Grand Puy Ducasse 2022

The 2022 Grand Puy Ducasse has quite a bold nose with blackberry, bilberry and blue fruit scents, along with a hint of iodine in the background. It's quite ambitious and pulls it off. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, plenty of graphite-infused black fruit and a hint of dark chocolate toward the finish that will be absorbed with time. A powerful Pauillac, this is a Grand Puy Ducasse that should repay cellaring. This is one to watch. 2030 - 2060

The blackcurrants and lead pencil come through clearly here with crushed-stone undertones that follow through to a full body with a solid core of fruit that is defined and polished. It’s velvety but then turns to refined silk with a lovely finish. Please give this at least four or five years to soften and open.

The 2022 Grand-Puy-Ducasse exhibits notes of sweet plums and cherries mingled with licorice and spices. Medium to full-boded, taut and chalky, with a sweet, concentrated core of fruit and a penetrating finish, it's a youthfully structured effort that concludes with a somewhat drying finish.

The 2022 Grand Puy Ducasse has an airy nose, well-defined with potpourri, even lavender infusing the black fruit. Pencil box hints emerge with time in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins. Tightly-coiled black fruit is laced with cracked black pepper and tobacco. The finish is tannic, but one can appreciate the focus and length on the aftertaste. Very fine.