since then and today the quality and prices of Grand-Puy-Lacoste can often easily compare with 2nd Growth.
The origin of the property is very old, since its first mention in official documents appears at the beginning of the 15th century. The estate extends over 225 acres in a single unit to the south of Pauillac, on a rise, which is the origin of its name "Grand-Puy". Monsieur Lacoste gave his name to the Château when he bought the property and kept it until the epidemic of phylloxera at the end of the 19th century.
However Grand-Puy-Lacoste´s was built by Monsieur Raymond Dupin, a legendary figure in the Medoc wine world and president of the “Union of Médoc Classified Growths”, who bought Gran-Puy-Lacoste in 1932 and was the proprietor until 1978. He sold half of the estate’s shares to Jean-Eugène Borie, who took over the responsibility for the wine production.
Nowadays, François-Xavier Borie manages Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste. He renewed the cellars of the château just before producing the great vintage of 1982.
There are currently around 110 acres of vine producing approximately15.000 cases on a soil planted with 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. The grapes are picked always by hand and the wines are matured in oak barrels for 14 to 18 months.
 

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Vintage 2014

Bordeaux Vintage 2014 - is not a great vintage like 2005, 2009 or 2010 but it will be able to secure a position as one of the very good vintages of Bordeaux.

Generally scheduled between the end of March and the beginning of April, Primeur Week in Bordeaux is always an exciting time because it allows a first glimpse of the latest vintage. The sheer number of wines available for tasting is impressive and a week almost seems short. This is why the Union de Grands Crus offers a well-organized blind tasting for the press every morning of the week. The previous weekend, the Grand Cercle des vins de Bordeaux organizes blind tastings of more than 200 samples. These impressions are supplemented by tastings in different Châteaux and tastings organized by the Bordeaux trade. Therefore, some wines may be tasted twice or even more often during this week to check quality and style.

 

An interesting fact is the weather situation. Low weather pressure means wines can close, while high weather pressure presents wines in a more open and flavorful style. This year the wheat was pretty bad during the first few days of the tasting week, but improved a lot in the second half of the week. This had an influence on the tasting notes in general which must be taken into account. Another effect was the late harvest in 2014, which shortened the period between harvest and early tastings by up to a month. A month less time for maturation has effects on the tasting results, which is another aspect to consider, always keeping in mind that each tasting result remains a snapshot and is not an absolute judgment and definitive.

 

The year 2014 started early with bud burst about 10 days before the average of the last 10 years. At the end of May, flowering began on the first terroirs in heterogeneous conditions, while the later grape varieties such as Cabernet-Sauvignon and Franc as well as the later terroirs benefited from a warm and sunny period at the beginning of June. July and August were quite cool and wet and in the second half of August the winegrowers prepared for an even worse vintage than 2013 but at the end of August everything changed. A splendid Indian summer in September and October saved the quality. The harvest began for the white grapes three days later than in 2012 but two weeks later than in 2011. For the red grapes, the harvest began with the Merlot at the end of September and ended with the Cabernets in the second fortnight of October. The cool climate during summer provides higher acidity, the Indian summer is responsible for good ripening.

 

The dry white wines are of very good quality showing crisp acidity and ripe flavors. Noble sweet white wines also benefit from the higher acidity balancing the opulent sweetness. Therefore, this vintage looks more elegant. The presentation of red wines depends a lot on the grape varieties and terroirs. Overall, the red wines are at a higher level of quality than the previous three vintages. Saint-Emilion is excellent on the limestone plateau and generally shows very good wines.

In Pomerol, the center of the plateau was advantageous over the surrounding areas. Fronsac was a very positive surprise for 2014. In the Médoc, the southern part turned out to be more heterogeneous than the northern part, where especially Saint-Estèphe was homogeneous and excellent. South of Bordeaux, Pessac-Léognan presented a very homogeneous image of a very good level of quality with exceptional wines from Haut Brion and La Mission Haut Brion.

One final observation: this vintage digests oak wonderfully. Oak is not even evident in wines with 100% new oak barrels for maturation. Now there are about twelve months left for the maturation of the 2014s until bottling in 2016. A lot can happen during this period. Let's see how the wines will present themselves after bottling, it will again be a very interesting tasting. 2014 is not a great vintage like 2005, 2009 or 2010 but it will be able to secure a position as one of the very good vintages of Bordeaux.

by Markus del Monego MW

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

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Written Notes

Ruby. Scented, blueberries, fruity, some spices, anise, detailed and nuanced nose. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, fruity, anise, some spices, detailed and playful, layered, lovely balance, long. 94

  • 94p
Dark purple red with violet hue and almost black centre. Spicy character, white pepper and hints of gingerbread, good fruit in the background. On the palate well structured and balanced with medium weigth and length.
  • 88p
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Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux
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