Beautiful purity and freshness to the blackcurrants and blackberries with subtle notes of cedar and graphite. Medium- to full-bodied. So polished and silky, almost weightless. It’s very long. 77% cabernet sauvignon and 23% merlot.

The Grand Vin 2023 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste checks in as 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Merlot (the 11th to the 28th of September) with the élevage in 75% new French oak. Its deeper plum hue is followed by beautiful aromatics of crème de cassis, graphite, and flowers. This carries to a medium-bodied Pauillac with a pure, elegant mouthfeel, ripe, polished tannins, and beautifully integrated oak. It's a little gem of a 2023 that has the pure, focused, elegant, yet concentrated style of the vintage.

Fragrant floral and blackcurrant notes on the nose. Just ripe fruit, on the bright side but nothing out of place, not too high toned or too sour. It’s lacking a touch in density, but makes up for it in precision and nuance. Lots of fine, salty and spiced tannins support the pure fruit with a graphite edge that lingers on the tongue. It’s clean and focussed, not so vertical or wide, but there’s finesse here no doubt. Mouthwatering and minty all the way through. Very classy and classic with fine ageing potential. Excellent quality. Ageing 75% new oak. 3.56pH. A yield of 48hl/ha. 55% grand vin production. 12.5% press wine.

Aromas of cassis, cigar wrapper, pencil shavings and violets introduce the 2023 Grand-Puy-Lacoste, a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and supple wine that's seamless and sensual, with good depth at the core, beautifully integrated tannins and a lively, charming profile. It's a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Merlot that was picked between September 11-28.

We are in classic Grand Puy Lacoste territory here, great balance, good freshness, Pauillac typicity, less concentration than 2022, showing instead bright cassis and blackberry fruits, salted cracker edge, liquorice, graphite, spiced cocoa beans, and flashes of fresher redcurrants on the close of play. Great quality, and you can see the fine ageing potential stretching ahead. 75% new oak, rest one year old, around 60% of production in this 1st wine (this is similar each year, as here the vineyard footprint has not changed since 1855). Harvest September 11 to 28.

Aromas of cassis cigar wrapper pencil shavings and violets introduce the 2023 Grand-Puy-Lacoste a medium to full-bodied fleshy and supple wine that's seamless and sensual with good depth at the core beautifully integrated tannins and a lively charming profile. It's a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Merlot that was picked between September 11-28.

The 2023 Grand Puy Lacoste was picked September 11 to 28 at 48hL/ha and matured in 75% new oak. It has a classic "GPL" bouquet with blackberry pencil box and light marine scents obviously not as powerful as the previous vintage yet in typical style beautifully defined and focused. Just a touch of cracked black pepper surfaces with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with gentle but insistent grip just a light bitter edge lending tension and nerve. I perceive good depth here but this is not a powerhouse of a Pauillac (is GPL ever?). It fans out toward the finish whilst maintaining control. There’s an impressive linearity to this wine and thus I suspect it will require less bottle-age compared to recent vintages.

The 2023 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is powerful reticent and shy revealing notes of black cherry gravel scorched earth and licorice. It’s rich ample and quite potent marked by an intriguing mix of super-ripe Merlots and later-picked Cabernet. All of this fruit was picked before the September rain so the tannins are a touch aggressive. Time in bottle should help this come together.

77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot. 48 hl/ha. Bottled June 2025. Deep crimson hue. Dark fruit with a lick of vanilla oak. Suave, round and long with a certain lift and freshness on the finish. Smooth and polished, the tannins finely honed. Needs to settle but promises well. (JL)