2010 Lynch-Bages, Pauillac (OWC)

“A wine with great beauty and finesse. Such elegance and ethereal quality for this estate. Full body, with ultra-fine tannins and a juicy delicious finish. Long and beautiful. This is the best Lynch in a long, long time. I love the precision here.” (11/2013)

“Perfumed, fleshy and serious. Has a darker, moodier flavour profile than some. Blackcurrant, plum, black cherry, with soft tobacco and dark chocolate notes. Tannins are chewy and broad. Very Pauillac in its show of power. Gorgeously mouthcoating, giving weight and a frame, carrying the dense fruit but still keeping the detail. On the larger side, but with a moreish juicy acidity. Compelling if not very accessible right now. (GH)” (04/2024)

“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.” (09/2024)

“Still a saturated ruby-black in hue, the 2010 Lynch-Bages offers up aromas of rich cassis fruit mingled with hints of pencil shavings, loamy soil and cigar wrapper. Full-bodied, deep and muscular, it's rich and layered, with a concentrated core of fruit that's framed by firm, powdery tannins and lively acids. The most brooding, backward Lynch-Bages of the decade and one of the real successes of the vintage, this is a vibrant, tightly wound wine that is still an infant at age 10. Readers with bottles in their cellars might try one now out of curiosity, but this 2010 won't begin to hit its stride until age 20. (WK)” (02/2022)

“A classic, masculine, structured wine from this great château, the 2010 Château Lynch-Bages reveals smoky black fruits, iron, graphite, and crushed stone-driven aromas and flavors. Still youthful and full-bodied on the palate, it has building tannins, a concentrated, layered, powerful mouthfeel, and a great finish.” (06/2025)

“This sumptuous wine is driven by perfectly ripe fruit as well as dense, dusty and dry tannins. Great swathes of blackberry sweep across the palate, followed by juicy acidity. Such a combination will make this impressive wine a delight to drink in 10 years and beyond. *Cellar Selection* (RV)” (02/2013)

“Roasted cedar, tobacco and bay leaf notes start off this structured but lively bottling, with intense currant, blackberry and black cherry flavors at the core. The iron-laced grip and pleasantly austere plum pit and licorice snap accents fill in on the tar-tinged finish. Great range, character and typicity. If you ever need to explain Pauillac to someone, give them this. (JM)” (03/2013)

“After a few years in bottle the 2010 Château Lynch-Bages is beginning to shape up beautifully. Displaying a notable dark, inky color, which gives way to profound aromatics of dark fruits with sweet pipe tobacco, leather, cigar ash and wet stone tones that build nicely in the glass. The palate is voluptuous with a medium body marked by flavors of crème de cassis, black olive tapenade, creosote and wild blackberry cobbler that all beautifully connect leading up to the long finish. While there is already a high level of attraction with the 2010, it is only beginning to hit its stride, and readers should try to avoid approaching this beauty for at least two more years. (OB)” (09/2018)

“The 2010 Lynch-Bages has a tightly wound nose: introverted black fruit, cedar and mint. Touches of iris flower and pencil box both emerge with aeration. These aromatics say: "Come back later." The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, fine acidity and firm grip. It feels linear towards the finish but is fresh with an attractive underlying marine note that enlivens and lends complexity to the finish. This is outstanding, but it is only for those with patience. (NM)” (06/2021)

“The 2010 Lynch-Bages is one of the stars in the Left Bank this year, as the Cazes family has fashioned a superb and perfectly balanced example of the vintage. The deep and complex nose soars from the glass in a mélange of cassis, dark berries, espresso, cigar ash, a touch of lead pencil, gravel, leafy young Cabernet tones and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and most impressively soil-driven, with a fine core of pure fruit, excellent focus and balance, bright, well-integrated acids and fine length and grip on the ripely tannic and beautifully delineated finish. A fine, fine vintage for Lynch-Bages. (JG) 94+” (03/2011)

“Deep colour, although not quite as dark as 2009. Complex and perhaps a little fresher. Concentrated but without the fat and volume of 2009. Huge structure with the tannins finely honed. Long and lithe on the finish. Less exuberant and seductive at this stage compared with the previous vintage but has the same potential. 18+/20 (JL)” (04/2021)