2019 Grand Puy Lacoste
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Tasting Notes
Deep colour. Spice, cassis with touch of menthol, herbaceous notes even though fully ripe, dark chocolate, violets, cloves – focused/ serious/ brooding fruit. Lovely backbone, mouthwatering freshness, energy, punch. Tannins abundant, fresh and structured. Very even set. Nice breadth and freshness on the palate lovely density to the tannins, so balanced and bursting with energy. The Pauillac minerality coming through beautifully. Quintessential Pauillac.
Critic Scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Decanter
More reviews and scores
A firm, silky red with intense, chewy tannins, showing structure, beauty and intensity. Full-bodied, tight and chewy. Racy and focused GPL. Shows a more refined structure than the 2018, but serious.
Lovely depth of colour, a big difference between the 1st and 2nd wine in this vintage, this just screams Pauillac with its pencil lead, charcoal and cassis notes. Glass-staining colour, extremely silky, with liquorice and chocolate adding layers without taking away from the purity of expression. Fine tannic hold, tons of character and clear longevity - this is a brilliant wine, easily equal to the 2018 and approaching the 2016.
The 2019 Grand Puy Lacoste is deep purple in colour. Initially the bouquet is tight and so I left my sample for 15-20 minutes to open. It rewards patience with a beguiling mélange of pure blackberry, raspberry, crushed violet and pencil shavings, very focused and mineral-driven. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiseled tannins. Compared to the robust, tannic GPL's of old, this is much more lithe and approachable, yet it still bears the DNA of this Pauillac estate. It might not possess the flair of other 2019 Left Banks, but that it is not what I seek from this estate. Classy and full of breeding - quintessential Pauillac.
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About the producer
In 1978 the Borie family took over Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Xavier Borie has been making exceptional wines here ever since. With 58 hectares of vines around the château, this is a wine with real Pauillac style.