Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste Pauillac 2016

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste is located on a hillock of gravel in Pauillac. The first owner of the estate can be traced back to the 16th century, M. Guiraud, a member of the Bordeaux Parliament. Over the generations the estate was passed along female lines of inheritance, often as a dowry, which accounts for the many different names of the Château. In 1844 Pierre-Frédéric Lacoste took over the Château, giving it its present name. He greatly increased the quality and reputation of its wines, culminating in its ranking as a Cinquième Cru, or 5th Growth, in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. Today the estate is still family-owned, and, uniquely for Châteaux in the Médoc, the dimensions of the estate and its vineyards haven't changed since 1855.

The Château sits on a small hill 20 meters above sea level on deep gravel soils.The estate consists of 90 hectares, 58 of which are planted to a mix of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc vines. The vineyards are worked with minimal chemical treatments and no insecticides. All grapes are hand-harvested by the same pickers that the Château employs year after year. The grapes are fermented in 48 different temperature controlled steel tanks with daily pumpovers. The wine is aged in 2/3 new Allier oak barrels for 16-18 months.

The Grand Puy Lacoste 2016 is an example once again of a vintage marked by a significant proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the assemblage - 79%, which demonstrates the tremendous potential of its terroir. The wine has a deep, bright crimson colour. There are aromas of intense black fruit which explode on the nose, underlining the character of perfectly ripe grapes whilst retaining an attractive mineral freshness. The whole is floral with a touch of spiciness. On the palate, there is a crescendo of flavours, suave, dense and complex. 2016 has fine balance and freshness coupled with a long finish sustained by ripe tannins. Once more, we find in this fine vintage the expression of the great terroir of Grand Puy Lacoste which underlines all its richness, complexity and elegance. It will take its place without any doubt among the great successes of the property thus completing a fine trilogy of vintages.