Blackcurrants and walnuts with sweet berry and cherry undertones. Full-bodied with chewy tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Linear and intense tannins run the length of the wine with intensity and persistence. Try after 2026.
The 2019 Grand-Puy-Ducasse exhibits aromas of raspberries, currants and fruit liqueur mingled with subtle hints of loamy soil and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and demonstrative, with an ample core of fruit, ripe tannins and lively acids and a finish subtly marked by alcoholic warmth, this is more elegant than its muscular, powerful 2018 predecessor; but it's held back by that touch of alcoholic heat. The new ambition that's animating this historically lackluster estate, however, is more than evident, and there are surely great things to come from this address. Drink 2025-2045.
The 2019 Grand-Puy-Ducasse has a very deep purple-black color, slowly unfurling in the glass to offer profound notes of baked black plums, warm cassis and blackberry jam with touches of cedar chest, menthol, mocha and black olives plus a waft of lavender. The medium to full-bodied palate is built like a brick house, with a firm texture of ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness supporting the generous black fruit preserves, finishing with a lingering minty lift.
Powerful liquorice, cocoa bean, espresso and campfire smoke on the opening beats of the wine, silky tannins, well handled blackberry and cassis fruits. Bitter aniseed on the close of play, this has great momentum and lift, and is a successful Grand Puy Ducasse, a big step up from the 2nd wine. 40% new oak.
53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Merlot.
Black core. More subtle in aroma than the Croizet-Bages. The texture more refined at first but the tannins build to become big and dense. Black-fruited and so savoury the fruit almost disappears on the finish. Stay away for at least 10 years even if there is balance here. Massive tannins but in harmony. Just. (JH) 14.6%
Drink 2030 – 2042
The 2019 Château Grand-Puy Ducasse checks in as 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Merlot from 35-year-old vines and classic Pauillac gravelly soils. It's a deep, concentrated version of this wine, offering sensational blackcurrant and blueberry fruits intermixed with lots of chocolate, tobacco, and damp earth aromas and flavors. Superb on the palate as well, with full-bodied richness, a voluptuous texture, and loads of ripe tannins, it's unquestionably the finest vintage of this cuvée I've tasted. Bravo!
This is chewy and structured with slightly austere tannins, but shows solid intensity. Ripe yet fresh fruit. Tannic.
Lovely deep purple colour gives this an attractive Pauillac strength both visually and on the firm cassis-led attack. This is attractive, with well-worked but plentiful tannins and touches of austerity in the way you hope for in a young Pauillac. This is well balanced with firm cassis fruits and has a chewiness to the tannins that becomes more apparent on the finish. Spice and fresh mint leaf add interest and typicity. Tasted twice three weeks apart.
53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Merlot. Barrel sample.
Best of recent vintages? Certainly has more structure and power with additional mid-palate flesh. Firm and reserved on the nose with a dark-fruit nuance. A touch of sweetness on attack then the broader sweep provided by Merlot. Plenty of grainy tannins behind. Firm, dry finish.
