| 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 is now labelled "Echo de Lynch", replacing Haut Bages Averous. The Cazes family recently added near neighbour Haut Batailley to their portfolio but this will be kept separate from Lynch Bages.
The 2019 Château Lynch-Bages is stunningly good, and it's going to be interesting to compare this to the 2018 over the coming decades. Based on 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, brought up in 75% new French oak, its dense purple hue is followed by an incredible bouquet of pure crème de cassis, freshly sharpened cedar pencil, spring flowers, smoke, and graphite, with an almost liqueur of rocks-like minerality. A massive, incredibly concentrated Lynch-Bages, Jean-Charles has hit a home run in the vintage, and this sensational wine has building, perfect tannins, insane purity, and a finish that won't quit. It has the purity, finesse, balance, and depth to offer pleasure not only today but to evolve for 40 to 50 years. Smart money will hide these for a good 7-8 years, but wow, what a wine. Bravo.
A true classic from this estate, the 2019 Lynch-Bages has turned out brilliantly, unwinding in the glass with aromas of cassis and sweet blackberry fruit mingled with licorice, mint, cigar wrapper and loamy soil. Full-bodied, rich and concentrated, it's a deep, multidimensional wine built around a chassis of rich, powdery tannins and succulent balancing acids. The last vintage produced in Lynch-Bages old winery, it will be interesting to compare this benchmark wine with subsequent vintages over the coming years.Drink Date 2029 - 2065
The 2019 Lynch-Bages has an outgoing bouquet, the new oak not as well integrated as its peers at the moment, more inchoate by comparison. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, quite saline with black pepper, controlled and focused towards the classy finish. It oozes sophistication and feels extraordinarily long. Wondrous. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. Drink 2026 - 2055
The 2019 is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot and 3% each of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Saturated purple in the glass. The nose is sweet and powerful with black fruit, pencil shavings, cedar and coffee. There is such evident power to the aroma that brings great anticipation to the palate. This power is duly delivered, with a huge core of black fruit and chewy, mouthcoating tannins - this wine will need real patience but will doubtless be one of the longest-lived of the vintage. Set against the muscular texture come waves of peppery, ripe black fruit - cassis, kirsch, blackberry and dark cherry. The balance is exquisite. Despite the richness of both fruit and tannin there is real energy. Layers of spice continue to build to a very long and expansive finish. Outstanding.
Fantastic blackberries, blackcurrants, lead pencil and violets. So Pauillac on the nose! Full-bodied with a dense, layered palate and tight yet plush tannins that give the wine layers and gravitas. Compact. Long finish. Silky. Reminds me of a modern, classic version of something like the wonderful 1985 Lynch. Try after 2026.
The 2019 Lynch-Bages is composed of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it gallops out with bold notions of warm cassis, stewed black cherries, and boysenberry preserves, followed by hints of tar, violets, and star anise. The medium to full-bodied palate is intense and nuanced with firm, grainy tannins and great tension, finishing long and layered. Classic great Pauillac.
Tight black fruits, run through with espresso, cocoa bean and bitter black chocolate shavings. Brilliant quality, with tannic heft and precision. Takes a jump halfway through the palate and lifts right off. I have tasted this several times over the past few months, and it consistently performs. 75% new oak, Eric Boissenot consults.
Tasted blind. Very dark crimson. Intense, layered nose. Complete, composed, a little spicy. Lots of interest here. Youthful, but with lots tucked in for the future. Interesting topnote. Satin texture on the mid palate before a mass of tannin makes its presence felt. Such a way to go! Rich with iodine notes. Bonfire aroma and really quite painful acidity. Lots of sandy tannin. Not married yet. 14.5%. Drink 2030–2050
70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot.
