CHÂTEAU GRAND PUY LACOSTE
2020 5ème Cru Classé Pauillac
Market Insight: I've spoken a lot about how much value you can get from Bordeaux in the context of the global market - Grand Puy Lacoste is perhaps the epitome of this. It doesn't hold especially strong benchmarks (you can pick the 2010 up for £350/6) but each vintage is worth exploring when you consider just how outstanding this Pauillac is for the money.L&S (May 2021)
* 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.
The 2020 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is every bit as captivating from bottle as it was from barrel. Rich and explosive to the core, the 2020 possesses tremendous energy and nuance right out of the gate. Bright acids run through a core of ripe red plum fruit, blood orange, cedar and pipe tobacco. The 2020 is an absolute stunner. Drinking range: 2028 - 2050 Rating: 96 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Grand-Puy-Lacoste fulfils its promise from barrel. It has a very sophisticated and complex bouquet with black fruit, pencil shavings and light estuarine scents, beautifully defined and focused. The palate has real intensity and concentration, the precision belying a very intense GPL not unlike the 2016 with a persistent graphite-infused finish that is just pure finesse. Magnificent. Drinking range: 2027 - 2055 Rating: 96 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
A nice, tightly coiled Pauillac, with a blitz of iron and savory notes wrapped around a core of cassis, damson plum and black cherry. Sleek and tightly focused, with the iron note leaving a mouthwatering echo. Plenty tight through the finish too, so patience is needed here. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2028 through 2042. —J.M. 10 000 Cases made Rating: 96 The Wine Spectator, www.winespectator.com (Dec 2022)
I set the bar high when approaching a glass of GPL and so the fall would be particularly painful if this wine let my ambitious standards down. It is all the more gratifying when this wine, year after year, soars high above my hopes and it has the magnificent knack of looking accurate to its commune, its estate and also the vintage in 2020, bringing these threads together in a flavour which is wonderfully full, refreshing, elegant and complete. Nothing is rushed here, with layer upon layer of Cabernet, romancing the palate and the tannins are a juicy and resplendent as it gets. This is a fantastic Pauillac and one of the great triumphs of 2020. Rating: 18.5+ Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Jun 2021)
The 2020 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is an explosive, vibrant Pauillac. The bouquet alone is captivating. Lavender, grilled herbs, menthol, chocolate and crème de cassis all race out of the glass. A wine of vertical structure and precision, the 2020 is a total stunner. It simply dazzles from start to finish. Drinking range: 2032 - 2050 Rating: 93-96 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)
The 2020 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has a very refined, almost understated bouquet at first, but it opens in glorious fashion to offer precise blackberry and wild strawberry fruit, crushed stone and wild mint, gaining intensity at its own pace. The palate is beautifully balanced with fine-grained tannins, a keen thread of acidity, layers of intense black fruit and quite a spicy, vibrant and certainly persistent finish. This is a brilliant GPL from the Borie family. Drinking range: 2027 - 2055 Rating: 95-97 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)
The 2020 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste is a more fleshy, textured Pauillac that still plays in the concentrated, focused, structured style of the vintage. Ripe black cherries, currants, toasty oak, chocolate, and tobacco leaf notes give way to a medium to full-bodied, richly textured 2020 that has velvety tannins, good mid-palate depth, and a great finish. Do your best to hide bottles for 4-5 years and enjoy over the following 20-25 years or so. Rating: 92-95 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)
Enjoyable, powerful, concentrated, not the most generous of GPLs but they have captured the essence of Pauillac, and it's hard to resist. Sappy juicy finish, full of cassis, mint leaf and pencil lead along the way with a clear tightness to the tannic frame. A yield of 31hl/ha. 75% new oak for barrel ageing. Drinking range: 2027 - 2046 Rating: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)
76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot. Cask sample. Bright crimson hue. Classic in form and constitution. Firm and stately on the nose with graphite and dark-fruit notes. Juicy and fresh on the palate, the tannins smooth and refined but driving behind. Long, linear and persistent. Should age gracefully. Drinking range: 2028 - 2045 Rating: 17.5 James Lawther MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2021)
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 on 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' (excluding duty paid and VAT).
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price sits within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.
Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.
You can register your interest via the online wishlist form, by emailing privateclients@leaandsandeman.co.uk, or by calling 020 7221 1982. All wishlist requests are subject to availability and final confirmation. Inevitably, some wines will have to be allocated but please do not let that deter you from asking. We will do our best to satisfy all requests.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date.
Invoices are raised at in bond prices. Duty and VAT invoices will be raised on request when the wines land in the UK.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We reserve the right to levy a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (at 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 in bond deliveries are free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1,000. Orders below this total will be charged at £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchase from this offer, not a per-case charge. Please inform us of in bond delivery addresses and account details at the time of ordering.
- If the wines are required duty paid we will issue invoices at prevailing rate of duty and VAT when the wines arrive in the UK.
- The wines will become available by the end of the year and should be shipped very early next year.