| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pauillac |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
Lynch Bages is one of the most popular and reliable Châteaux of Bordeaux. Release prices of this archetypal and significant Pauillac (100 hectares)are usually modest compared to those that consumers are happy to pay for mature vintages. This much-loved Chateau, owned by the Cazes family for nearly a century, consistently makes one of our most demanded and biggest selling wines. Jean-Michel Cazes' son, Jean-Charles, is now in charge and recent vintages have been amongst the best ever. Classic Pauillac is made here with cassis fruit, a touch of mint and cigar box aromas. The second wine used to be called Haut Bages Averous and is now labelled "Echo de Lynch". The Cazes family recently added near neighbour Haut Batailley to their portfolio but this will be kept separate from Lynch Bages.
The 2017 Lynch-Bages is such a pretty and engaging wine; as always, it is a wine of pure and total seduction. Lush, open-knit and very pretty with ripe red and purplish fruit. There is a slight bit of edginess in the tannin that needs to be resolved, but cellaring should take care of that. 2025 - 2047.
The 2017 Lynch-Bages is aged for 18 months in 75% new French oak. It has a very pure bouquet with blackberry, bilberry, freshly picked wild mint and a touch of iodine. It feels very primal compared to its peers and certainly requires plenty of bottle age. The palate is sweet and generous on the entry thanks to the supple tannin. Moderate acidity, quite opulent for Lynch-Bages but that is reined in towards the finish. I would have liked a little more complexity and delineation overall, but it should drink well for 15 to 20 years. Drink 2023-2040.
Tasted blind. Deep ruby colour. Spicy, rich nose full of black fruit. Dense, chocolatey but still serious with damson and blackcurrant at the core. Just as the ripeness builds there is a vibrant line of acidity to keep everything in check. This is a musclebound wine. Despite mouth-coating tannins, the impression is fine and precise. Ageworthy, with a long, expansive finish.
Drink 2027 – 2040
This is a focused and tight Lynch with beautiful blackcurrants, slate, graphite and lead pencil. Medium to full body. Very fine tannins and brightness. Linear line of tannins that runs nicely through the wine. A blend of 70% cabernet sauvignon, 24% merlot, 4% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot.
The Lynch-Bages 2017 is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot and it has a deep garnet color. It offers wonderfully pure notes of crushed black and red currants, fresh juicy boysenberries, and dried lavender, plus suggestions of crushed rocks and cedar chest. Medium-bodied, the palate is tightly knit and fine-grained with amazing freshness cutting through the packed black fruit and mineral layers, finishing with great length and purity.
Kicks things off with black pepper spice and curls of violet aromatis, majoring on the floral side of Cabernet Sauvignon; This is great quality, sappy tannins, with enticing layers of blueberry and raspberry fruits. A relatively early-drinking Lynch Bages, but one with poise and confidence. 75% new oak.
Deepest crimson. Lovely classic aroma of cassis and graphite with an attractive dusty/mineral overlay. Deep and still elegant, with refined dark fruit, super-fine tannins and a long harmonious finish. Shapely and elegant. Drink 2027-2040
This impressively dark-coloured classic Pauillac was made from 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot with elevage in 75% new oak. Jean-Charles tells us that he is convinced that this is above the quality level of the 2014 and very close to the 2015. Picked from 18th September to 5th October. Deep ruby in the glass, with a dense and brooding nose of cassis, cedar and lead pencil. The palate is powerful and chalky, with ripe tannins enveloping a dense core of black fruit. Through the mid palate the backbone of tannin builds in tandem with the fruit, with blackcurrant, and blackberry surging through to the finish. Notes of cigar box, star anise and clove offer a savoury foil to the fruit of enduring, impressive length. Another success in 2017.
Brooding rich black fruit, the nose has depth richness the palate an opulent fleshy sweetness. Black cherry is backed by bilberry sweetness yet freshness the back palate and finish have intensity rich black fruits. 2027-40
A stunning nose which combines density and also exuberance, this is a lovely if full wine with bold richness and also length and complexity. The detail is superb and there is impressive control on the finish, too. Superb.
The 2017 Lynch Bages was picked from 18 September with the young Merlot vines and finishing on 30 September. It was cropped at around 50hl/ha. It is aged in 75% new oak for 18 months. It offers good intensity on the nose, not as precise or as mineral-driven as the 2016 last year, with cedar and pencil shaving infusing the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, very refined, a touch of white pepper and cedar with impressive depth on the finish. This will be an approachable Lynch Bages, probably pre-destined to be overshadowed by the magnificent (if nascent) 2016 but it will certainly give 20 to 25 years of drinking pleasure. Tasted four times with consistent notes. 2022 - 2042
This is an excellent Lynch that starts off slowly and then drives at the end with dark fruit and hints of hazelnuts. Strong and focused tannins. A beautiful young wine.
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Lynch Bages sashays out of the glass with flamboyant scents of baked blackcurrants, blackberry preserves and mulberries plus touches of lavender, dark chocolate, star anise and unsmoked cigars. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has bags of class and finesse with firm, finely-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and fragrant.
