October 14, 2024
Quintessential Pauillac Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2019 & 2020
Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, located in the Pauillac appellation of Bordeaux, is a renowned Fifth Growth estate classified in 1855. Owned by the Borie family since 1978, the estate spans 90 hectares with 58 hectares under vine, primarily planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and a small amount of Cabernet Franc. The château is known for producing powerful, elegant wines with the quintessential Pauillac profile—dense black fruit, firm tannins, and remarkable ageing potential. Grand-Puy-Lacoste consistently delivers excellent quality, making it a favourite among collectors and fans of traditional Bordeaux wines.
The estate's 58-hectare vineyard remains unchanged since the 1855 classification, situated on some of Pauillac’s finest gravel slopes, particularly on Terrace 3, which features deep gravel soils reaching depths of up to 8 metres. These well-draining soils, combined with the vineyard's optimal exposure, contribute to the estate's powerful, structured wines known for their longevity and classic Pauillac character.
In her vertical tasting article, Jane Anson highlights how Château Grand Puy Lacoste truly shines around the 10-year mark, delivering traditional Pauillac character. She also positions Grand Puy Lacoste alongside estates like Batailley and Lynch Bages for consistently producing refined, age-worthy claret.
Today we have a small selection of the 2020 and 2019 to offer which both score very highly with the wine critics. Both vintages scored well in the En Primeur tastings but have since received score upgrades at the upper end of their brackets making them great buys. Grand Puy Lacoste is always one of the great value estates in Pauillac and we highly recommend adding these to the cellar.
Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2020
96 Points | Vinous, Neal Martin
The 2020 Grand-Puy-Lacoste fulfils its promise from barrel. It has a very sophisticated and complex bouquet with black fruit, pencil shavings and light estuarine scents, beautifully defined and focused. The palate has real intensity and concentration, the precision belying a very intense GPL not unlike the 2016 with a persistent graphite-infused finish that is just pure finesse. Magnificent.
96 points | Vinous, Antonio Galloni
The 2020 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is every bit as captivating from bottle as it was from barrel. Rich and explosive to the core, the 2020 possesses tremendous energy and nuance right out of the gate. Bright acids run through a core of ripe red plum fruit, blood orange, cedar and pipe tobacco. The 2020 is an absolute stunner.
95 Pointa | Decanter, Jane Anson
Enjoyable, powerful, concentrated, not the most generous of GPLs but they have captured the essence of Pauillac, and it's hard to resist. Sappy juicy finish, full of cassis, mint leaf and pencil lead along the way with a clear tightness to the tannic frame. A yield of 31hl/ha. 75% new oak for barrel ageing.
Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2019
97 Points | Vinous, Neal Martin
The 2019 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has a well-defined bouquet with cedar and graphite infused black fruit, hints of pencil shavings, controlled and refined. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins, taut and fresh with a pixelated and mineral-driven finish, lingering long in the mouth. What a heavenly 2019 Pauillac. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.
96 points | Wine Advocate, William Kelley
The 2019 Grand-Puy-Lacoste exhibits notions of minty cassis, plums, loamy soil, burning embers and cigar wrapper, followed by a medium to full-bodied, rich and velvety palate that’s deep and concentrated, its generous core of lively fruit concealing an elegantly muscular chassis of ripe, powdery tannin. Consisting of fully 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, this is another true classic from the Borie family.
96 Points | Jane Anson
Inky and glass-staining damson colour, with enjoyable aromatics, slow building power that is tempered and softened by waves of violet and peony. Knitted down, muscular tannins build a wall around the black fruits. This is concentrated, signature Pauillac just as it was En Primeur, majoring on pencil lead, cloves, liquorice and cocoa bean. 41hl/h yield, 75% new oak.