In the middle of the 17th century, Arnaud Ducasse bought a small house, on the banks of the Gironde estuary, to Jacques de Ségur, Seigneur of Lafite. He could hardly had imagined then that it would be the start of a superb estate that would remain in his family for almost three centuries.
Pierre Ducasse,a lawyer passionate about vine-growing, is the real founder of the estate. He bought land within three parishes: Pauillac, Saint-Lambert and Saint-Sauveur;as well as three Lord’s domains: Lafite, Latour and Beychevelle.
Additional purchases and swaps enabled him to extend his estates up to his death in 1797.His son inherited the 60-hectare estate (148 acres), then called“Ducasse-Grand-Puy-Artigues-Arnaud”, of which two-thirds were planted with vine. Around 1820, he had the existing château built, on the site of his ancestors' house, facing the Gironde estuary. It was under his son-in-law’s management, Adrien Chauvet, that the estate was classified in 1855, under the name of Artigues Arnaud. The company called Grand-Puy Ducasse was then founded in 1932.
In 1971 a new group of shareholders took on the somewhat dormant estate, and went on to restructure and enlarge the vineyard’s holding. As from 1980, the winery was equipped with a new vatting house, including sorting tables and other facilities for handling the harvest. In 1991, the sorting tables were moved into the vineyards, in order to improve the quality of hand-picking. In 2004,CA Grands Crus, a subsidiary of the Groupe Crédit Agricole, acquired Château Grand Puy Ducasse. An improvement plan was put together for the entire estate.It is supervised today by Anne Le Naour, the Technical Director, and the consultant oenologist, Hubert de Bouard.
The vineyard's 40 hectares (99 acres) are divided between three main plots which lie on sandy Garonne gravel within the Pauillac appellation.The vines border those of Mouton, Lafite and Pontet-Canet to the North. In their central part, they cover part of the Bourdieu of Grand Puy, and, at their southern extremity, the Saint-Lambert plateau.With an average age of 25 years, 62% of the vines are Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot.
After hand-picking and selection of the grapes on the vine, the grapes arrive in the winery, where they are destalked and, again, carefully selected. The fermentation is carried out in thermo-regulated stainless-steel tanks. Part of the wine experience malolactic fermentation in new barrels. The wine is aged in French oak barrels, of which 30 and 40% are new each year.
🏅Wine Enthusiast 94pts
The tannins show well in this ripe wine. While it also has lots of fresh black-fruit flavors, it's the structure that shines now, indicating good aging potential.
🏅James Suckling 91-92pts
This young red shows a serious concentration of fruit for the vintage with firm and silky tannins and a fresh finish.
🏅Vinous 91 pts
The 2017 Grand Puy Ducasse is a dark, powerful wine, with notes of dark red fruit, dried flowers, herbs, mint, sweet tobacco and cherry. Medium in body and persistent with, good balance, the 2017 has turned out nicely. In 2017, Grand Puy Ducasse is powerful but also well-balanced, in the mid-weight style of the year. It has really come together well since I last tasted it.
🏅Wine Advocate 90pts
The 2017 Grand-Puy-Ducasse is medium to deep garnet-purple colored with aromas of crushed red and black currants, black cherries and boysenberries with earth, meats and herbs touches. Medium-bodied, it is firm and rugged in the mouth with muscular fruit and a savory finish.
