Château Grand Puy Lacoste 2002

This wine review is of the 2002 vintage of Château Grand Puy Lacoste from Pauillac in Bordeaux. The wine initially presents as mature and fully evolved with tertiary soy, leather and earthy characters. A touch of blackcurrant is there, but only for the particularly diligent searcher. With time in the glass, however, a metamorphosis take place. Some primary blackcurrant flavours emerge and very firm tannins become apparent. The wine, medium bodied, also puts on a little weight. Overall, the Grand Puy Lacoste 2002 proves to be quite pleasant drinking with the firm tannins providing a useful foil to the fruit when it eventually emerges. However, the very firm tannins and tertiary fruit characters make this wine an unlikely candidate for further improvement in the cellar. My suggestion is to drink up, and most of all, generously decant it. Rating: Good to Very Good (★★★☆). Reviewed: March 2022.