France

Cabernet Sauvignon

Merlot

Cabernet Franc

Petit Verdot

Chateau Lynch-Bages

Chateau Lynch-Bages 5eme Cru Classe Pauillac

Bordeaux

Pauillac

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2023 Lynch-Bages prances out with vibrant notes of crushed blackcurrants and black raspberries plus fragrant hints of violets, iron ore, bay leaves, and fragrant soil with a touch of graphite. The medium-bodied palate delivers impressive tension, with a sturdy backbone of grainy tannins and an earthy finish. The blend is 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot, with pH 3.75 and TPI 95.

by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

Concentrated, intense and muscular, not a word that I have used very often in 2023 Bordeaux. You get a deeply-rooted tannic grip, with soot, squid ink, cassis, blackberry, bilberry, liqourice root, slate scrap, pummice stone and mint. Lynch Bages seems to be wrought from a different place than it was a decade ago, impressive, powerful Pauillac, with an eye on long ageing. 75% new oak, Jean-Charles Cazes owner, Nicolas Labenne technical director.

Inside Bordeaux

Ruby with violet edging, opens to show chalk and slate tannins, giving a sense of restraint and grip, this is savoury and juicy with plenty of cassis fruits, delivers Pauillac consistency in an inconsistent vintage, and also it is just rather delicious. 75% new oak. 3.67 pH,

Expert

A blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot, the 2021 Lynch-Bages has a deep garnet-purple color. It bursts with bold notions of wild blueberries, kirsch, and blackcurrants, giving way to underlying hints of lilacs, aniseed, and tar. The light to medium-bodied palate is tightly wound, with a lively line and chewy tannins, featuring bright black fruit and minerally layers, finishing with a floral lift.

A superb Lynch Bages that grabs you and carries you through the palate, slowly edging forward. Poised with a ton of slate and pencil lead on the finish, this is pure Pauillac, just so precise and full of character, so much grip, it's classic with a mouthwatering finish, feels profound but throroughly approachable. 75% new oak, 3.73ph. First vintage in new winery.

The 2018 Lynch-Bages is deep garnet-purple in color. It needs a lot of swirling before classic notes of cassis, cedar chest, and warm plums emerge, leading to nuances of violets, star anise, unsmoked cigars, cardamom, and wood smoke. Full-bodied, dense, muscular and built like a brick house, it has a rock-solid frame of ripe, grainy tannins and amazing tension, finishing very long with lots of mineral sparks. Needs a good five years, then stand back when you open the bottle and enjoy the fireworks! 

Raffinert lang, kompleks og utrolig elegant. Trenger mer tid men dette er godt

Amatør

Muscular but finely-tuned, with a floral, rose-stem edge to Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant flavours that elevates this beyond its surrounding vintages, as is often the case with exceptional 2016s on the Left Bank. Give it time in the glass if you are going near it any time soon, and allow the brambled fruits to appear, with creamy black cherry and damson puree on full display finessed with pencil lead, plum pudding, liqourice and slate-strewn tannins that give a mouth-watering finish. Great stuff, this is one to savour over the long term. 75% new oak.

Excellent quality, but a little less depth through the mid palate than the 2014 or 2016 - making it one of the rare wines where the 2015 vintage is not beating out the 2014 in a vertical. Could simply be that it is closed down right now, as those Pauillac tannins can be pretty fierce in the early days. Certainly as it opens the texture deepens and widens, and you find coils of bilberry and raspberry fruits with waves of smoked earth, sage and saffron spice. 75% new oak.

Solbær, mørke bjørnebær, skogsbær, cassis, mørke oliven, sorte pepper, krydder. Lukt av en lagdelt vin, med bra dybde. 

Smak av solbær, moden cassis, pene krydder-toner. En ung vin som kan ligge lengde. God konsentrasjon, tette grippy tanniner. 

Smakt hos Chateau Lynch Bages.

Delivers juicy redcurrant and raspberry fruits, without huge estate character but there is plenty of life, with tannins that continue to exert pressure on the structure of the wine. Enjoyable twist of smoked cedar on the finish. 70% new oak. Harvest October 1 to 12.

Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2012 Lynch-Bages offers broody notes of fried herbs, tar, and tobacco to begin, leading to a core of cassis and stewed cherries with a hint of cast-iron pan. The medium-bodied palate is firm, grainy, and refreshing with plenty of restrained youthful black fruits, finishing with a lively lift.

Young, poised black fruits, blackberry and bilberry that are ripe but still laced with fresh acidities, giving a slight angularity to the tannins. This is good quaility, with signature Lynch Bages confidence, but does not expand through the palate as the vintages on either side do, holding itself back. I suggest waiting for another few years before drinking to really allow things to soften up. 65% new oak, with an optical sorter used for the first time in this vintage, and 65% of overall production making it into the 1st wine.

This is tannic architecture fully realised in a glass, one to taste to understand just how muscular Pauillac can become. Even at 15 years old it is still closed and a little austere, even a little raw, but with zero doubt that it will smooth out. Punchy, liquorice root, black fruits, bilberry, crayon, crushed rocks, smoked earth, pomegranate, gunsmoke, curling violets as it opens.

