Lynch Bages: The 175 acres of Château Lynch-Bages are located just outside of the town of Pauillac planted predominantly with red wine grape varieties (73% Cabernet, 15% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot). There is also a small planted with white varieties (40% Semillon, 40% Sauvignon Blanc, and 20% Muscadelle). Château Lynch Bages is primarily known for its red wine, of which approximately 25,000 cases are made in an average year.

Lynch Bages (Great Years):

1961 Lynch Bages - RP 95 - Still a spectacular wine, the 1961 defies mortality. It has been at its peak for nearly 15 years, yet it shows no signs of losing its fruit and drying out. The color is a dark garnet with orange/amber at the edge. The profound bouquet has the magnetic allure that leaves great Bordeaux unmatched for complexity. Sweet notes of dried fruits, herbs, tobacco, smoke, and roasted meats are followed by an opulently-textured, thick, nearly viscous wine with high glycerin, ripe, jammy fruit, and an intoxicating combination of glycerin, extract, and suppleness. The wine holds in the glass without cracking up, and has a good 40-45 second finish. There is no telling how much longer this 1961 will retain its magic, but it is still a classic.

1982 Lynch Bages - RP 94 - This is another Lynch Bages that has never gone through an awkward, disjointed stage where it completely shut down. The color remains a dense ruby with some lightening at the edge. Thick, juicy, succulent notes of creme de cassis intermixed with dried herbs, vanillin, minerals, and anise leap from the glass. Fleshy and full-bodied, with the vintage's voluptuous texture and low acid, fruit/glycerin-dominated flavors well-displayed in its full-bodied personality, this wine tastes young, but isalso ready to drink.

1989 Lynch Bages - RP 95 - Consistently backward and dense, with enormous potential, this admirable wine will not be ready for prime time drinking for another 5-7 years. The color is not quite as opaque as the 1990's, but reveals more purple and no lightening at the edge. Hugely concentrated flavors have just begun to offer up a nose of cedar and creme de cassis. Powerful and muscular, with high tannin and superb concentration, this is Lynch Bages at its biggest and most beastly. However, everything is in balance for a stunning evolution.

1990 Lynch Bages- RP 94 - This wine has provided terrific drinking since it was bottled. It may turn out to be a vintage such as 1982, which never shut down. The dark plum/purple color reveals some lightening at the edge. A big, sweet, plum, licorice, beef blood, and jammy cassis-scented bouquet with smoked herbs and new wood in the background soars from the glass. Enjoyable and accessible, this low acid, concentrated, velvety-textured wine continues to offer sumptuous drinking. It is one of my favorite Lynch Bages vintages to drink now, although it will be even more stunning in 10-15 years.

2000 Lynch Bages - RP 95 - An utterly profound Lynch-Bages, this wine continues to remind me of a hypothetical blend of the 1990 and 1989. Interestingly, when I asked Jean-Michel Cazes to rank his top four vintages of Lynch-Bages, he ranked the 1989 first, followed by three vintages that he said were essentially equivalent in quality - 1990, 1996, and 2000. The 2000 Lynch-Bages exhibits a dense purple color, loads of glycerin and extract, big, muscular, sweet creme de cassis notes, with hints of new saddle leather, earth, and tobacco leaf. The 2000 is forceful yet plush, with a thick, juicy, succulent mid-palate, ripe tannin, and a long, layered finish. I know it will be tempting to pull corks on this wine in its youth, but it really will not hit its stride for 7-10 years and will last for at least 25.