CHÂTEAU GRAND PUY LACOSTE

The 2017 Grand Puy Lacoste was picked from 15 to 29 September cropped at 45hl/ha, matured in 75% new oak. It has a clean, precise and conservative bouquet that takes time to open. I like the mineral tension here, the focus, and hints of freshly shucked oyster shell emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, fresh in the mouth with plenty of cedar and tobacco-infused red and black fruit that drive a long, slightly peppery finish. It is a quintessential Grand Puy Lacoste, sans the frills of the 2016 and yet you can already imagine this being drunk to the very last drop in about ten years time. It is simply a very likeable Grand Puy Lacoste in the making. Tasted twice with consistent notes. Drinking range: 2022 - 2042 Rating: 91-93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2018)

80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot. Colour of blackcurrant juice. Fresh and peppery with lots of pure, fine cassis on the nose. Dark and pure. Silky, moreish, not that much more intense than the second wine Lacoste Borie but a little more persistent and more depth in the middle. Fine tannins, soft and supple. Fresh on the finish. Pure and persistent in its relative delicacy. Drinking range: 2025 - 2037 Rating: 17 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2018)

These guys often over-deliver in challenging years, and have done so yet again. As you would expect in a vintage that has produced such an excellent Lacoste Borie, this GPL is exceptional, a real success that's juicy and carefully extracted. It has weight and impact, with a Pauillac tannic hold and presence. It's one of my wines of the vintage, and a must buy. The balanced, sculpted, juicy black fruits fully deliver personality and signature style. Harvested 15-29 September, yielding 45hl/ha. 80% new oak. Drinking range: 2025 - 2038 Rating: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter (Apr 2018)

The 2017 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste is an 80/20 split of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot that was harvested between the 15th and 29th of September. Yields were a solid 45 hectoliters per hectare. This medium-bodied, fresh, lightly textured 2017 is a perfect example of the vintage with its charming, ripe, yet more mid-weight style. Classic Pauillac cassis, lead pencil, leafy herbs, and gravelly minerality all emerge from the glass. It’s going to benefit from just short-term cellaring and keep for a decade or more. Rating: 89-92 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (Apr 2018)

Very pretty and focused with a tight and refined palate of juicy tannins and a savory finish. Elegant. Rating: 92-93 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2018)

This is crunchy and lively, offering a bright herbaceous note mixed in with red and black currant fruit. There's good iron-driven cut on the finish. A bit backward, but the pieces are there for a textbook, mineral-driven Pauillac. Rating: 91-94 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2018)

François-Xavier Borie and his director Christel Spinner didn't have any trouble with frost this year. "There was no frost in Pauillac really", says François-Xavier, "maybe just 16 hectares at the very west of the appellation, but none elsewhere, and none in our vineyard". Here they started picking the Merlot on September 15th followed by the Cabernet Sauvignon on September 21st, finishing up on the 29th. The yield was a healthy 45 hl/ha, and the élevage will be in 75% new barrels. As for the blend, this was established in December 2017, and is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, a higher figure than both 2016 and 2015, and 20% Merlot. It has a lovely elegance to the fruit, fresh and savoury, with a little grilled red cherry. The palate shows a very refined texture, poised and delicately pointed, with a very soft and supple composition through the middle. It feels quite delicate, with red cherry and dried cranberry fruit, framed with a little cherry-stone precision. It has a light- to medium-bodied texture, with a silky elegance, and a well-judged and moderately grained tannic core. This has, I suspect, made the very best of this difficult vintage. Rating: 91-93 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2018)