Lynch Bages 2019

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

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