2015 Château Grand-Puy-Ducasse
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Tasting notes
Tasted blind. Shaded ruby. Some richness and Pauillac’s mineral note, too, on the nose. Now this is a good wine with sufficient fruit that almost makes the tannin disappear (cf the St-Juliens). (JR)
Critic scores
James Suckling
Wine Spectator
More reviews and scores
The 2015 Grand Puy-Ducasse has a refined bouquet with cassis and violet scents that unfold with aeration, but it has a foot easing the brake. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins and black plum and bilberry fruit segueing into a chocolate-tinged finish. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting at Farr Vintners.
The 2015 Grand Puy Ducasse has a forward, rich bouquet that lacks the precision of the top wines from the appellation. This is quite earthy in style, hints of clove developing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannin, and overtly masculine and broody. The very structured, graphite-tinged finish is, frankly, no fun at the moment. Give it 10 years, though, and I think this could evolve into a classic Pauillac for those who love traditional claret. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.
Tasted blind. Dark crimson. Smells a bit mousey and ‘natural’. Then very voluptuous. Vegy, meaty notes without the structure of a classic Pauillac. (JR)
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.