Chateau Grand-Puy Ducasse, sometimes affectionately acronym-ed as GPD, belongs to a historic Grand-Puy family, and hence shares a common denominator with its neighbouring Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste. The name Puy itself is actually taken to refer to a hill, and in the case of the estate, there happens to be a small hill that sits on the western edge of the Bages plateau that exists within its compounds.

A Brief History Of Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse

This all goes back to its history in the mid-18th Century when an Arnaud Ducasse had purchased a small house along the Gironde river that came with some land he had purchased from Jacques de Segur (also of a historic Bordeaux family with numerous notable vineyards carrying the Segur name).

The Grand Puy Ducasse chateaux.

This little house later became the very location of the estate's chateau, which very iconically is one of the very few instances of a Bordeaux chateaux not residing within its vineyards!

And thus over the years, this Left Bank estate would grow in size as a result of several acquisitions. This was up until the prolific Bordeaux family, the Dejean's, had split up the land - part of it that was sold to a Pierre Ducasse became known as Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse, whilst the remainder was to be Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste (with a section forming also Chateau Lynch Bages).

Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse would change hands numerous times, and with that came numerous name changes, that is until it finalised to its current name as a way to honour the early founders of the estate. At one point, Chateau GPD would even find itself owned by a member of the illustrious Sauternes family, the Suduiraut's. Regardless, what is most key here is that the estate had managed to do well for itself, and in the landmark 1855 Bordeaux Classification, would be ranked as a Fifth Growth estate - a pretty solid showing!

In the estate's more recent history, it would come to be owned by several companies, in one instance in the earlier half of the 1900's, being managed by the Bouteillier family which also manages the well-established Chateau Pichon Baron, and then later on by CA Grands Crus belonging to the Credit Agricole banking group. Under CA Grands Crus, the estate has flourished with the help of several high profile consultants - in 2013, Hubert de Bouard of Chateau Angelus was brought onto the estate. With them, Ch. CPD had brought on technological advancements such as optical sorters which has helped yield better wines, as well as a complete renovation of the cellars with all new cement, egg-shaped vats for vinification to give the wines more complexity.

Into The Vineyards And Cellars Of Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse

The estate itself is of 40 hectares, and is planted with about 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. The soils here are characterised by gravel, clay and sand, and be split into three main blocks across 60 separate parcels, with the overall terrain being quite diverse in terroir. The vines here are about 30 years old on average, and is planted to a density of 8,000 to 10,000 vines per hectare, with the density continuing to increase with each vintage. The estate has also been in the process of converting to organic farming since 2014.

In the cellars, the wines are vinified in stainless steel vats, with a small percentage of the wines undergoing malolactic fermentation in barrel. The wines are aged in on average 50% new French oak barrels for about 18 months before being bottled and released. It's also worth noting that Ch. Grand Puy Ducasse actually has included a second wine called Prelude a Grand Puy Ducasse.

With all that said, today we're going to try the 2015 vintage of the Grand Vin of Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse. This one comes from a Magnum, and so should have slowed the ageing somewhat for the equivalent vintage. 

Let's go!

Wine Review: 2015 Chateau Grand-Puy Ducasse Pauillac

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Ruby

Aroma: A mellowed richness that takes some time to open up. When it does it's giving raspberry jams, black cherries, stewed plums, alongside some freshly toiled soil. Classic combination of fruit and earth with a good richness. There's a sheen of graphite on the nose as well.

Taste: More of that fruit and earth - crushed raspberries, freshly toiled soil, there's a little bit of dried herbs in here too. With time there's more of that floral aspect that emerges, dried roses, along with an aromatic barnyard funk of animal hide. The body is rich, intense and well-structured with good definition and precision. It's not as jammy or as flabby here, almost alittle bit more dry and chiseled around its body.

Finish: The tannin grains are more prominent here, alittle rougher. There's some leather here and tobacco, with just a touch of soil. Into the finish is a richer combination of blackberries, raspberries and dried roses, with a light dusting of dried herbs. Long and well-defined finish. 

My Thoughts 

A very classic Bordeaux here - it's got those dried florals and red and black fruits that characterises the wines from the area, with even alittle bit of that terroir coming through with some graphite and dried herbs that have made its way through as well. This was still alittle closed off on the nose, with the potential quite apparent on its ability to open up somemore to give more richness.

Yet on the palate this had good complexity, with a good saturation of the flavours and definition of its body. It leans more dry, and isn't one of those big, high alcohol, sweeter, more flabby and jammy wines, which certainly gives it a more chiseled definition - this also makes a good pairing for something like a cut of lamb.

The finish gave some added richness that lent it some approachability, the tannins here are alittle more grainy which I actually happened to like as it gave it more of a textural contrast, that came along with a cohesive richness of red and black berries, earth and dried herbs - great intensity and length on the finish too.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot