Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste Winery

Château Grand Puy is one of the oldest estates in the Pauillac appellation. jean-Eugène Borie acquired the château in 1978 and extensively planted new vines. His son François-Xavier now runs the estate together with his daughter Emeline.

House, outbuildings, cellar, vineyards, surrounding parks and woods: The entire estate has been awakened from a veritable "slumber" over many years, modernised, expanded and improved. Four years after the acquisition, Grand-Puy-Lacoste achieved its first great success with the 1982 vintage.

Today, the estate has 90 hectares of land, around 58 hectares are planted - 75 % with Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 % with Merlot and 5 % with Cabernet Franc. The average age of the vines is 38 years. The extra-dense planting provides for 10,000 vines/ha.

The soil structure is characterised by gravel and underlying sand and clay. This allows rainwater to drain away quickly. The pebbles store the heat of the day and release it to the plants overnight, which is particularly beneficial for the Cabernet Sauvignon.

After the manual harvest, fermentation takes place under controlled temperature, separated by parcel in stainless steel tanks. Finally, the wines mature for up to 20 months in barriques, two thirds of which are unused, all others are one-fill barrels.

photos: Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste