The 2019 Grand Puy Ducasse is class personified. Just as in barrel, from bottle Grand-Puy Ducasse possesses terrific freshness and energy in place of the heavy, extracted style that was the norm just a few years ago. Readers will find a Pauillac endowed with tons of transparency and tons of sheer class. The 2019 is wonderfully sophisticated in every way. I loved it.

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.

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.