Grand Puy Lacoste

James Suckling 95: Cedar, tobacco, cigar and hints of musk and cloves on the nose. Fully developed and so attractive now, with a barely medium body, fresh acidity and a long finish. Tannins are fully melted. The acidity keeps it very alive. The first vintage after the Borie family purchased the estate. 12% to 12.5% alcohol. Drink now. From a vertical tasting at the winery.

Wine Advocate 95: Another unbelievably rich, multidimensional, broad-shouldered wine, with slightly more elegance and less weight than the powerhouse 1996, this gorgeously proportioned, medium to full-bodied, fabulously ripe, rich, cassis-scented and flavored Grand-Puy-Lacoste is a beauty. It should be drinkable within 4-5 years, and keep for 25-30. This classic Pauillac is a worthy rival to the other-worldly 1996. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2025.

Wine Advocate 92: Tasted at the château, the 1998 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has really developed in commendable fashion in recent years. It had a striking bouquet with intense blackberry, wild strawberry and graphite scents, a vivacious bouquet that is less austere than other vintages. The palate is very well balanced with a smooth texture. Like the aromatics, I feel this is more approachable because its backbone is not as "stiff". The salinity on the finish tempts you back for another sip of this hidden gem of late-nineties Bordeaux.

Wine Advocate 88: An atypically superficial effort from one of my favorite Pauillacs, the 2003 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is very good, but it does not stand up to some of the finest northern Medoc offerings. A deep ruby/purple-tinged color is followed by a moderately intense bouquet of black currants and underbrush. It hits the palate with good fruit and medium body, but tails off in the finish. It is an elegant, lighter-styled example of this generally high-class performer. It can be consumed over the next 10-12 years.

James Suckling 91: Very ripe and intense on the nose with a stewed strawberry and cherry character. Full bodied, with a very jammy palate but so much fruit going on here. Ripe fruit dominates this. Pull the cork after 2013. Find the wine.

Vinous 91: The 2003 Grand Puy Lacoste initially shows a little mustiness on the nose. It's tertiary, with gravel and vestiges of black fruit. A second bottle is much fresher and more vibrant, a success considering the vintage. White pepper and clove notes are pretty grippy, with touches of cooked meat becoming spicier towards the finish. A little untamed, which is unusual for this Pauillac, but then again, why not once in a while? Tasted at the château.

Wine Advocate 96: This estate's finest wine of the decade is the 2005 Grand-Puy-Lacoste, a fleshy, sumptuous wine evocative of cassis, sweet red berries and cigar box, framed by a touch of creamy new oak that integrates with opening. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with an enveloping core of fruit, rich tannins and a seamless but authoritative profile, it concludes with a long, resonant finish. Just entering early maturity, it will continue to develop for several decades.

James Suckling 98: A stunning wine! This shows exceptional depth, with precision and richness beautifully knit together. Aromas of graphite and something darker (think Chinese ink) make your nose want to go deeper. Subtle touches of savoriness and cigars shows evolution. Medium- to full-bodied on the palate, with firm and fine tannins and an extremely long finish. 78% cabernet sauvignon and 22% merlot. Complex and already approachable, but it will easily keep well for 20 years. Drink or hold. From a vertical tasting at the winery.

Vinous 92: The 2005 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has a punchy bouquet of red and black fruit with light touches of wild mint and sage. This is actually a little Right Bank in style so it lacks a bit of typicité. The palate is medium-bodied with smooth tannins on the entry, slightly savoury red berry fruit and hints of iodine and sage. The 2005 is quite a medicinal G.P.L., with an open finish to suggest that bottles can be drunk now and over the next 15 to 20 years. Tasted at the château.

Decanter 92: As you would expect from this archetypal Pauillac, this is an inky wine of blackcurrants, forest fruits and plenty of concentration. A touch of creamy oak frames a delicious palate, leading to a nice finish that balances out this understated, classy Claret. As it so often is, this is a delicious wine.

Wine Advocate 96: Tasted at Bordeaux Index's annual 10-Year On tasting in London. I raved about the 2006 Château Grand Puy-Lacoste when I tasted it from barrel ten years ago. It has evolved a really quite beautiful, very classic Pauillac bouquet with vivacious blackberry, raspberry and wild mint aromas that deftly absorb the oak. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, perhaps a more forward "GPL" than other vintages, but there is genuine fineness to the tannin and that backward finish has great precision. There is the substance to suggest that it will be a long-term Left Bank and you could probably broach it after another 3-4 years. Tasted January 2016.

James Suckling 95: Excellent balance, finesse and precision on the nose, with graphite, cloves, plums and a touch of leather. Light on the palate, but it shows poise, finesse and complexity. Long and still firm and fine-grained. 78% cabernet sauvignon and 22% merlot. Drink now or in the next several years. From a vertical tasting at the winery.

Vinous 91: The 2006 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is an impressive wine for the vintage. Though this example was poured blind at the property, I have encountered better bottles, and this shows a little volatility on the nose. The palate has plenty of concentration, more like a 2005 in style with plush blackberry and blueberry fruit. Good grip and assertive on the finish, this is a delicious Pauillac, although I leave a question mark against my score simply because I know it can show better. Tasted at the château.

Decanter 96: Among the most seductive noses from Pauillac. Strong, cassis-stained palate with a lovely sense of upwards motion and smooth, silky tannins that are starting to ease into the structure. Another vintage that shows why GPL is such a consistent player.

