CHÂTEAU GRAND PUY LACOSTE
2012 5ème Cru Classé Pauillac
At peak now, but it will maintain this level for a few years. Classic Pauillac notes of cedar, pencil box, dark berry fruit (cassis) and spice, tannins resolved and giving a smooth fulness, well balanced acidity drawing out a long finish. Not the biggest GPL given the vintage, but very attractive drinking now.L&S (Oct 2024)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot. 36 hl/ha. First bottle oxidised (harsh and lacking fruit), the second a considerable improvement. Deep colour to the rim. Purer fruit on the nose. Lovely texture, the tannins refined and the fruit juicy and appealing. Structured but gratifying at the same time. There’s pleasure to be had here. (JL) Alcohol: 13.5% Drinking range: 2024 - 2032 Rating: 17/20 James Lawther MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Sept 2025)
The 2012 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has an impressive cassis-tinged bouquet with fresh tobacco and graphite infused black fruit that are very well focused and neatly integrated with the oak. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, a keen thread of acidity, finely proportioned with a vibrant graphite-infused finish. One of the standout Left Bank wines of the vintage. Tasted twice at Bordeaux Index's Ten Year-On tasting and blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting. Drinking range: 2023 - 2040 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Sept 2022)
Stands out in the lineup, violet-ringed in colour (where many have softened to a gentle ruby at this point). A kick of cloves and ripped blackberry fruits on the aromatics, studded with violet flowers. Less depth through the mid palate that you find in Grand Puy Lacoste in the biggest years, but there are still muscular tannins and grip, and a sense of pushing forwards towards pleasure. Plenty of Pauillac signature, one to recommend and can begun to be opened from now. Harvest October 3 to 16, 75% new oak for ageing. Rating: 93 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (Mar 2022)
Richly dark purple, touches of reduction on the first nose with flint and gunsmoke, rose bud, rose petals, bilberries and blackberries. A brilliant wine that shows how well Grand Puy Lacoste performs in smaller vintages, and why lovers of this label feel happy to buy it year after year. Chewy tannins showing that it is very much approaching its drinking window but still has plenty of life ahead. This is powerful at nine years old, and will benefit from carafing. Harvest October 3 to 16, 75% new oak. First year with Christel Spinner as technical director and R&D manager. Drinking range: 2021 - 2040 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (Oct 2021)
Always a favorite among consumers, Xavier Borie’s is a fifth-growth Pauillac that consistently performs at a much higher level. The 2012 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has the classic, tell-tale crème de cassis as well as some bluer fruits and floral notes. Medium-bodied, its ripe tannin, beautiful fruit and low acidity give it an up-front appeal. There’s no harm in drinking it now or cellaring it for another 12-15+ years. Drinking range: 2015 - 2030 Rating: 91 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, www.RobertParker.com (Apr 2015)
The nose has the freshness of cherry with behind lots of blackcurrant. Sweet fruit gives richness and suppleness on the palate the black fruits underpinned by liquorice and coffee beans. Bramble freshness gives a lighter more elegant feel to the finish. 2020-35 Rating: 92-96 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk (Dec 2013)
The Grand Puy Lacoste 2012 is a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot picked between 3rd and 16th October at 36hl/ha and matured in 75% new oak. The aromatics are reticent at first, demand coaxing from the glass. It reluctantly offers blackberry, small dark cherries and a fragrant seaweed scent. The palate is medium-bodied with firm, grainy tannins that appear fully ripe. There is a very attractive symmetry to this wine, wonderful focus with a fresh, refined finish that is not powerful like the 2009 or 2010, but offers a pleasant salty tang. This is a well crafted wine for the vintage. Rating: 92-94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2013)
Deep purple-ruby. Highly aromatic nose offers scents of smoky blackberry, red cherry, violet, cocoa and spicy oak. Juicy, spicy and rather deep for the vintage, with nicely concentrated sour cherry and bright blackcurrant lifted by a floral element. A peppery twist complicates the rising, almost creamy finish, which shows a restrained sweetness and sneaky concentration. One of the top two dozen wines of the vintage. Rating: 90-92 Ian d'Agata, www.vinousmedia.com (May 2013)
Edgy blackcurrant aromas. Dense and, for the first time, this wine seems a little lacking in freshness. Almost as though it had been deacidified! Perhaps this was not a good sample as this property usually over-delivers. 2018 - 2030. Rating: 16 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2013)
GPL is one of those châteaux that delights its followers year after year without ever getting the recognition it deserves from American critics. This is typical of the style, with the emphasis on grace and balance, chiseled acidity, medium-weight tannins, pure cassis fruit and a nuanced, sweet finish. Drink: 2020-35 Rating: 94 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2013)
Superb colour, all the density of cassis/graphite fruit of a true Pauillac and lots of depth, elegance and class for an assured future. Drink: 2017 - 2035 Rating: 17.75 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2013)
More feminine than usual with exquisite perfume and tender, multi-layered fruit. Ultra-classy and fine. Rating: 18 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Apr 2013)
Racy, taut and mineral-driven, with iron coating the red currant and violet notes. Delivers a long, sleek finish. Rating: 89-92 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2013)
Château Grand Puy Lacoste
Pauillac Cinquième Cru 1855.
If there's an estate that can rival Lynch Bages for the crown of most over-performing 5th Growth, it would be Grand-Puy-Lacoste.
The "Grand Puy" is the low gravelly hill on which the vineyards sit. In 1750 a portion were sold to Pierre Ducasse and became, obviously, Château Grand Puy Ducasse while the rest, after a couple of name changes owing to inheritance by daughters, became Château Grand Puy Lacoste.
The Borie family bought into Grand Puy Lacoste in 1978 and began quite a renaissance for the property.
Just a few kilometres from the town of Pauillac, the vineyards of Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste total roughly 36 hectares (90 acres) with Cabernet Sauvignon making up 75% of the total plantings and the rest belonging to Merlot (20%) and Cabernet Franc (5%). Typical of the region, the vineyard consists of a deep gravel top soil on a limestone base.
Production is about 12,000 cases of wine in an average year. Fermentation takes place in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks, and then the wines are placed into oak barrels (50% new) for 18 months of aging.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.