Château Grand Puy Lacoste 1947-2017: the backbone of Pauillac

Inky ruby colour even at 10 years old, easily as good as the 2016 and possibly even better. You can spend a lot more money on wines of this vintage and not get as much pleasure as you are getting in the glass here. Pure brilliant Pauillac, dripping with liquorice, black chocolate, rose petals, blackberries, liqourice, smoked earth, cassis, all poised with purity. Only just thinking about its drinking window, and just so generous and balanced even now, but come back in 10 years and it will only have moved on a few tiptoes - this is a slow-ageing, confident wine that will take its time. Harvest 29 September to 12 October, 75% new oak.

Inky red in colour, the fruits are concentrated and knitted down and need some coaxing out of the glass to really open up - make sure you carafe this even if leaving for another few years, and enthusiastically swirl to let that oxygen in. As it opens you start to appreciate just how great this wine is - so balanced, so Pauillac, feathered but rich tannins, zero dip through the mid palate, black truffle, graphite and pencil lead set against cassis cassis and a little more cassis. The tertiary flavours won't come in for at least another decade, because everything here is so concentrated. Everything that you love about Grand Puy Lacoste is right here in this glass, and a vintage that shows what truly ripe fruits brings to Cabernet Sauvignon. Harvest September 28 to October 13. 75% new oak.

Depth and power from the first nose, stil young and a little austere, showing that 2005 is still taking its time to fully come around. But it just starting to really live up to expectations, packed with truffles, tar, and cigar box spices, gives a wonderful preview of what will happen to the 2010 and 2016 over time. There is a delicacy in this also, with soy, black tea, campfire smoke, smoked earth. A classic Grand Puy Lacoste, from an effortlessly balanced vintage, at the point of its ageing where Pauillac almost becomes St Julien in its finesse and balance. Zero rush to open, and it will easily stay in this delightful holding pattern for the next few decades. Harvest September 22 to October 5, 70% new oak.

Generous, juicy, a vintage that I am starting to often prefer - at least right now - to the 2010, but it is not quite pipping it for me at Grand Puy Lacoste. You'd be hard-pressed to argue with this wine though, it is delicious, balanced, full of blackberry, blueberry and raspberry fruits. Holds its line right through the mid palate without blinking, luscious dark chocolate-covered tannins, and manages to convey the savoury power of Pauillac even in such a warm year. 70% new oak, harvest 24 September to 7 October.

Traces of butterscotch-smoked sweetness that shows the warm conditions of the year. Garnet and ruby in colour, there is an attractive sense of uplift, and the terroir impact is clearer than it was En Primeur, as always happens with the best estates after a few years in bottle. The classic Pauillac character is starting to assert itself, with crushed mint, cedar, slate, smoked earth and cardamon alongside blueberry, bilberry and cassis fruits. After half an hour in the glass it deepens in complexity, revealing the most gorgeous floral aromatics. 75% new oak.

A vintage that gave its best side in Pauillac and St Estèphe, equal in many ways to the 2015 that followed, and better in some cases (but not always; the 2015 even in these two appellations is often the one to choose). Rich ruby colour, with depth and silkiness to the tannins. Think of this like a mini 2016 - all the same glorious savoury but concentrated fruits, the same graphite, pencil lead and flint that speaks of the appellation, but will be ready to drink just a little sooner, and not quite the same depths. Brilliant, with a juicy slate signoff. 75% new oak. September 25 to October 9.

A strikingly successful wine at 31 years old, from one of the great Cabernet Sauvignon vintages, requiring patience for the first decade but proving impressively long-lasting. Bilberry, loganberry and cassis fruits all very much still in play, set against smoked, grilled earth, flint and pencil lead nuances. A classic Pauillac, essence of Grand Puy Lacoste. Harvest September 17 to October 5, exact blend not recorded. 50% new oak for ageing.

There is power still lurking here, even if hidden by the brambled fruits and earthy black truffle and tar notes. As it opens in the glass, the tannins begin to relax, showing depth and complexity to the spice and leather backbone. Deeper and more powerful then the 1995 even though a decade older, this is a juicy, classic and balanced wine that offers so much pleasure. Harvest October 2 to 16, 50% new oak.

A lighter-framed vintage that will be ready to drink before the classic 10 year window. You see hints of this immediately in the plum colour, with shadings of a lighter raspberry around the rim even at four years old. The fruit is savoury blackcurrant and bilberry, with sculpted tannins that make their presence felt. Elegance and finesse show the Cabernet dominance, and the slate and smoke edge give complexity. Needs a few years but I would keep checking in, because there will come a point - as with the 2007s before it - that this will offer succulent drinking pleasure, and for me it is one of the clear standout successes of the 2017 vintage in Pauillac. Harvest September 15 to 29. 75% new oak, technical director Christel Spinner, consultant Eric Boissenot.

