Chateau
Grand-Puy Ducasse is originated from a larger estate along with
Grand-Puy-Lacoste. Grand Puy is referred to the hills a few kilometres inland
of the town of Pauillac. That bigger estate was once belonged to a Monsieur de
Guiraud, who got two daughters and one of them was married to a gentleman
called Dejean.Dejean was rich and acquired other estates including Lynch-Bages. It was only in 1750 when Dejean passed part of the vineyards to a creditor named Pierre Ducasse, that Grand-Puy Ducasse was ‘founded’. The remaining portion of the estate was left in the hands of the Dejean family and remained so till today, becoming Grand-Puy-Lacoste.
Pierre’s
son inherited the estate in 1797, calling the property Ducasse-Grand-Puy-Artigues-Arnaud,
by which it already covered 60 hectares. There are three plots, in the north it
lies close to the Mouton and Lafite vineyards, then there is the plot around
the Grand-Puy, with the remaining to the south close to the Batailley estates.
It was
ranked fifth growth in the 1855 classification, and most people ranked
Grand-Puy-Lacoste ahead of Ducasse, even up till now.
Although
Pierre was more the official founder of the chateau, the house where the
current chateau is located was acquired by Arnaud Ducasse in the middle of the
17th century. It was rebuilt in the 19-century estate, which is close
to the quay in Pauillac, not among the vines, the region’s sole truly urban
chateau.
The
wines were not regarded highly in the decade when phylloxera, oidium, war and
depression hurting the industry. By the opening of the 20th century
the estate was owned by the Deroy de Suduiraut family, a brand of the famous
family in Sauternes. Later it was acquired by Mestrezat, and incorporated into
the Cordier-Mestrezat firm of negociants.
The
Merlaut family then purchased a substantial share of Mestrezat, and afterwards there
was also investment coming from the French bank Credit Agricole. Now the
vineyards cover 40 hectares, much more than the original 10 hectares under the direction
of Ducasse.
With
deep gravel soil over limestone bedrock, it is planted with 62% Cabernet
Sauvignon and 38% Merlot, with average vine age over 30 years. The cellar and
chai were renovated in recent years, with stainless steel vats.
The
grapes are harvested by hand, fermented in stainless steel, and macerated up to
three weeks, with pumping over twice every day. The wine is then aged in oak
with up to 40% new each vintage, for up to 18 months. The grand vin has 18000
cases per annum, and there are two second labels, Chateau Artigues-Arnaud and
Prelude a Grand-Puy Ducasse of about 2000 cases. I have recently tasted the 2003 and 2006 vintage. Below are my tasting notes:
2003
Very good quality Pauillac with medium ruby color, an intense nose showing good complexity, with blackcurrant, plum, cigar box, graphite, smoke and cedar, nutmeg, violet. Fairly high in acidity but in good balance, the tannin is ripe though a bit dried-out, the wine is quite full-bodied and with reasonable concentration, showing blackcurrant, cigar box, cinnamon, plum and violet. Reasonable in finish, if only the length can be longer it would be a much-more all-round wine. Ready to drink now and can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.
2006
Good quality Pauillac with medium ruby color, the nose is fairly intense, with reasonable complexity showing black cherries, cranberry, eucalyptus, violet, chocolate, liquorice, toast. Rather youthful. Medium in acidity, the tannin is ripe and velvety, the wine is fairly full-bodied with reasonable concentration of black cherries and blackberry, cream, cinnamon and chocolate. Rather disappointing with a fairly short finish, the herbal note is a bit too dominating. Ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.
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