Ch. Lynch-Bages
5th Growth Grand Cru Classe
Pauillac
2009

The producer

Another Fifth Growth that is up there with the big players in Pauillac! This is not a recent thing as Lynch-Bages – named after Irishman Thomas Lynch who owned it in the late 18^th century – has been impressing for decades.

Lynch Bages is, with 90 hectares of vineyards, which makes it the largest 5^th Growth estate, located on the gravel plateau west of the town of Pauillac nearby the small village, Bages. The vineyards, planted with 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, are on deep gravel soils on a limestone subsoil and the Grand Vin usually matures for around 15 months in 60% new barriques.

Recent studies of the vineyard, and subsequent adjustments to viticulture have resulted in even better, more concentrated wines, and recently a spanking new, rather stunning cellar has been completed. Lynch is definitely worth a visit when in Bordeaux. All is looking on the up at Lynch-Bages especially the dark-fruited, Cabernet-dominant and powerful wines that respond to time in the cellar. And albeit the historical position as a fifth growth in the 1855 classification, Lynch is widely and deservedly considered a Super-Second!

The wine

Fruit for Lynch Bages’ Grand Vin is sourced from vineyards in the small village of Bages on a plateau west of Pauillac town. The blend usually consists of around 76% Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and Cabernet Franc, sometimes a soupcon of Petit Verdot. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks and is followed by malolactic fermentation – two thirds of which in barrel – and finally blending and ageing. Ageing is in oak barriques, of which 75% are new, for 18 months and varies with vintage conditions and fruit ripeness. Lynch Bages is a wine of succulent richness and a dark-fruited, Cabernet-dominant profile with powerful yet velvety tannins.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.