Density, power, concentration, this is a full on Pauillac, with a ton of cassis and blueberry, liquorice, espresso, cocoa bean, with an intense muscular tannic frame. Precise architecture, it delivers on the promise that has been building for several years - muscular, ripped, will power for decades. 70% new oak.

Inky ruby in colour, with concentrated aromatics of cigar box, graphite, tobacco leaf, undergrowth, leather. Easy to sink into, with tannins that are beginning to soften but are still holding the brambled fruit in place. Softens on the finish, but a fine, balanced and elegant Bages. 75% new oak. Eric Boissenot consultant.

An underrated vintage that is delivering easy to drink signature Pauillac. Pencil lead, smoked cedar, sandalwood, concentrated mint leaf, cassis and bilberry, with finesse, balance and juice. A seductive, moreisih and beautifully balanced wine that is ready to enjoy, but will continue to deliver over the next decade. 70% new oak.

A touch subdued on the aromatics, still holding back even at 16 years old. As it opens it majors on earthy, rustic fruits, undergrowth, tobacco, tar, a big tannic body that is reflective of a vintage that was more complicated than the 2005, but that offered wines with frame and long ageability. As it opens, waves of liqourice root and rose petal appear. First vintage where Jean-Charles Cazes replaced his father Jean-Michel as director of the estate, and the first for Nicolas Labenne as technical director. 70% new oak.

Dark rich ruby, smoked campfire and grilled cedar aromatics, a brilliant Pauillac that is still full of tannic archicture and frame. I had this out of half bottle last year and it was tasting more approachable than this, no doubt because the bottle size helped things to evolve. One of the few where I would suggest not drinking this yet, even the fruit feels muscular right now, and it needs another few years to translate this hidden power into the seductive, rip-roaring wine that is so clearly in there. 80% new oak, Daniel LLose winemaker. This was the last year that Jean-Michel Cazes was in charge before handing over to his son Jean-Charles.

Inky rich damson with edges of russet and a curl of campfire smoke. This is elegant and balanced, juicy cassis, damson puree and bilberry fruits. There is a generosity to the structure, with concentration through the palate, with plenty of firm Pauillac tannins and finesse. An excellent 2004 that also delivered high yields of around 57hl/h (the full AOC allowance), and yet is still going strong, proof of how much natural intensity there is on these soils. 60% new oak.

Retaining a deep ruby colour even at 19 years old, impressive from a such a hot vintage. The tannins are a little sombre, but this has plenty of Pauillac signature, with clear graphite, slate, cassis, and an enjoyably juicy finish. I've found a few 2003s that are tasting great in this corner of the Médoc, which is not the case all over Bordeaux, and this is one to enjoy now and over the next decade. 70% new oak.

Dark ruby in colour with soft russet on the edges, this still feels like a young wine, showcasing the slow progression of top Pauillac even in vintages that have less widespread acclaim. Campfire smoke, firm tannins, good acidities, plenty of spice, tobacco, dried fruit, saffran, this is edging towards tertiary now but remains well structured. 65% new oak.

Amateur

Deep ruby, softening in colour around the rim, packed with pencil lead, cigar box, slate, mint leaf, chewy tannins, great quality with an innate confidence. Has walls to scale, and a ton of life ahead, an exceptionally enjoyable 2000 vintage that remains young. 70% new oak.

Duft av sorte, sursøte kirsebær, knall mørke rips og modne bjørnebær. Grønn paprika, parfyrmerte urter, lys lakris og toffee. 

Ikke veldig fremtredende primærfrukt, derimot noe sekundære. Lakris, toffee og paprika. Tilstedeværende tanniner, men samtidig avslepne. Pen konsentrasjon med fin lengde. 

Impressively youthful at 36 years old, fully delivering on the brief for Pauillac classifieds to be long ageing. The tannins are fully melted into the fruit structure, but still in evidence, giving shape and definition to the brambled autumnal fruit, layered with tobacco, smoked earth and pencil lead, with a cushion of mint leaf running underneath. Jean-Michel Cazes had been in charge since 1973, and by this point had transformed Lynch Bages into one of the wines of the appellation, beginning to rise above its 5th Growth ranking. The 2000 vintage took its time to come around, but is now at a great time to drink, even if there are still decades ahead of it. 70% new oak, Daniel Llhose winemaker.

Ved åpning er vinen overraskende rød rubin på farge med lett murstein i en lys vanndig kant. 
Duftene som slår i mot er mindre tiltakende med mye rotete unoter av avfall og kjeller. 
Man kvier seg for å smake. Men i munnen viser den tegn til friskhet, så vi gir en en sjanse. 
Etter ca 2 timer i åpen flaske blir den nennsomt dekantert. Vi får overraskende lite bunnfall og vinen åpner seg og blir kun bedre utover måltidet. Vi får ferske blå-plummer, lær og blyant, noe mynte samt frisk skogbunn og lakris. Fint fatpreg, integrert og balansert. 
Tanninene er finkornede og syren er medium pluss mot høy. 
Lengden er lang med bra frukt. Dette blir etterhvert en fantastisk vin etter 40 innestengte år. Bordeaux altså! 

Category	Red wine
Vinmonopolet no.
Producer	Chateau Lynch-Bages
Vintages	2023
Country	France, Bordeaux, Pauillac
Bottle	75 cl

Alcohol	%
Acid	%
Sugar	g/l

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Wholesaler
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