2021 Lynch-Bages, Pauillac (1.5L)

“Barrel Sample. The structure of this wine is the thing—with both power and density, it has weight and the richness associated with this property but in a lighter style proper to the vintage. (RV)” (06/2022)

“The Grand Vin 2021 Château Lynch-Bages ratchets up everything, offering a rich, powerful, almost full-bodied style as well as gorgeous notes of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, spice, and hints of cassis. It might be the biggest, richest wine in the vintage and has a great mid-palate, impressive density, building tannins, and a great, great finish. 94-96+” (06/2022)

“Sweet blackcurrant fruit on the nose, softly jammy and expressive. You can really feel the ripeness here, grapes got full maturity and this is plush, mouthfilling and plump with chewy tannins - more opulent and perfumed than others also with more power and body. Tannins are mouthfilling and you get the stone minerality and the Cabernet freshness that really takes over giving this a sense of tension and grip. A really characterful and expressive Pauillac where the tannins and acidity perfectly compliment each other with the muscular and concentrated fruit also giving a multi-faceted dimension. (GH)” (03/2022)

“Lovely depth to the nose of this young Bordeaux with black currant, ink and walnut aromas that follow through to a medium to full body with a solid core of polished and integrated tannins.” (12/2023)

“This has the austerity that you want of a great Left Bank wine at the beginning of its life, with cool vintage savoury raspberry leaf, capsicum and peony. Tons of slate-textured tannins, not hugely concentrated which makes it an outlier of recent Lynch Bages vintages, but it's exceptionally well balanced, and has excellent appellation character, with cassis and blackberry fruits.” (11/2023)

“The 2021 Lynch-Bages is rather somber today. Black fruit, mocha, licorice and chocolate are all amplified in this decidedly muscular wine from a cool year. This is a distinctly cool-climate Lynch-Bages built on power, with less of its usual flash. (AG)” (02/2024)

“Displays a nice mix of almost caressing black cherry and black currant paste flavors, with warm cast iron, sweet tobacco and chestnut notes, showing just a nip of the vintage's austerity. Rock solid for the vintage, this offers a lively, savory edge that adds cut and energy. (JM)” (04/2024)

“The 2021 Lynch-Bages is one of the vintage's bigger, broader-shouldered wines, offering up aromas of crème de cassis, plums and spices, framed by a generous application of creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, dense and chunky, with a velvety attack that segues into a layered core of fruit framed by generously extracted tannins, it concludes with a long, lusty finish. Fully 40 hectares of this estate is now cultivated organically, principally those parcels that adjoin the houses of Pauillac. As is almost invariably the case with this estate, it will repay a bit of patience. (WK) 93+” (02/2024)

“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. (LPB)” (03/2026)

“Deep ruby. Black fruit, liquorice and a touch of black pepper on the nose – this is a brooding wine for the vintage. Chewy, mouth-coating tannins dominate the palate, this is a big, bold and atypical wine for the vintage. Richer structure and more density than most. This is laced with the property’s individual character and is impressive. The acid profile of the vintage remains, but this is a very good effort. One that can be laid down in this vintage. 17.5+/20 points (TP)” (11/2023)