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News
95-98 WINESPECTATOR: "This captures the style of the vintage to a T, with vividly ripe cassis and plum fruit, carried by solidly built but fine-grained structure. Lots of graphite and tobacco accents hang in the background for now. A firmly grounded wine.—J.M."
95 DECANTER: "Another success from Grand-Puy-Lacoste – it’s bright and full of juice, prioritising vibrancy over power. As such, it has a touch less Pauillac typicity than in the absolutely brilliant 2016 vintage at this estate, although as it unfurls through the palate you do get the menthol, cassis and smoked cedar that is just such a beautiful sign of ripe Cabernet up in this corner of the world. They were extremely careful with extraction because of the high alcohols, so grapes underwent the shortest maceration to date with no pumping over just an infusion during the extraction process. Harvest took place between 21 September and 5 October. 12% press wine. 75% new oak used. A yield of 40hl/ha."
94-95 JAMES SUCKLING: "This is a deep and beautiful 2018 with blackcurrant, wet-earth and fresh-tobacco undertones. Full-bodied, tight and polished. Gorgeous finish. The tannins kick in at the end. Fine texture."
Wine Description
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.
Vintage 2018
Report and recommendations for the 2018 Bordeaux vintage
by Andrew Caillard MW
2018 is an exceptional year. Bordeaux whites and Sauternes are very good, but from an Australian perspective, the excitement is all in the red wines. All sub-regions produced examples of very good wines, but some performed better than others. Generally, the largest estates have made exemplary wines illustrating that the human factor and wealth can have a major impact on the terroir! Over the past few weeks I have tasted around 350-400 wines, sometimes in large format forums like UCG tastings or at various châteaux. These days it is difficult to taste wines blind, but color density, aromatic freshness, tannin density and overall balance are obvious indicators. In some cases, I tasted wines a few times, which allowed me to cross references.
The weather until a few days ago was clear with bright sunshine, warm days and a cool breeze. Temperatures have dropped now with more cloud cover and intermittent rain. Driving from Sauternes to St Emilion we passed through some light hail but not enough to cause too many problems. In two weeks, we saw dormant vines and trees come to life. The growing season starts a little early and, of course, people worry about the chance of frost. After the devastating frost episodes of 2017 and the challenges created by hail and mildew in 2018, there is a feeling that climate change could well have an unpredictable impact on future Bordeaux vintages.
We have tasted a good amount of primeur wines now. As usual the vintage will be exaggerated. The growing season was almost calamitous, but long hours of hot sunshine over the summer cleaned everything up and allowed the grapes to ripen very, very well. The colors, flavors, density and acidities are truly impressive and as a result the vintage is generally quite exceptional. It's difficult to truly understand overall crop losses, as growers are naturally quite cagey. But they vary from almost nothing to less than a third. At Ch Climens in Sauternes Barsac, I estimate that the harvest is around 20% of the average. When we know that this area lost its entire harvest in 2017 due to frost, the shock must be keenly felt. Mother Nature has been particularly cruel lately. The growing season story will inevitably create a negative impression, but few people will remember the details in years to come. They will only remember the wine. For some people with long memories, they believe the vintage is like 1947 or 1961. If so, it's not just an exceptional vintage, it's something beyond the norm. An immortal year. The concentration, weight and vitality of the wines are impressive. Despite the incredible density of tannins, saturated colors and flavors, the wines are actually quite easy to taste, indicating remarkable balance and life.
In my opinion, the strongest sub-regions are Pauillac and St Julien – both of which have produced wines of great consistency and classicism. They are powerfully expressive with pronounced ripe tannins and pure fruit flavors. The combination of better microclimatic conditions, wealth and physical resources contributed to the result. Ch Pontet Canet is an exception because of its approach to biodynamic viticulture. It suffered terribly from downy mildew and only produced a third of the harvest. The wine is distinctly different from wines like Ch Latour or Ch Pichon Lalande, but its overall buoyancy and fruit richness are convincing. It also represents something worthwhile and important.
I still think Pauilac is the benchmark for Bordeaux. Typically, the wines are extremely expressive with aromas of pure cedar and fine grainy tannins. This year, the wines are particularly dense and inky with abundant graphite tannins. They are not at all tense or soft and so when the tannins settle in, the wines will be exceptional.
There are many exceptional wines from Pauillac, including Ch Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Ch Pichon Longueville Baron, Ch Lynch Bages, Ch Batailley, Ch d’Armailhac and Ch Grand Puy Lacoste. The premier crus Ch Latour, Ch Mouton Rothschild and Ch Lafite Rothschild are very impressive. Their second wines Les Forts de Latour, Petit Mouton and Carruades are also of very high quality.
