The first grape plantings on what we know as Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste date from the 1500s and the property began to take its present shape in the 1700s. The beautiful château itself, still in use, was built in the second half of the 19th Century. Grand-Puy-Lacoste was classified a Cinquième Cru (Fifth Growth) in the Bordeaux Classification of 1855.
This 5ème Cru Classé Pauillac estate has for many years been consistently outperforming its classification.
Vineyard area totals 55ha planted to Cabernet Sauvignon (75%), Merlot (20%) and Cabernet Franc (5%). As is typical in Pauillac, deep, gravelly topsoil overlies a limestone base. The Grand Puy of the name is a low hill that interrupts the flat landscape. Owned by the prominent Borie family since 1978, the vineyard, cellars and winery have all been extensively renovated since 2004. The Grand Vin is classic Pauillac – full-bodied, tannic, concentrated and age-worthy, offering cassis, cedar, tobacco and truffle scents and a juicy mouthful of flavour. There is a second wine, Lacoste Borie.
"The 2016 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has a superb, vibrant, tobacco-infused bouquet that soars from the glass; it is extremely well defined and classic, just as you expect from this Pauillac. The medium-bodied palate displays succulent tannin that hides the backbone supporting this wine. It is more approachable than the Grand Puy Lacoste of a decade ago, yet retains the essence of its terroir. This is one of the most elegant GPLs of recent years. 2023-2055"
95 Points, Vinous
"A neoclassical edition of Grand-Puy-Lacoste, this has cedar, graphite, deeply integrated cedar and spicy-oak influence and a very fresh array of ripe blackberries, dark cherries and cassis. The palate is so seamless. It builds beautifully and delivers a long, seamless array of perfectly ripe dark fruit, swathed in fine, firm, ascending layers of tannins. As good as we have seen in recent vintages, this is a star of the vintage. Try from 2024."
97 Points, JamesSuckling.com
Pauillac is Bordeaux’s most acclaimed appellation, the only one with three Premier Cru properties: Château Lafite-Rothschild, Château Mouton-Rothschild and Château Latour. These and other Pauillac chateaux produce robust, full-flavored and long-lived red wines made from Cabernet-based blends. Though winemaking techniques and microclimates vary throughout Pauillac, producing some variations in style, classic Pauillac wines have juicy flavours of blackcurrant and cedar, often with coffee, chocolate and graphite notes. Pauillac, part of the Médoc region on Bordeaux’s Left Bank, has gravelly and well-drained soils that force vines to grow long and strong roots. Struggling a bit for water, the vines produce grapes with high tannins and concentrated juices. Nearby rivers and the Atlantic Ocean modulate temperatures, preventing the grapes from ripening too quickly. Such grapes make powerful wines that may age and improve for decades. However, in Pauillac, as in other old-world wine regions, some winemakers are working to develop softer red wines that maintain the local wines’ traditional substance and flavours, but are more approachable immediately upon release.
