Grand Puy Lacoste 2015

The fruit on the nose is ripe a rich mix of black fruits the palate supple velvety with fine ripe tannins. Silky and smooth the black fruits are backed by dark chocolate and although rich and ripe at the back the finish is lighter fragrant with style and elegance.

It’s time GPL were known as a great wine per se, rather than a great value for money claret (although it’s certainly that, too). This is the latest in a run of balanced, refined, “classic” Pauillacs with serious, scented oak complemented by cassis and tobacco notes, fine-grained tannins and bright acidity. Drink: 2022-35

This is a stern and commanding Grand-Puy-Lacoste with a serious, firm, statesmanlike nose and a taut, chassis, rippling with muscles and brawn. There is so much to admire before you even take a sip and when you do the power and poise ratio is sublime. Like its stablemate, Haut-Batailley, this is an epically balanced wine and while there is a more decadent nose here with more obvious oak and some wilder, exotic nuances yearning to be set free, this is a benchmark Grand-Puy-Lacoste and it is built to live forever. The tannins are regal and firm and the finish is immense but at no stage does it break out of its Pauillac straightjacket nor does it lapse into excess in any department. Utterly mesmerising this estate is kicking goals year after year and this is undoubtedly one of the top wines of the vintage.

The 2015 Grand-Puy-Lacoste was an impressive Pauillac from barrel and likewise, it continues to impress in bottle. It has an intense bouquet with blackberry and strawberry fruit laced with cedar and graphite and as I mentioned in my original note, the Merlot component is a little more expressive compared to other vintages. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin and well-judged acidity. This feels so harmonious and caressing, very tensile and poised, fanning out wonderfully with a graphite-infused finish that is perhaps more approachable than recent vintages, just a wonderful wine for long-term aging. Anticipated maturity: 2022 - 2050.

The 2015 Grand-Puy-Lacoste, 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, matured in 75% new oak and was picked between September 18 until October 4 (although the "real" picking commenced from September 21). Now, Grand-Puy-Lacoste is often quite "aloof" at this early juncture, but that is not the case with the 2015. This is more approachable aromatically, beautifully defined, thanks to that expressive Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannin and finely tuned acidity (pH 3.68). Beguilingly harmonious in the mouth, it boasts a silky smooth texture with wonderful salinity on the aftertaste that is sustained in the mouth. As usual, Xavier Borie has produced a "classic" Pauillac, but one that is a little more appeasing to those that don't want to cellar for 20-30 years. You could describe the 2015 as being between 2009 and 2010...and that, folks, is not a bad place to be. Drink 2028-2060

This is very fine and elegant GPL with black currant and hints of walnuts, chocolate. Full body, sweet and pretty tannins. Persistent. So polished.

So suave and well mannered! Nicely balanced with lots of ripe fruit in a suitably bordelais corset but not a standout. Well mannered rather than amazing. A big charge of tannin here. Dry finish.Drink 2026-2040

Mid crimson. Relatively voluptuous for a 2015 Pauillac on the nose then racy and sucky-stony on the palate. Very Pauillac. Great energy.Drink 2024-2040