| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pauillac |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
Xavier Borie consistently makes one of the finest and most classic of all Pauillacs here. Frequently GPL is a match for the top names of Pauillac but is usually cheaper en primeur. Much of the fruit is used to make the second wine - Lacoste Borie. This is a a very popular Chateau at Farr Vintners - both with our customers and staff. Xavier is rightly proud of the 2018 - his 40th vintage here. He described it as having the best elements of 2009 (exuberance) and 2016 (elegance). The blend is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot. Production was 40 hl/ha.
The 2018 Grand Puy Lacoste has a quintessential Pauillac nose of intense black fruit infused with graphite scents, pencil shavings and a very discreet marine influence. It is beautifully defined, less opulent than the 2018 Lynch Bages tasted alongside, yet maybe more complex. The palate is medium-bodied and taut, offering sappy black fruit, gritty tannins and a lot of crushed stone. The focused, graphite-driven finish could only come from this appellation. Superb. A wine to correct those bemoaning that Bordeaux no longer makes "proper Claret." 2023 - 2050
The 2018 Grand Puy Lacoste has been brilliant since first tasted in barrel, and it continues to deliver in bottle at six years old. A deep, shiny ruby in the glass, the nose is succulent with blackcurrant and black cherry fruit, lined with a hint of cedar, spice box and wood smoke. Silky in texture on the palate, the fruit is ripe but well measured, GPL's textbook effortless elegance coming through. Unforced but deep and layered, the tannins have a real sheen and make this approachable now, melting into the black fruit and spice at the core. Cedary despite its ripe fruited finish, this is a wine with clear pedigree that tames the warmer elements of the vintage to allow the house style to shine. Drink it now or over the coming 25 years.
Cherries and walnuts with dried flowers on the nose. It’s medium-to full-bodied with very fine tannins, creamy texture and a bright, vivid finish. Plenty of currant and tar. Such polish and beauty. Drink after 2023.
The 2018 Grand-Puy-Lacoste displays a deep garnet-purple color and slowly emerging notes of ripe blackberries, blackcurrant pastilles and redcurrant jelly plus hints of cedar, underbrush, cinnamon stick and potpourri. The medium-bodied palate has well-managed, slightly chewy tannins and a refreshing line lifting the black and red berry layers, finishing earthy. 2024 - 2040
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.
Drinking Window 2026 - 2040
Tasted blind. Greyish rim to the crimson. Interesting stony note to the nose. Correct with edgy fruit and lots of tannin but not one of the most harmonious 2018 Pauillacs. 14.5%
Drink 2028 – 2045
78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot. 40 hl/ha. Barrel sample.
Black core with wide purple rim. Great purity of intense, ripe but fresh black fruit. The fruit flavours are ripe not overripe and scented with cassis and blueberry yet overall there is a freshness to balance the fruit and that rocky/pencil quality that was also on the Lacoste-Borie. Darker and more mineral on the palate, then really bright on the finish with refined tannins. There's a real elegance here thanks to the purity of the fruit and the finesse in the tannins. Harmony and finesse right to the end. A very good year for Grand-Puy-Lacoste. (JH) 14%
Drink 2025-2038
Deep in colour, with a succulent nose of cassis and black cherries, lifted by notes of cherry blossom and subtle nutmeg and clove. The palate has bright acidity, bringing real vibrancy to the ripe but restrained black fruit. There is a mineral core to the wine, but the ripe and refined tannins give more voluptuous feel, adding gentle spice and sweetness. Velveteen and beautifully poised, there is a long, harmonious finish. A fantastic Grand Puy Lacoste.
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.
(78 Cabernet Sauvignon, 22 Merlot) | 75% new oak | 14% alc | 40 hl/ha There is an amazing volume of aroma when you approach this wine and it is ripe, bold, ever so slightly exotic and also all-enveloping. It alerts the senses and prepares you instantly for tasting the wine. On the palate all of the fruit notes and oak tones are marshalled perfectly and they are already in sync. Unlike some of the wines from this vintage, this is a well-drilled wine with not a molecule out of place. It is long, fine, detailed and also youthful and the tannins are some of the finest and chewiest I have seen. This bodes well. While many 2018s are unnervingly forward, but will also hold well, GPL warns the drinker that while the fruit is certainly exuberant and toothsome it would be a mistake to tackle this wine too early in its lifetime. I would leave it for at least ten years before uncorking a bottle. By this time, I think that this will be considered one of the most elegant and finely-tuned wines of the vintage.
The 2018 Grand-Puy-Lacoste was picked at 40hl/ha from September 21 to October 5. It is tightly wound on the nose, although it was due for a racking that will open up the aromatics. Black currant mixes with raspberry and a touch of graphite and brine, gradually revealing light floral topnotes. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins. Classic 'GPL' in some ways, delivering off-dry black fruit mixed with tobacco and black pepper, and cedar notes toward the finish. With around 14% alcohol, it has one of the highest levels at this property, although there is no warmth and it is not noticeable. Those who love Grand-Puy-Lacoste will enjoy this, and it should drink well for 20 years. Drink 2023-2050.
Tasted blind at Southwold 2019. Deep ruby colour. Fragrant and quite open on the nose at this stage, showing lightly toasted wood and creamy sweet spices underneath an intense nose of sweet plums and cool blackcurrant. It is very enticing. The palate is lined with chalky and persistent but fine tannins - there are excellent bones here for long-term ageing. The fruit is deeply savoury on the palate - more so than on the nose - adding rich complexity and moreishness. The tannins are coated with dark, ripe fruit that envelopes the palate, subsuming structure and spice to show real purity. Driven to the finish that almost builds in intensity, this is a very smart wine - one that would probably show even better in isolation and certainly with more time in bottle. Excellent.
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.
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is scented of warm blackcurrants, black cherries, spice box, florals and chocolate box with a menthol hint. Full-bodied, the palate is rich, plush and generous, finishing long and perfumed.
