2023, Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, PAUILLAC, Grand Cru Classé

Last Year EP $128.00-

Xavier Borie and his daughter Emeline consistently make one of the finest and most classic of all Pauillacs (5th growth 1855) here. It has been owned by the Borie family since 1978. Frequently GPL is a match for the top names of Pauillac
2023 grand vin is 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and is being matured in 75% new oak

The house style is very much classic and suave. Wonderful aromas of violets, cassis and tobacco emerge from the glass, supported by waves of glorious mineral inflected fruit. As ever, the tannins are lacy, graceful and pixelated with lots of fine detail. Combining cool Cabernet flavours with a luxuriant texture, it epitomises everything we love about Pauillac. Justerini & Brooks, London.

We are in classic Grand Puy Lacoste territory here, great balance, good freshness, Pauillac typicity, less concentration than 2022, showing instead bright cassis and blackberry fruits, salted cracker edge, liquorice, graphite, spiced cocoa beans, and flashes of fresher redcurrants on the close of play. Great quality, and you can see the fine ageing potential stretching ahead.
94 Jane Anson

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.
95-96 James Suckling

Fragrant floral and blackcurrant notes on the nose. Just ripe fruit, on the bright side but nothing out of place. It's lacking a touch in density, but makes up for it in precision and nuance. Lots of fine, salty and spiced tannins support the pure fruit with a graphite edge that lingers on the tongue. It's clean and focussed, not so vertical or wide, but there's finesse here no doubt. Mouthwatering and minty all the way through. Very classy and classic with fine ageing potential. Excellent quality.
95 Georgina Hindle, Decanter.

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.
93-95 William Kelley, Wine Advocate.

The 2023 Grand Puy Lacoste has a classic "GPL" bouquet with blackberry, pencil box and light marine scents, obviously not as powerful as the previous vintage, yet in typical style, beautifully defined and focused. There's an impressive linearity to this wine.
93-95 Neal Martin.