Lynch Bages 1990

This magnificent Lynch Bages has been drinking well since the day it was released and it continues to go from strength to strength. The biggest, richest, fullest-bodied Lynch Bages until the 2000, the fully mature 1990 exhibits an unbelievably explosive nose of black currants, cedarwood, herbs and spice. The majestic, classically Bordeaux aromatics are followed by a full-bodied, voluptuously textured, rich, intense wine with superb purity as well as thrilling levels of fruit, glycerin and sweetness. This beauty should continue to provide immense pleasure over the next 15+ years.

The 1990 Lynch-Bages remains the towering Pauillac it has always been, even if Jean-Michel Cazes personally prefers the 1989. It has a riveting, graphite-infused bouquet that is brilliantly defined, very focused and sharp as a razor-blade. Poured directly against the 1990 Lafite-Rothschild, this Fifth Growth beats it hands down. The palate is very well structured; this is an aristocratic Lynch-Bages with impressive grip after 28 years. There is a symmetry underpinning this wine, a sense of energy undiminished by the passing years, that makes this 1990 Lynch-Bages so compelling. Just awesome. Tasted during the Christmas Dinner at Noble Rot restaurant

I have drunk many bottles of this wine in many different locations (Cayman Islands, Shanghai, Bordeaux, Paris, and London), including bottles from my own cellar, and I continue to be amazed by how remarkably consistent it is. One of my favorite Lynch Bages, the 1990 is a more forward, fleshier, and sexier version of the brilliant 1989, and represents a poster bottle of what Lynch Bages is all about. A dense ruby/purple color is followed by a sumptuously sweet bouquet of roasted meats, herbs, sweet creme de cassis fruit, a massive level of glycerin, and silky ripe tannins. It is a hedonistic as well as intellectual turn-on. There is not a hard edge to be found in this delicious 1990, which should last for another 15-20 years in a cold cellar. I would rank the 1990 and 1989 as the two greatest Lynch Bages made in the last 30 years.

A sumptuous, even flamboyant wine, the 1990 is a forward, flattering and delicious to drink wine, in contrast to the more massive, backward, tannic 1989. Lynch Bages' 1990 offers sweet, beefy, leathery, black currant aromas intermingled with smoky toasty oak and roasted herbs. The wine offers a hedonistic turn-on of fruit, extract, and high levels of glycerin, all crammed into a full-bodied, supple-textured, rich, powerful, low-acid Lynch bages with no hard edges. Anticipated maturity; now-2020.