Château Lynch-Bages Pauillac 2020
#3 Wine Spectator Top 100 2023- jd96
- ws96
Category | Red Wine |
Varietals | |
Brand | Château Lynch-Bages |
Origin | France, Bordeaux, Pauillac |
Alcohol/vol | 13.41% |
The history of Château Lynch-Bages begins with Thomas Lynch and the "Batges" vineyard. Lynch owned the land starting in 1749 and worked very hard to make quality wine that he sold as "Cru de Lynch" which earned classification as a Cinquième Cru, or 5th Growth, in the 1855 Classification of Bordeaux. In the 1930's Jean "Lou Janou" Cazes purchased the estate which has been in family hands since then.
Jeb Dunnuck
- jd96
The 2020 Château Lynch-Bages brings even more density and depth and is another vin de garde in the vintage. A blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, aged in 75% new barrels, this inky hued beauty boasts a ripe, powerful, full-bodied style that carries serious concentration as well as building, ripe, velvety tannins. While it doesn't have the elegance of the 2019, it brings beautiful cassis and blackberry fruit, lots of spice, graphite, and lead pencil aromatics, terrific balance, and a blockbuster finish. It's going to need at least a decade and will have 40-50 years of prime drinking.
Wine Spectator
- ws96
Gorgeous from the start, with cassis and violet notes leading off, followed by additional waves of black cherry and blackberry fruit as well as sweet tobacco and iron. Shows subtle savory and cedar hints that stay in the background, as the iron note pierces through the fruit on the finish. Almost approachable for the fruit, but wait if you can. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2026 through 2040.