Black almost to the rim. So dark the aroma is quite subdued but there's cassis and rocky purity. Extremely firm, thick, compact. A wall of tannins now, almost impassable, but there's a sense of balance, and a need for great patience. (JH) 14.5%
Drink 2030 – 2045
The 2019 is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot and 3% each of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The wine will be aged for 18 months in 70% new French oak, and has an abv of 14%. Harvest began on 23rd September with Merlot and ended with the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot on 9th October. Very deep, saturated purple in colour. The nose is rich and brooding, full of cassis, graphite, cedar and bitter cocoa. The palate has spectacular drive, with intense and focused cassis fruit at the core. The tannins are bold, mouthcoating and very grippy but fully ripe. They match the great density of the fruit, adding great depth. Layer upon layer of fruit and spice build to a spectacular, muscular finish that is extremely long and perfectly balanced. A true vin de garde that will be one of the longest lived in 2019. Outstanding.
70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot. Barrel sample.
Big, bold and broad-shouldered. A wine that states its presence. Spicy, dark-fruit and graphite nose. Juicy and wholesome on the palate with layers of generous fruit and muscle-flexing tannin. All tight and contained. Long, dry finish. (JL)
Drink 2030 – 2050
The 2019 Lynch-Bages is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it needs a fair bit of swirling to uncover profound blackcurrant preserves, mulberries, and juicy plums scents with hints of crushed rocks, Indian spices, and fragrant earth. Medium to full-bodied, it is firm, very fine-grained with generous fruit and fantastic tension, finishing with epically long lingering exotic spices. This wine has high ambitions and it delivers!
The 2019 Lynch-Bages is a Pauillac that needs more encouragement from the glass compared to its peers, eventually revealing blackberry, pencil box and cedar scents that could only come from this appellation. Wonderfully delineated, and it seems to finally respond to aeration and gain intensity. The palate is medium-bodied and grippy, with concentrated black fruit, a liberal pinch of black pepper and an extremely persistent, almost Lafite-like finish. Jean-Charles Cazes has overseen a great Lynch-Bages of the modern era. 2026 - 2060
The 2019 Lynch-Bages is intense on the nose with layers of blackberry, bilberry, cedar, pencil shavings and light mint aromas defining it as a Pauillac. Very focused and I noticed it gaining delineation with aeration. The palate is very smooth and harmonious, the acidity perfectly pitched with a gentle but insistent grip. It reminds me of the superlative 2016 in some ways, effortless on the lightly spiced finish. This has huge potential. They should build a new winery to celebrate! 2026 - 2060.
A tight and very focused young red with redcurrant, tile and blackberry undertones. Lead pencil, too. It’s full-bodied with very polished, creamy tannins and lots of intense dark fruit. Compact fruit and tannins. Structured.
Displaying a deep garnet-purple color, the 2019 Lynch-Bages needs a little coaxing to awaken its alluring scents of blackcurrant pastilles, warm black cherries, boysenberries and baker’s chocolate plus nuances of lilacs, forest floor, iron ore and charcoal with a spicy touch of cinnamon stick. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is jam-packed with ripe, rich black fruit layers, framed by firm, grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing long and earthy. It is incredibly exciting how the personality of Lynch-Bages has been gaining focus and depth over the last 10-15 years, thanks in part to what appears to be efforts to sustain the mid-palate with just a tad more ripeness while taming and refining the tannins, allowing all these beautiful nuances among what wants to be a powerful fruit core to really shine through. This 2019 is an extraordinary expression and one that I suspect may well reveal even more layers by the time it’s bottled. 2025 - 2055
Plenty of fierce Pauillac tannins here, this has grip and character, full of black chocolate and smoked earth. Needs the full ten years before the nuances will be fully revealed, but the construction and the precision are already of full display. Confident blackberry, cassis, bilberry fruits, smoked cedar and crushed mint leaf, moving slowly but surely forward through the wall of tannins. Excellent stuff from the Lynch Bages team. 75% new oak.
This takes hold from the first moment and powers along, delivering a ton of black brambly fruit, liquorice, grilled cedar and Pauillac confidence. The tannins are pretty chewy, really closing in on the end of play, giving no doubt that this is going to age slowly and for many decades, but there is a creaminess to the overall structure that is already evident. Drinking Window 2029 - 2046
