Wine from Château Lynch-Bages, Grand Cru Classé Pauillac

Grand Cru Classé - Pauillac

The power and elegance of a great Pauillac

Daring, innovative and with a reputation for often being the last to harvest, Jean-Charles Cazes defined the style of Lynch-Bages in the 1930's. The wine's distinctive character has earned it a place amongst Pauillac's greatest. It combines structure, finesse and elegance, offering generous aromas in its youth and developing deeper complexities with bottle age.

Outstandingly consistent quality

The estate’s reputation as a top quality wine producer took off in 1945 after a series of exceptional vintages. Since then, Lynch-Bages has continued to produce excellent wines, even during years considered difficult in the Bordeaux region. The wine’s deep colour and tannic backbone have become part of its signature style. Jean-Michel Cazes, grandson of Jean-Charles, has worked hard to develop and refine the wine’s supple and smooth structure over the years. Vintage after vintage, the estate’s precise and excellent winemaking techniques have served to firmly establish Lynch-Bages reputation for consistent quality.

Vintages

Purple Rain...

Following a particularly wet winter that recorded mixed temperatures, the wine season began with a slightly late bud break. However, it followed a normal pattern thanks to mild temperatures at the beginning of April.

The 2018 vintage was then marked by two periods. The first saw relatively mild temperatures but heavy rainfall, from March to early July. The second period began mid-July with fine summer weather, hot temperatures and excessive sunshine.

Full flowering occurred in line with the 20-year average.
Thanks to ideal weather conditions, harvest started on 19 September with the Merlot and was followed by Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot until 9 October. Upon arrival at the cellar, the sanitary state of the grapes was perfect, with rich sugar content and exceptional polyphenols. Alcoholic fermentation was straightforward and homogeneous and average vatting time was 21 days. During the runoff from 15 to 29 October, the vats produced juice yields that were below expectations.

Then came the time for malolactic fermentation, one third of which took place in vats and two thirds in barrels. It was completed in November. The first blends were carried out in December.

Lynch-Bages 2018 offers a seductive mouthfeel with powerful yet silky tannins. On the palate, there is a strong prelude of black chocolate, rosemary and spices on a fresh core leading to a long finish.