Grand Puy Lacoste 2018

Tasted blind. Greyish rim to the crimson. Interesting stony note to the nose. Correct with edgy fruit and lots of tannin but not one of the most harmonious 2018 Pauillacs. 14.5%Drink 2028 – 2045

78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot. 40 hl/ha. Barrel sample. Black core with wide purple rim. Great purity of intense, ripe but fresh black fruit. The fruit flavours are ripe not overripe and scented with cassis and blueberry yet overall there is a freshness to balance the fruit and that rocky/pencil quality that was also on the Lacoste-Borie. Darker and more mineral on the palate, then really bright on the finish with refined tannins. There's a real elegance here thanks to the purity of the fruit and the finesse in the tannins. Harmony and finesse right to the end. A very good year for Grand-Puy-Lacoste. (JH) 14%Drink 2025-2038

This captures the style of the vintage to a T, with vividly ripe cassis and plum fruit, carried by solidly built but fine-grained structure. Lots of graphite and tobacco accents hang in the background for now. A firmly grounded wine.

(78 Cabernet Sauvignon, 22 Merlot) | 75% new oak | 14% alc | 40 hl/ha There is an amazing volume of aroma when you approach this wine and it is ripe, bold, ever so slightly exotic and also all-enveloping. It alerts the senses and prepares you instantly for tasting the wine. On the palate all of the fruit notes and oak tones are marshalled perfectly and they are already in sync. Unlike some of the wines from this vintage, this is a well-drilled wine with not a molecule out of place. It is long, fine, detailed and also youthful and the tannins are some of the finest and chewiest I have seen. This bodes well. While many 2018s are unnervingly forward, but will also hold well, GPL warns the drinker that while the fruit is certainly exuberant and toothsome it would be a mistake to tackle this wine too early in its lifetime. I would leave it for at least ten years before uncorking a bottle. By this time, I think that this will be considered one of the most elegant and finely-tuned wines of the vintage.

The 2018 Grand-Puy-Lacoste was picked at 40hl/ha from September 21 to October 5. It is tightly wound on the nose, although it was due for a racking that will open up the aromatics. Black currant mixes with raspberry and a touch of graphite and brine, gradually revealing light floral topnotes. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins. Classic 'GPL' in some ways, delivering off-dry black fruit mixed with tobacco and black pepper, and cedar notes toward the finish. With around 14% alcohol, it has one of the highest levels at this property, although there is no warmth and it is not noticeable. Those who love Grand-Puy-Lacoste will enjoy this, and it should drink well for 20 years. Drink 2023-2050.

This is a deep and beautiful 2018 with blackcurrant, wet-earth and fresh-tobacco undertones. Full-bodied, tight and polished. Gorgeous finish. The tannins kick in at the end. Fine texture.

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is scented of warm blackcurrants, black cherries, spice box, florals and chocolate box with a menthol hint. Full-bodied, the palate is rich, plush and generous, finishing long and perfumed.