Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste

Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste was part of a single estate, along with Grand-Puy Ducasse, located in Pauillac. Sitting on the grand puy, referring to the gravel hill or mound with soils perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon, the estate was belonged to Monsieur de Guiraud about five centuries ago.

One of Guiraud’s daughters married a gentleman named Dejean, and the estate was passed down the line. Dejean owned Lynch-Bages as well, and during his tenure the estate was divided into the two grand-puy as of today, after selling some of the vineyards to Pierre Ducasse in 1750.

The remaining was inherited by one of his daughters Bertrand, with the estate passing down the female line through two generations. Her grand-daughter was married to Monsieur de St-Guiron, and the estate was then known as St-Guiron. Their daughter later married to Francois Lacoste, and it was through this union that the estate’s modern name was originated.

Listed in the 1855 classification as a fifth growth, it shared the same ranking with Grand-Puy-Ducasse. Francois Lacoste also built the chateau, and subsequently passed to his son Frederic. Frederic then passed onto his daughter Madame de St-Legier, but then a series of ownership changes saw the estate changed hands to Neal and Heriveau, and later to Raymond Dupin in 1932.

The estate fell into decline with the issue of phylloxera, oidium, war and depression in the late 19^th and early 20^th century, with the vineyards reducing from 55 ha to less than half in the 1960s, to the low point of 25 ha. The turnaround happened in 1978 when Dupin sold half of the estate to Jean-Eugene Borie of Ducru-Beaucaillou.

The Borie family gradually took over the responsibility, and now Francois-Xavier, son of Jean-Eugene, runs the estate. Under Francois-Xavier there was much investment and innovation, and the quality improved the years.

Now it covers 55 ha, with a single block of vineyard, planting predominately with Cabernet Sauvignon (75%), with the remaining Merlot. The planting density is 10000 vines per ha, with average age of 38 years. The soil is rich in pale, gravelly pebbles.

Manually harvested, there is a sorting done before the grapes are destemmed, followed by another sorting before going to stainless steel fermentation vats. The must will be macerate for three weeks before putting into 70% new oak for up to 20 months. The grand vin is Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste, with about 18000 cases per annum, and a second wine Lacoste-Borie is also produced.

I have recently tasted the 2004 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance
Bright and clear, this wine is of deep ruby color, with legs.

Nose
Clean, the nose shows medium intensity aromas of black fruit such as blackcurrant and blackberry, animal notes of farmyard, pungent spice of liquorice, oak notes of cedar, maturity notes of tobacco. The wine is developing.

Palate
Dry, it has medium (+) acidity and medium (+) tannin of ripe and rounded texture. The alcohol level is medium, with a medium (+) body, showing medium intensity flavors of black fruit such as blackberry and dark cherries, oak notes of cedar, MLF notes of cream, herbal notes of black tea. The wine has medium finish.

Conclusion
Good quality Pauillac though not particularly impressive, the wine shows reasonable concentration and complexity on the nose, and the tannin and acidity all providing a nice structure for the wine. The palate is having fair concentration and complexity, with some herbal notes, which shows it is coming from a vintage with some ripeness issues. The finish is reasonable, and it is ready to drink now but can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.