Château Grand Puy Lacoste, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2018

Name: Château Grand Puy Lacoste, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac
Brand: Château Grand Puy Lacoste
Price: 323.12 GBP

Available Vintages

all 2007 2015 2016 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

justerini & brooks tasting note

It's always a pleasure to taste with Xavier and Emeline Borie. You know how they say how dogs resemble their owners, well perhaps the same is true with wines. These are charming, reserved wines, full of class. Gorgeous Cabernet perfume: small berries, graphite, cassis and violets. Such flowing savoury Cabernet fruit - everything is harmonious, nothing is excessive or out of place. Suave, detailed cherry fruit, wild plums and wood spice and gravelly briar fruit. Pure refinement and class, it flows effortlessly with a beginning, middle and long noble finish of granular, finely laced tannins. This is yet another superb effort from this high flying Fifth Growth Chateau. As a footnote, this is Xavier's fortieth vintage at GPL - we hope we'll be there to celebrate the 50th with him. Produced from 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot.

critic reviews

94/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Independent

Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2018 is deep garnet-purple in color. It strides boldly out of the glass with notions of baked blackberries, plum preserves, and warm cassis, plus hints of unsmoked cigars, cedar, and bay leaves. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is elegant with grainy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing savory.

DRINKING WINDOW 2024 - 2049

date of review 02/2023

95/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

Hard to go wrong with recent vintages of Grand Puy Lacoste. This doesn't quite hit the strides of 2016 or 2019, but for me is more successful than either 2015 or 2017. This is full of Pauillac classicism in its cassis, slate and cedar mix, with sweet black cherry fruits through the mid palate that reflect the warmth of the vintage but balanced by crushed mint and eucalyptus on the finish. You can relax with this one - it's easily got another few decades in it. Harvest 21 September and 5 October. 12% press wine. 75% new oak. A yield of 40hl/ha.

DRINKING WINDOW 2026 - 2040

date of review 10/2021

93/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

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.

DRINKING WINDOW 2024 - 2040

date of review 03/2021

95/100Neal Martin,Vinous

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."

DRINKING WINDOW 2023 - 2050

date of review 03/2021