Grand Puy Lacoste 2020 (750ML)

97 VM / 97 WCI / 96 WS / 96 DE / 95+ JD / 94+ WA / 96-97 JS / 17.5 JR

#18 Wine Spectator Top 100 2023

The 2020 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has a wonderful, "cool" bouquet with refined, graphite-infused black fruit that simply oozes class. The palate is medium-bodied with sapid black fruit and wonderful symmetry, fresh and tensile with a persistent, tobacco-tinged finish that could only come from Pauillac. Wonderful. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

Cassis, cigar box, dried flowers, spice, herbs and blackberries crowd into the perfume. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, concentrated and rich. There is a lushness to the fruits, along with a softness and polish to tannins that is perfect for the wine and the vintage. Length, purity, complexity and a seemingly, endless, creamy finish caps everything off. This is the finest vintage ever produced at Grand Puy Lacoste. Fans of the estate, and Pauillac should be all over this wine. Drink from 2026-2060. - Jeff Leve, Wine Cellar Insider

A nice, tightly coiled Pauillac, with a blitz of iron and savory notes wrapped around a core of cassis, damson plum and black cherry. Sleek and tightly focused, with the iron note leaving a mouthwatering echo. Plenty tight through the finish too, so patience is needed here. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2028 through 2042. —J.M., Wine Spectator

The 2020 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is every bit as captivating from bottle as it was from barrel. Rich and explosive to the core, the 2020 possesses tremendous energy and nuance right out of the gate. Bright acids run through a core of ripe red plum fruit, blood orange, cedar and pipe tobacco. The 2020 is an absolute stunner. 96pts -- Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media 

Milk chocolate, blackcurrants, some cinnamon ,floral spice notes, cedar, touch of liquorice. Smooth and supple, lovely energy and vibrancy here, really quite high-toned and in focus, lovely precision to the details here - the tannins are firm, slightly coarse and grainy but do so well to give the structure in the mouth - really give the frame while the flavour and the acidity does the talking. I like the combination of fruit and texture and acidity, feels serious while maintaining energy, focus and drive. Lovely lightness of touch, flows along the palate, I also love the red fruit aspects - strawberry, red cherry, bright, seering, really so joyful here with acidity that lasts and lasts. But a lovely crunch and bite to the tannins overall and lovely fresh ending. Long. wide, open, generous and friendly. Finessed and refined. True signature here where they don’t push too hard, not too heavy on the extraction. - GH, Decanter

Cassis, graphite, smoked tobacco, and crushed stone-like minerality all emerge from the 2020 Château Grand-Puy Lacoste, a more focused, classic effort that has gorgeous purity of fruit, ripe, building tannins, and flawless balance. More in the style of the 2016 than the 2018 and 2019, it has tons of class. - Jeb Dunnuck

The 2020 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is excellent, offering up aromas of cassis and plums mingled with pencil shavings, violets and loamy soil framed by a touch of creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, pure and fleshy, with lively acids, powdery tannins and good depth at the core, its supple, charming style belies considerable aging potential. It's a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

This full-bodied red builds on the palate in a fantastic way with tight, compact tannins that grow and grow on the finish. Plenty of blackcurrant and graphite character and a flavorful finish. Same level as the excellent 2016. - James Suckling

Bright crimson hue. Classic in form and constitution. Firm and stately on the nose with graphite and dark-fruit notes. Juicy and fresh on the palate, the tannins smooth and refined but driving behind. Long, linear and persistent. Should age gracefully. - Jancis Robinson