Inky red in colour, the fruits are concentrated and knitted down and need some coaxing out of the glass to really open up - make sure you carafe this even if leaving for another few years, and enthusiastically swirl to let that oxygen in. As it opens you start to appreciate just how great this wine is - so balanced, so Pauillac, feathered but rich tannins, zero dip through the mid palate, black truffle, graphite and pencil lead set against cassis cassis and a little more cassis. The tertiary flavours won't come in for at least another decade, because everything here is so concentrated. Everything that you love about Grand Puy Lacoste is right here in this glass, and a vintage that shows what truly ripe fruits brings to Cabernet Sauvignon. Harvest September 28 to October 13. 75% new oak.
Tasted Sept 2021 - Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux

The 2016 Grand Puy-Lacoste has a clean, precise bouquet with nicely detailed blackberry, briar and tobacco aromas, touches of mint emerging with time, all utterly charming. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a fine bead of acidity, conveying a sense of symmetry throughout and leading into a deft, quite persistent finish. This is very classy, and it should age with style. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting.

A neoclassical edition of Grand-Puy-Lacoste, this has cedar, graphite, deeply integrated cedar and spicy-oak influence and a very fresh array of ripe blackberries, dark cherries and cassis. The palate is so seamless. It builds beautifully and delivers a long, seamless array of perfectly ripe dark fruit, swathed in fine, firm, ascending layers of tannins. As good as we have seen in recent vintages, this is a star of the vintage. Try from 2024.

Cedar, tobacco leaf, blackberry, currants, leafy herbs, and underbrush aromatics open the wine. Interestingly, at the moment, the wine is better on the palate with its non-stop layers of concentrated, ripe, sweet, powerful fruits. There is a rustic purity to the fruits which linger and expand in the finish. This could be the finest vintage of Grand Puy Lacoste ever produced. This is a steal for a Pauillac Classified Growth of this quality! Drink from 2028-2060. Tasted July 2022

The 2016 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is a powerful, exciting wine. That is the good news. But readers are going to have to be patient, as the 2016 shows very little of the upfront appeal that was so evident when it was in barrel. In the glass, the 2016 is sumptuous, vivid and incredibly detailed, with generous super-ripe red fruit and floral notes that develop with time. The wine's concentration and vibrancy lead me to think it will enjoy a very long life. Wow! - vinous.com, January 2019

A perennial BI favourite, Grand Puy Lacoste is home to the brilliant Xavier Borie, who delivers incredible value for money year after year. Pretty backward on the nose, hint of black fruit, but quiet. Sweet, sumptuous, sultry fruit on the palate, lots of ripe damson and blackcurrant fruit, sweet tannins, lovely energy and tension. Pure, smoky character. A success! - April 2017

The deep garnet-purple colored 2016 Grand-Puy-Lacoste gives up pure kirsch and red and black currants with violets and baking spices. Medium-bodied, firm and grainy, it's very expressive with good concentration and length.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Nov 2018

A lively style, with lots of briar and tobacco notes out front, backed by punchy plum and black currant paste flavors. Has a shot of sweet tobacco lining the finish, with echoes of savory and hints of iron giving this range and length. Best from 2023 through 2038. 10,000 cases made. — JM

Very dark crimson. Very ripe and fresh. Pretty glorious expression of the vintage on the nose. Slightly dry finish but really very energetic and may be a fairly good buy. Slightly dry on the end – very British claret! Drink 2025-2040. - jancisrobinson.com, April 2017