Pauillac AOC · 5ème Cru Classé (1855)

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste · 2016 · Left Bank Bordeaux blend (Cabernet-dominant)

entering · computed from type + maturity — banded, not measured
Pauillac — revealedPauillac · revealed

$109.99 · K&L Wines · ordered 2024-12-12 · sku 1439201

likedwouldn’t repurchase

Good — not as amazing as the Les Forts or the 2010 Léoville-Poyferré, but good. Probably wouldn't repurchase. Notable for the model: this is the most Cabernet-pure bottle drunk (79%), and it did NOT outperform blend-ier loved bottles.

entries reconstructed retroactively, 2026-07-19

critics/consensus

A textbook, classically styled Pauillac: cassis, cedar, and dusty graphite over firm, grainy tannin and fresh acidity — poised and built for the long haul rather than early charm.

critics/consensus

Descriptors

click a term to see why it attaches to this wine

fruit
cassispresent in this bottle’s notesclassic for Pauillac AOCclassic for Cabernet Sauvignon
blackberrypresent in this bottle’s notesclassic for Pauillac AOCclassic for Cabernet Sauvignonclassic for Merlot
black cherrypresent in this bottle’s notesclassic for Cabernet Sauvignonclassic for Merlot
plumpresent in this bottle’s notesclassic for Pauillac AOCclassic for Merlot
red currantpresent in this bottle’s notes
floral & herbal
violetpresent in this bottle’s notesclassic for Pauillac AOCclassic for Cabernet Sauvignon
mintpresent in this bottle’s notesclassic for Cabernet Sauvignon
earth & mineral
graphitepresent in this bottle’s notesclassic for Pauillac AOCclassic for Cabernet Sauvignon
crushed gravelpresent in this bottle’s notesclassic for Pauillac AOC
ironpresent in this bottle’s notesclassic for Merlot
salinepresent in this bottle’s notes
oak & spice
cedarpresent in this bottle’s notesclassic for Pauillac AOCclassic for Cabernet Sauvignon
baking spicepresent in this bottle’s notes
licoricepresent in this bottle’s notes
dark chocolatepresent in this bottle’s notesclassic for Cabernet Sauvignonclassic for Merlot
tertiary — with age
tobaccopresent in this bottle’s notesclassic for Pauillac AOCclassic for Cabernet Sauvignonclassic for Merlot
cigar boxpresent in this bottle’s notesclassic for Pauillac AOCclassic for Cabernet Sauvignon

The vintage

A benchmark Left Bank season of contrasts: a damp, wet first half of the year gave way to a very dry, warm summer verging on drought, and timely mid-September rains arrived at the ideal moment to refresh the vines and complete an even, healthy ripening.

2016 is a great classic Left Bank vintage — ripe, deeply coloured fruit married to firm, fine tannin and bright acidity from the dry summer and September freshening. At GPL it yields a poised, structured, cellar-worthy Pauillac in the estate's traditional mould.

Vineyard

Deep gravel, pebbles, and stones over a bed of limestone.

Two gravel rises up to ~20 m, 10,000 vines/ha, average vine age ~38 years with old vines back to 1947.

Estate fruit from GPL's single hillside block on the gravel croupes of Pauillac, essentially unchanged since 1855.

In the cellar & winery

Vinified in temperature-controlled stainless-steel vats sized to the parcels; malolactic in tank.

About 18 months in French oak barrels, roughly 75% new.

Classic, traditional GPL winemaking with no unusual interventions.

Composition

vintage-specific blend · abv 13.3%

window 2024–2050 · entering, as of mid-2026Just entering its drinking window (as of mid-2026): approachable with a decant but still youthful, with the tannins beginning to resolve.

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