CHÂTEAU GRAND PUY LACOSTE

The 2009 Grand Puy Lacoste is a magnificent wine for the vintage. It is extremely well defined on the nose, almost pixelated with stunning mineralité threaded through the blackberry, black olive and limestone scents. It is more reserved at first compared to other 2009s, but that bouquet begins motoring after 10-20 minutes with graphite notes becoming ever stronger. The palate is full-bodied and under-pinned by a chassis of firm tannins cloaked in sumptuous black fruit infused with black tea and graphite. It almost has the character of a 2010: much less flamboyant than its peers, but just as compelling. Wonderful. Drink 2023-2045 Drinking range: 2023 - 2045 Rating: 95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Oct 2014)

The fragrance of woodland violets and wood smoke is very much to the fore overlaying the black fruits. The fruit on the palate is sweet and ripe enriched by liquorice and dark chocolate lovely and fleshy the richness of the flavours filling out the back palate. 2020-40 Rating: 94 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk (Dec 2013)

Good medium ruby. Ripe, slightly high-toned aromas and flavors of cassis and chocolate, lifted by cedar and minerals. Then more dark berries and minerals in the mouth, complicated by a candied violet nuance. Not particularly large-scaled in what is a generally exotic, very ripe vintage, but intensely flavored and very well delineated, offering an enticing combination of ripeness and energy for the year. The long finish features a suave tannic backbone and repeating notes of dark berries and violet. Rating: 94 Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (Jul 2012)

Performing better from bottle than it did from cask (and comparable to their wines 2005, 2000, 1990 and 1982), this is a great classic from Xavier Borie’s estate situated on the back roads west of the town of Pauillac. Its dense ruby/purple color is followed by hints of spring flowers, crushed rocks, black currants, cedar and earth/underbrush. Precise and elegant as well as backward and foreboding, it should put on weight in the bottle and evolve for two decades. Very concentrated as well as velvety-textured, it is a beauty of finesse, balance, purity and nobility. It will benefit from 5-7 more years of bottle age. Drinking range: 2019 - Rating: 95 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, www.RobertParker.com (Feb 2012)

A very impressive Pauillac that won’t require you taking out a second mortgage to buy a case, this is deeply coloured and profound. Big and boldly structured, but not over-done. Very Cabernet in style, with lovely richness and concentration, fresh acidity and polished tannins. The decision to use less Merlot than usual is vindicated by what’s in the glass. 10+ years. Rating: 96 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (May 2010)

(80% cabernet sauvignon, 18% merlot and 2% cabernet franc; pH 3.72; 75 IPT; 70% new oak) Purple ruby. Smoky blackberry, blueberry juice, chocolate and a whiff of iron on the nose. With air, this became silky, pliant and rather easygoing, with good depth to the flavors of small dark berries and flint. Finishes with creamy tannins, good vinosity and sneaky length. Almost too easy to drink presently: should it develop more complexity, weight and depth, my score will look ungenerous. Rating: 88-91 Ian d'Agata, www.vinousmedia.com (May 2010)

Cabernet Sauvignon 80%, Merlot 18%, Cabernet Franc 2%. 70% new oak. Yield 44 hl/ha. Vibrant hue, cherry red core, and a bright pink-red rim. Dark and characterful fruit on the nose, full of Pauillac spice, with a crystalline tinge to the plum and cherry fruit. Beautiful texture on entry, it has the vibrant fruit of a cooler vintage than this, with a supple and elegant texture. Very well integrated and cottony-silky tannins, gently coating the mouth, together with lots of fresh acidity. Lovely fruit, but with fine structure for the future. Substantial finish with a good length. One for the classicists (including me). Rating: 17.5-18.5+ Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2010)

80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc. Very dark crimson. Dense and rich and supple – less obviously fresh than its Haut-Batailley stablemate. Very sweet and just a little lacking depth compared with some Grand-Puy Lacoste vintages. Sinewy. 2017-2030 Rating: 17 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2010)

Black red, big, smoky, almost leathery fruit, really great purity and intensity of flavour and great freshness and depth, with the tannins perfectly absorbed. Drink 2016-35. Rating: ****18 www.decanter.com (Apr 2010)

Lovely nose of sweet currant and blueberry that follows through to a full body, with juicy, velvety tannins and a licorice, tar and dark chocolate finish. Like it. The new 1982? Rating: 94-97 James Suckling, The Wine Spectator (Mar 2010)