Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse 2019

JAMES SUCKLING: "Blackcurrants and walnuts with sweet berry and cherry undertones. Full-bodied with chewy tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Linear and intense tannins run the length of the wine with intensity and persistence. Try after 2026."

JEB DUNNUCK: "A beautiful effort that does everything right, the 2019 Château Grand-Puy Ducasse offers a rich, medium to full-bodied, concentrated style that shows the inherent elegance, as well as richness, of the vintage. Darker currants, toasted spice, cedar pencil, and tobacco notes all define the bouquet, and it's quintessentially Pauillac with its aromatics as well as structure. It already offers pleasure, particularly with a decant (I followed this bottle for multiple days), but it will certainly benefit from 5-7 years in the cellar and is going to shine for at least two decades."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Flowers, red currants and cedar create the nose, while layers of soft, fresh, ripe, dusty red and black currants with touches of olives and savory herbs hit your palate. The tannins are ripe. There is good freshness, weight and the fruits express purity. The wine ends with a refined, polished, mildly dusty finish. Drink from 2025-2040."

DECANTER: "Expressive and richly fruited on the nose. Dark in profile on the nose and palate. Plush tannins, but soft, they completely grip the mouth with coffee bean, dark chocolate, tobacco and spicy elements. It's a particular style for sure with strong liquorice nuances on the finish. This will find a lot of fans - all in balance with a long life ahead."

WINE SPECTATOR: " Well-packed, showing black currant and blackberry fruit flavors, which are marked by bramble and savory accents and carried by fresh acidity through a finish that's scored by humus, tobacco and iron. A textbook, austere, driven and age-worthy Pauillac. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2024 through 2036. 8,000 cases made, 500 cases imported."

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, zarter Ockerrand. Nuancen von Vanille und Nougat, dunkles Beerenkonfit, tabakig, dezente Edelholzwürze. Saftig, süße Textur, etwas Kokos, präsente Tannine, schokoladiger Abgang, Bourbonvanille im Abgang, ein kraftvoller Speisenbegleiter mit würzigem Nachhall."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2019 Grand-Puy-Ducasse exhibits aromas of raspberries, currants and fruit liqueur mingled with subtle hints of loamy soil and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and demonstrative, with an ample core of fruit, ripe tannins and lively acids and a finish subtly marked by alcoholic warmth, this is more elegant than its muscular, powerful 2018 predecessor; but it's held back by that touch of alcoholic heat. The new ambition that's animating this historically lackluster estate, however, is more than evident, and there are surely great things to come from this address."