Wine Advocate 91+: The 2015 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is medium garnet-purple colored with a nose of red and black currants, cedar chest and roses with a touch of dusty earth. The medium-bodied mouth is chewy, with lively fruit and good balance.

James Suckling 96: Swathed in spicy and toasty oak aromas, this has a wealth of superbly expressed red and dark berries, flowers and mint. The palate delivers a very assertive and energetic array of dark berries and spiced plums with a fresh, focused, vibrant finish. Superb wine. Try from 2023.

Decanter 94: I love this from the first nose. It’s not quite as complex as the 2017 at Grand-Puy-Lacoste, never mind the 2016, but this is still an exceptionally good Pauillac in the vintage. There’s black fruits, firm tannins, excellent graphite and slate notes and touches of liquorice with clear depth and length. Very good quality, and carefully extracted, it goes gently into the night. 75% new oak.

Wine Advocate 94: The 2021 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is one of the vintage's successes, wafting from the glass with aromas of cassis and raspberries mingled with notions of violets, rose petals, pencil shavings and cigar wrapper. Medium to full-bodied, with a deep, layered core of pure fruit framed by ripe acids and sweet tannins, its suave, charming profile means that it will offer a broad drinking window. A slightly lower percentage of new oak, with lighter toasts, is reflected in better barrel integration out of the gates.

James Suckling 95: A refined, classic Pauillac with cassis, pencil shavings, ash and cherries. Juicy and really fine on the palate with silky tannins unwound into a layered, long finish. A refined, elegant interpretation that does not fall short on intensity. Real finesse here. Already delicious, but can hold, too.

Decanter 93: Lovely pretty and fragranced nose. A sense of classicism with bright, shining acidity underpinning crushed velvet textured tannins and a cola, liquorice cool undertone. Slightly lean but also with lots of Cabernet markers that do well to support the frame. Good weight and focus, with drive on the palate. It's light, it's not plush at all, and in that sense really quite linear and lean, but this totally works.

Wine Advocate 95: The 2022 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has turned out nicely in bottle, unwinding in the glass with aromas of cassis and plums mingled with notions of rose petal, tobacco leaf and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, bright and velvety, with a layered core of fruit and powdery structuring tannins, it's beautifully balanced.

James Suckling 97: Licorice with tapenade, cassis, roasted spices and a touch of bergamot and pencil shavings. Full-bodied and structured, this has filigreed tannins in a very dusty, almost powdery form. Really youthful and long. Juicy and compact with spot-on balance. 79% cabernet sauvignon, 21% merlot. Give it at least three years to unwind and develop complexity.

Vinous 94: The 2022 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is stellar, especially in the way it melds together the natural richness of the year with its classic style. Well defined, layered and energetic, the Grand-Puy-Lacoste is all class. Time in the glass further reveals its detailed personality. This is such a polished and nuanced Pauillac, even in 2022.

Wine Advocate 93-95: Aromas of cassis, cigar wrapper, pencil shavings and violets introduce the 2023 Grand-Puy-Lacoste, a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and supple wine that's seamless and sensual, with good depth at the core, beautifully integrated tannins and a lively, charming profile. It's a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Merlot that was picked between September 11-28.

James Suckling 95-96: Beautiful purity and freshness to the blackcurrants and blackberries with subtle notes of cedar and graphite. Medium- to full-bodied. So polished and silky, almost weightless. It’s very long. 77% cabernet sauvignon and 23% merlot.

Wine Advocate 95-97: The 2025 Grand-Puy-Lacoste reveals a classic, refined bouquet of cassis, dark berries, cedar and lead pencil, with discreet floral nuances. Medium to full-bodied, structured and precise, it’s built around a well-defined core of fruit framed by finely grained, youthful, filigreed tannins with a tensile profile. Less demonstrative than some of its peers in Pauillac, it privileges balance and typicity over sheer power, concluding with a long, elegant and mineral finish. Produced from a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot, this is the first vintage vinified in the estate’s new gravity-fed cellar, enabling more precise parcel selection—an evolution that appears to reinforce the wine’s precision and coherence.

James Suckling 96-97: Excellent GPL, medium- to full-bodied with a great expression of dark fruit that is evenly distributed. It’s fresh and precise with grainy, integrated tannins that should only integrate more. A blend of 76% cabernet sauvignon and 24% merlot.

Vinous 94-96: The 2025 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is the first to be made in the new gravity-fed winery. It was picked between September 4 and 18 at 30 hl/ha, much lower than normal, with a high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (76%). Matured in 65% new oak, it has a perfumed bouquet with blackberry and raspberry fruit, touches of graphite emerging with aeration, beautifully defined. The palate is medium-bodied with edgy tannins. Definitely one of the most refined GPLs that I have tasted at this stage, very harmonious, complex and engaging. Superb persistence on the finish, this is a complete Pauillac that is going to give immense pleasure.

Decanter 95: Deep violets and heady blackcurrants on the nose, fresh though, inviting and crystalline – aromatically expressive. Supple and sapid with a real hands-off feeling. Approachable with a clean, clear grip to the fine tannins, mint, cool blueberries, graphite and wet stones. The terroir really shines in the glass. Feels very modern with mouthwatering acidity setting the tone – bright, lively and upfront. Delicious, crunchy and leaves a lasting impression with grip, tension, energy and focus. Maybe a little less dense than usual but more refined. 13%. A yield of 30hl/ha.