2022 Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste - 5eme Cru Classe Pauillac

Decanter.com – 96 pts – GH: *Gorgeous vibrant purple colour in the glass, deep and darkly scented, black bramble fruits, flowers, cinnamon, dark chocolate and liquorice. Firm and forward, this is generous but sleek, so you get power and concentration but also juicy liveliness, great tension and energy. I really do like the ease of this, it's not trying too hard but delivered with poise, punch and purity. An excellent wine that really over delivers - so well presented, detailed, finessed and refined but still with the strength coming at the end in the wave of liquorice, dark chocolate and wet stone terroir markers. A brilliant wine with potential to deliver such excellent drinking pleasure. I love it. 3.57pH. A yield of 38hl/ha. 60% grand vin, 40% second wine. Eric Boissenot consultant. Harvest 7-23 September. Yield of 38hl/ha. Ageing in French oak, 75% new.* - 04/2023

Falstaff Magazin – 96 pts - PM: * Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Reife Pflaumen, kandierte Veilchen und Brombeeren, Tabak und Velours, ein Hauch von Nugat und Vanille, attraktives Bukett. Komplex, Cassis, schokoladige Textur, gute Frische, mineralisch-salzig im Abgang, süßer Nachhall, zeigt sehr gute Länge, erstaunlich kühler Stil mit viel Finesse, sicheres Reifepotenzial.* - 01/2023

Vinum Magazin – 18/20 pts: *Interessante, zurückhaltende Aromatik; ungemein kompakter Auftakt, grosse Frische und Rasse, Spannkraft und Länge; einmal mehr ein verblüffend stilvoller, zurückhaltender und enorm harmonischer Wein ohne jede Protzerei.* - 04/2023

WeinWisser – 18,5/20pts – GL, TW: *79 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 21 % Merlot, pH 3.57. Verzauberndes rotbeeriges Bouquet, frischer Schattenmorellensaft, getrockneter Rosmarin, heller Tabak, Eisenkraut und zarte Fliedernoten. Am komplexen, geradlinigen Gaumen mit seidiger Textur, stützender feinnerviger Rasse, reifem Extrakt sowie engmaschigem Tanningerüst. Im gebündelten, feinaromatischen Finale rote Pflaumen, Wachsnoten und körnige Adstringenz. Ein beruhigender Pauillac, den es sich zu suchen lohnt!* – 04/2023

JancisRobinson.com – 17+/20pts – JL: *79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot. Cask sample. Deep colour. Marked Cabernet nose. Cassis with a vibrant freshness. Juicy fruit and well-integrated tannins with a more textural feel this year. Reserved, measured, structured. Identity unchanged.* - 04/2023

Vinous.com – (92-94)+ pts – AG: *The 2022 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is a very pretty wine. Forward and quite showy, the 2022 comes across as a wine that will drink well with minimal cellaring. Succulent dark cherry, plum, leather, incense and dried herbs are nicely delineated. There’s good complexity and depth, but it is the radiance of the year that is front and center. Hints of blood orange, pomegranate, spice and a pretty rose petal/violet note linger.* - 04/2023

Vinous.com – (96-98) pts – NM: *The 2022 Grand Puy Lacoste was picked from 7 to 23 September and contains more Merlot due to the high quality of the fruit, matured in 75% new oak. There is 14.2% alcohol. Therefore, this lends this GPL a little more precocity and sensuality compared to other vintages, not cut from the same "classical" cloth as, say, the 2019 or 2020. Underlying this velvety veneer are enticing traits of freshly-rolled tobacco and undergrowth. The palate is medium-bodied with finely-sculpted tannins. Silky smooth in texture, so much so that it belies that backbone underneath. There is a peacock's tail of mineral-rich, quite peppery black fruit on the finish, completing a Pauillac endowed with huge potential.* - 04/2023

Thewinecellarinsider.com – (95-97) pts – JL: *Flowers, blackberries, spice, cigar box, black currants, cherries, and cedar open the perfume. On the palate, the wine is sweet, fresh, spicy, chewy, and almost creamy in the dark, red, pit fruit finish. The wine is long, with intensity, complexity, and aging ability. The wine is a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot, 14.2% ABV, 3.57 pH. Picking took place September 7 - September 23. This is the earliest harvest in the history of the estate. Yields were 38 hectoliters per hectare. Only 60% of the harvest was placed into the Grand Vin. This wine has the potential to score even higher when it is in bottle. Drink from 2027 - 2060.* - 05/2023