Chateau Lynch-Bages 2017 – 750ml XXI

95pts James Suckling

This is a focused and tight Lynch with beautiful blackcurrants, slate, graphite and lead pencil. Medium to full body. Very fine tannins and brightness. Linear line of tannins that runs nicely through the wine. A blend of 70% cabernet sauvignon, 24% merlot, 4% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot.

95pts Wine Enthusiast

This concentrated, dense wine follows the estate’s hallmark richness. Solid and generous, it has both weight and layers of fresh acidity. The wine promises well, ready to drink from 2024.

95pts Jeb Dunnuck

A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, brought up in 75% new French oak, the 2017 Chateau Lynch-Bages sports an inky color as well as a powerful, full-bodied style. Rocking blackcurrants, chocolate, smoked tobacco, and obvious minerality all emerge from this beautiful, concentrated wine that has building tannins, the more elegant, silky style of the vintage, a great mid-palate, and a blockbuster finish. It’s going to hit the ground running in about 5-7 years and cruise 20 years or more in cool cellars.

95pts Decanter

Another wine that is packed with Pauillac signature; one where you feel the tightness and the bristle of the tannins. They have done a great job of carefully extracting the tannins while maintaining a fresh menthol current running through the backbone of the wine. The fruit lacks a little plushness and concentration compared to the 2016 or 2018, but this is impressive. It’s a year where names count, and Lynch Bages is claiming its place at the table.

94pts Wine Spectator

This leans toward the austere side of Pauillac, with a slightly bracing iron and chalk frame around a core of red and black currant fruit, liberally laced with savory and cedar notes. Exhibits ample length and cut, showing really pure and beautifully defined currant flavors. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2024 through 2040.

94pts Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Lynch Bages sashays out of the glass with flamboyant scents of baked blackcurrants, blackberry preserves and mulberries plus touches of lavender, dark chocolate, star anise and unsmoked cigars. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has bags of class and finesse with firm, finely-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and fragrant.

Winemaker Notes

The 2017 vintage with its deep garnet red colour and purplish-blue hues reflects the ripeness of the grape varieties in the blend. It offers a pleasant nose and a wonderful freshness, characteristic of the vintage. The attack is supple, rich, with a good volume. It expresses an aromatic palette of black and red fruit (blackcurrant, morello cherry, etc.) with spicy notes. Its perfectly smooth tannins strengthen its aromatic persistence.

About the Winery

Overlooking the Gironde estuary at the entrance to Pauillac, the vines of Lynch-Bages are located on the Bages plateau, on one of the finest gravelly rises in the appellation. The estate once belonged to the famous Lynch family, of Irish origin, and was acquired by Jean-Charles Cazes in 1934. His grandson, Jean-Michel Cazes restructured the estate in 1974, adding state-of-the-art winemaking equipment, while keeping the former wooden vats as a reminder of the 19th century.

The grapes are all hand picked and then carefully sorted before crushing. A very strict selection is made prior to blending and the wine is traditionally aged in oak barrels before bottling

Blend: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot