Tasting notes by Vintage

• 2011
• 2010
• 2009
• 2005
• 2003
• 2000
• 1990
• 1989
• 1985

• 90 Points - The Wine Advocate

  ”The medium-bodied 2011 Lynch Bages possesses a saturated ruby/purple color as well as beautiful creme de cassis notes, a generous, concentrated, well-made, medium to full-bodied style and supple tannins. A successful effort in 2011, it should be drinkable in 3-4 years and last for 15+. It is a sleeper of the vintage." Robert Parker

• 96 Points - The Wine Advocate

  ”The 2010 Lynch Bages is an absolutely brilliant wine, and somewhat reminiscent at this stage in its development of the profound 1989. Jean-Charles Cazes, who took over for his father a number of years ago, has produced a magnificent wine with the classic creme de cassis note intermixed with smoke, graphite and spring flowers. It is a massive Lynch Bages, full-bodied and very 1989-ish, with notable power, loads of tannin, and extraordinary concentration and precision. This is not a Lynch Bages to drink in its exuberant youth, but one to hold on to for 5-6 years and drink over the following three decades." Robert Parker

• 98 Points - The Wine Advocate

  ”Performing even better from bottle than it did from barrel, this appears to be the finest Lynch Bages since the 2000, 1990 and 1989. According to the chateau, the 2009 has the highest level of polyphenols ever measured as well as high alcohol (nearly 13.5%). A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest largely Merlot with touches of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it is an expressive, voluptuously textured effort with unctuosity and powerful, juicy, succulent blackberry and black currant flavors, low acids, a layered, massive mouthfeel, but no sense of heaviness or fatigue. This exquisite Lynch Bages should drink well for 30+ years.“ Robert Parker

• 92 Points - The Wine Advocate

  "As for the 2005 Lynch-Bages, it is a sexy, surprisingly soft and accessible style of wine, with a deep ruby/purple color, loads of crème de cassis, cedar wood and forest floor notes, medium to full body, ripe tannin and a long, fleshy finish. Drink it over the next 15+ years.” Robert Parker

• 97 Points - The Wine Advocate

  "Beginning to open magnificently, the still dense purple-colored 2000 reveals a blossoming bouquet of blackberries, cassis, graphite and pen ink. Full-bodied with velvety tannins that have resolved themselves beautifully over the last eleven years, this wine is still an adolescent, but it exhibits admirable purity, texture, mouthfeel and power combined with elegance. One of the all-time great examples of Lynch Bages, the 2000 is just beginning to drink well yet promises to last for another 20-25+ years.” Robert Parker

• 99 Points - The Wine Advocate

  "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.” Robert Parker

• 95 Points - The Wine Advocate

  "I have tasted the Château Lynch Bages 1989 several times since my last penned note in 2010. It is such a consistent wine, a Pauillac that never lets you down. Here it continues to sport a relatively backward blackberry and cedar scented nose, the graphite (pencil box) element a little more accentuated. The aromatic purr like a Bentley, unraveling with each swirl of the glass. The palate is very well defined with a rigid structure, well-judged acidity and hints of chestnut and cooked meat offering secondary notes on the dense finish that suggest a long drinking plateau. What a stupendous wine from Jean-Michel Cazes!” Robert Parker

• 95 Points - The Wine Advocate

  "Tasted single blind at the 1985 Bordeaux horizontal, the 1985 Château Lynch Bages was pitted against two other wines, both First Growths, and it more than held its own. In many ways it is a forerunner for the brilliant 1989 and 1990 that Jean-Michel crafted, though the 1985 has always been more elegant and comely in style. The nose is impressive after three decades with melted tar, a touch of peppermint and delineated black fruit that seem to gain intensity with each passing moment in the glass. Strangely those secondary notes of bay leaf and dried herbs make way for more primal fruit-derived scents with aeration! The palate does not disappoint. Medium rather than full-bodied, beautifully defined tannins and supremely well-judged acidity, this Lynch-Bages is just so well balanced. Hints of black truffle and sandalwood unfold towards the finish that has disarming purity and great persistence. If you want to know why the 1855 Classification screwed up placing Lynch Bages as a Fifth Growth - taste the wonderful 1985 and then the 1989 and 1990 (though the latter pair have greater longevity).” Robert Parker

• 95 Points - The Wine Advocate

  "This sexy, evolved, dense ruby/purple-tinged 2003 reveals notes of smoke, herbs, black currant jam, licorice and graphite. Full-bodied, opulent and flamboyant, it is another example of a stunning 2003 northern Medoc that can be drunk now or cellared for 10-15 more years. This irregular vintage hit its zenith in the northern Medoc and in a handful of limestone terroirs in St.-Emilion. In contrast, other areas, particularly Pomerol, Graves and the sandy, gravelly soils of St.-Emilion, experienced difficulties in 2003.” Robert Parker