We are really getting in to the stride at this point of what you get with an older Grand Puy Lacoste - it is so juicy, so restrained, beautifully balanced. This is a vintage which is pretty surly in many cases but here it feels effortless, brushed with pencil lead and eucalpytus, still young with plenty to give. Entering that window when you could drink it tomorrow or in 15 years and you would be getting the same experience - the early austerity is just beginning to disappear, and behind you have essence of Pauillac. Serve a little cool to allow the floral character to unfold as it warms up. Harvest September 21 to October 4.

The 10 year window for this wine, and it has softened up a little even over the past 6 months since I tasted it for 10 Years On. Sculpted, a little austere, and majors on the rose bud, cassis bud and ash aromatics that suggest a cooler vintage - this year was extremely dry for much of it, but not hot. Juicy redcurrant and blackcurrant fruits, a classic Grand Puy Lacoste in the line of 2014 and 2016, ticking plenty of house-style boxes, making it a great choice for lovers of this estate. No need to wait too long from now, although it will hold. Harvest 15 to 29 September.

Extremely fragrant, this confims what I am finding with many 2007s right now - that this is a great moment to drink them. This has gorgeous swirling smoke aromatics, black tea, tar, eucaplyptus, mint, beautifully sweet plum, black cherry and blackberry fruits, just the most perfect moment to drink this wine and punching way above expectations. That is phenomenally elegant, juicy, mouthwatering with tension and fine tannins that you can feel stretching out. The surprise of the vertical for me. If you are going to pick one to open now, this is the one. Harvest September 24 to October 8.

Interesting to see the difference in the shape of the tannins with the 2005; this is a gorgeous wine but with slightly harder edges. Impressively fresh acidities that emphasisd crushed mint and eucalyptus, still with great juice through the finish. Proof again of how Grand Puy Lacoste overperfoms in challenging vintages. Classic, balanced, plenty of textured slate on the finish. Harvest September 27 to October 13, 70% new oak.

Richly dark purple, touches of reduction on the first nose with flint and gunsmoke, rose bud, rose petals, bilberries and blackberries. A brilliant wine that shows how well Grand Puy Lacoste performs in smaller vintages, and why lovers of this label feel happy to buy it year after year. Chewy tannins showing that it is very much approaching its drinking window but still has plenty of life ahead. This is powerful at nine years old, and will benefit from carafing. Harvest October 3 to 16, 75% new oak. First year with Christel Spinner as technical director and R&D manager.

Earthy tannins that are a little austere, this is classic Pauillac but is softened and beginning to show hints of tertiary, soy, olive and sweet strawberry notes. If you are going to drink now, give it a good 2 or 3 hours in carafe to really stretch out, as there are some subtle layers of smoke and cedar that become clearer with time, and this wine is far from giving up all its secrets yet. No mid palate dip, and still with depth to the cassis fruits, but not as concentrated or powerful as the best years. Harvest October 2 to 14, 70% new oak.

The colour is almost identical to the 1981, even though 34 years older. Tawny, laced with saline oyster shell notes from the start. Smoked duck, faded rose petals, with the most lovely lilting acidities raising berry fruits against lace tannins. Raymond Dupin was owner at the time, having bought it in 1939, and was just returned from being held as a prisoner of war during WW2 (he fought in WW1 also, so must have had stories to tell around his Pauillac supper table). Things were tough in 1947, with supplies scarce, and yet Dupin made a wine that still has a force of character, and a sense of energy. It's one of those bottles where you feel that as it has gone on for this long, you'd be hard pressed to bet against it going longer.

The deep gravel soils that you find at Grand Puy Lacoste are not ideal for a vintage as hot and dry as 2003, and you do feel the impact of drier fruits, with fig and prune evident along with more generous blackberry and raspberry. Still has a fresh feel on the finish with fennel, eucalyptus and autumnal leaf aromatics. This is gentle and appealing, softer than many vintages but still with personality and hold. Harvest October 15 to 26, 70% new oak.

Soft at 23 years old, fairly high acidities on the finish. After a good 30 minutes in the glass, wonderfully delicate aromatics of rose petals mix with rapsberries, blackerries, soft fennel and sage. Stays in the glass for 30 minutes no problem, soft but still going strong. Harvest 24th of September to 7th of October.

Pretty much ready to go now, it has the pencil lead and cassis of vintage Grand Puy Lacoste, but all softer-framed and shorter on the palate, wiith pale ruby around the edge of the glass, more evolved in colour than any of the others in this past decade. September 30 to October 11, 75% new oak.

Significantly softer than 1998, beautifully graceful, with whisps of campfire smoke and autumnal hedgerow blackberry puree, held in place by barely there tannins. A warm vintage and you see the generosity. It is absolutely ready to drink, and begging for a quiet corner and a good book. Soft in the finish but with poise and charm. September 18 to October 3.

Interesting to try this vintage over the more famous 1982 (apparently lots of English tasters preferred this one at the time). It's a wine with traces of Pauillac tannins and savoury fruits, but these are now very much in autumnal mode, laced with white truffles, rosehips and soy. Not long left on this wine, I would suggest opening bottles that you have. At this point it was in the early years of ownership by the Borie family, who came on board in 1978.