Chāteau Lynch-Bages - Pauillac 2020 (750ml)

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Price: $149.99

Producer	Chāteau Lynch-Bages
Country	France
Region	Bordeaux
Subregion	Pauillac
Varietal	Bordeaux Blend
Vintage	2020
Sku	119986
Size	750ml

Chāteau Lynch-Bages Description

Winemaker Notes

#3 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2023

Blend: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot

Critical Acclaim

JS99
James Suckling
A beautifully layered red with blackcurrant, hazelnut and lead-pencil character and fine, velvety tannins. Full-bodied and reserved. It’s like a tightly knit ball of polished tannins that are cashmere in texture. So very long and impressive. Give this time. A terrific Lynch.
WE98
Wine Enthusiast
Bold black fruits and dense, textured tannins are very much in the style of the estate. What is new in this vintage is the extra precision that lifts the wine, bringing together the beautiful black currant flavors of ripe Cabernet Sauvignon with a refined texture of sophisticated tannins. This is an impressive wine, sure to age over many years.
Barrel Sample: 96-98
WW98
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Château Lynch-Bages is a complete wine with substantial and enduring richness. This wine shines with aromas and flavors of bold blackberries and boysenberries balanced with excellent oaky nuances. Enjoy it with slow-grilled, lightly seasoned short ribs. (Tasted: January 27, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
JD96
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Chateau 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.
D96
Decanter
The lowest amount of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend on recent record but the signature of Lynch Bages is very much in play here - tons of liquorice, grippy and charismatic cassis and blueberry fruit with a velvety texture layered with blackcurrant pastilles and rich dark chocolate. This is easily one of the best Pauillacs that I have tasted in the vintage, totally gorgeous. The 33hl/ha yield meant I was worried that it would be too concentrated, but it pulls it off, although you've got to assume that they will need to be careful over ageing. Lower alcohol than both 2018 and 2019, a more classical balance in fact. 4% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. 3.73pH, 75% new oak, 18 months in barrel.
Barrel Sample: 96
WS96
Wine Spectator
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.
RP95
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The vintage that inaugurated the estate's new state-of-the-art winery, the 2020 Lynch-Bages has turned out very nicely, offering up aromas of crème de cassis and blackberries mingled with notions of pencil shavings, spices and classy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with good concentration, ripe, powdery tannins and a seamless, integrated profile for such a young Lynch-Bages, it shows considerable promise. The blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot incorporates more Merlot than usual, reflecting relative yields in the vintage more than any stylistic shift. Best after 2030.
Rating:95+