Château Grand Puy Lacoste, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2014
There have been so many wonderful wines made during the 44-year tenure of Xavier Borie, it's hard to pick favourites, suffice to say the 2022 is right up there with the very best. Produced from 79% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot, this opens with a more fruit driven bouquet with subtle hints of tobacco, cracked earth, floral notes of violets and a hint of liquorice. The core is wonderfully vibrant and full of precision; ample purple fruit intertwined with mineral notes, it feels stylish and unforced with a really classy salinity. A plush, enveloping, contoured palate which is texturally alluring, this GPL caresses the mouth with glorious flavours and so much detail. Striking tannins provide grip, complexity and reverberating length. Emeline explained that 2022 was hotter than 2003, but they had some welcome rain when they needed it. Winemaking was as normal with gentle extractions, just some pump-overs at the beginning before they closed the vats. The cuvaison lasted three weeks, which is more or less normal – they were conscious not to overdo it. The result is one of the most spectacular wines of the Medoc and one of the all-time great GPLs.
critic reviews
The 2014 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is one of my favorite wines from the Left Bank in this vintage. Bright and vivacious blackberry, cedar and graphite scents soar from the glass with real purpose. Wonderful delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, quite tensile with ample depth. It has matured since I last tasted it four years ago. It is very fresh and has a saline finish. Recommended. Tasted at the Bordeaux Index 10-Year-On tasting. N.B. Two bottles tasted blind at Southwold showed oxidation on the first.
Dark cassis fruit, with pencil lead, flint and crushed mint leaf, reserved and savoury and full of understated pleasure. This is starting to tip towards tertiary as the drinking window opens, but GPL is a wine that keeps delivering over decades, and this Cabernet dominant fruit isn't going anywhere. Sleek and finessed, and just a little bit subdued. 75% new oak. Harvest September 25 to October 9, Eric Boissnot consultant.
The 2014 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has a much more approachable nose than usual, vibrant with red cherries, wild strawberry and cedar aromas, backed up with mineral-soaked blackberry fruit. This gathers momentum wonderfully in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. The acidity is very well judged with purity and elegance on the finish, if not the structure or backbone commonly found is very top vintages. I've been a bit conservative with my score at the moment, but I am sure it will prove its worth with 3-5 more years in bottle, hence the plus sign. One to watch.