1988 Grand Puy Ducasse
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Tasting notes
The 1988 Grand Puy Ducasse is a wine that I last tasted with no less than Michael Broadbent during a bibulous dinner in Tokyo back in 2004. The bouquet has faded since back then but is still nicely defined with cedar and tobacco stained red fruit, a subtle ferrous tincture and cooked meat. The palate is medium-bodied with light tannin, crisp acidity, lacking substance and a little monotone now on the finish yet with decent length. It is a fading Pauillac but certainly constituted one of the better wines from the estate in this decade. Tasted at the château.
Critic scores
Average Score
Wine Spectator
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
The 1988 Grand-Puy-Ducasse is a lighter-weight version of the 1989, less alcoholic, but more tannic and compact. Nevertheless, it has fine fruit and attractive ripeness. Drink it over the next 3-5 years.
Spicy, exotic aromas and flavors run through this massively concentrated but still elegant wine. Has plenty of tannin, but the jammy currant, spice and cedar flavors make their presence felt. Will need until 1997 to 2001 to soften. James Suckling, Wine Spectator 1991.
The 1988 Grand-Puy-Ducasse is a lighter-weight version of the 1989, less alcoholic, but more tannic and compact. Nevertheless, it has fine fruit and attractive ripeness. Drink it over the next 3-5 years. Feb 1993, www.robertparker.com
About the producer
The 40 hectares of this Pauillac Fifth Growth are spread across three sites, pieced together in the 18th century by Pierre Ducasse. Today owned by France’s Crédit Agricole bank, they have some very fine vineyard land, with their northernmost plot neighbouring Mouton and Lafite.