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Grand Puy Lacoste 1986

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pauillac
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

Label

Tasting Notes

This wine is the finest Grand Puy Lacoste produced after 1990 or 1982 and before 1995. The 1986 still possesses an impressive deep ruby/purple color, as well as a classic nose of cedar, black currants, smoke and vanilla. It is full-bodied, powerful, authoritatively rich, and loaded with fruit, with a solid lashing of tannin not likely to ever totally melt away. This wine can be drunk now, although it is backward and unyielding. Certainly, it is one of the better northern Medocs of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2018.

90
Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (4), December 2003
91
Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (3), November 1998

The 1986 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has an intriguing nose, much richer and more opulent than I expected (reminiscent of the 1986 Cos d'Estournel that I tasted earlier the same day.) Whereas the 1996 is strict, this 1986 is much more plush but perhaps does not possess the same delineation. The palate leans more towards the red fruit than black with a sharp tang of a black pepper on the entry, good weight in the mouth, nicely focused with firm grip on the tarry, gutsy finish. You could broach this now of course or drink this over the next 20 years. You could argue that it is "uncouth" compared to recent vintages under Xavier Borie, but it is still certainly worth investigating (if you can find it, since there is nary a bottle left in the château bins!). Tasted July 2016.

89
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (228), December 2016
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.