The 1997 Lynch-Bages shows some degradation on the bricked rim. The bouquet is open-knit, fully mature with ferrous, undergrowth, leafy/autumnal scents. It's missing some fruit intensity, as you expect from a more challenging season. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, crisp black fruit laced with orange rind, black pepper, cedar and tobacco. This shows the most cohesion towards the finish and displays a long, sustained aftertaste. This is a real turn-up for the books. Tasted blind at the Lynch Bages vertical at the château. July 2023

A very successful effort for the vintage, this hedonistically-styled Lynch Bages delivers copious quantities of ripe, fat, black currant fruit intermixed with sweet oak. Low acidity combined with high PH results in a chewy, fleshy, up-front wine that will make many friends when it is released in a year and a half. The color is a healthy dark purple, and the wine is perfumed, expansive, round, and crammed with black fruit. The glycerin level is high, the tannin sweet and unaggressive, and the overall style provides considerable satisfaction and thrills. If this wine takes on more weight and adds a nuance or two of complexity, look for it to merit an outstanding rating when released. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2012. - Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #116, April 1998)

A very successful effort for the vintage, this hedonistically-styled Lynch Bages delivers copious quantities of ripe, fat, black currant fruit intermixed with sweet oak. Low acidity combined with high PH results in a chewy, fleshy, up-front wine that will make many friends when it is released in a year and a half. The color is a healthy dark purple, and the wine is perfumed, expansive, round, and crammed with black fruit. The glycerin level is high, the tannin sweet and unaggressive, and the overall style provides considerable satisfaction and thrills. If this wine takes on more weight and adds a nuance or two of complexity, look for it to merit an outstanding rating when released. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2012. - Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #128, APril 2000)

Bright ruby-red. Inky aromas of cassis, licorice, shoe polish and lead pencil, plus a hint of nutty oak. Plump, sweet and full for a '97; easygoing and approachable. Finishes with rather soft tannins and good length.

(77% cabernet sauvignon, 15% merlot, 6% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot; 5.3 g/; total acidity; 13.1% alcohol): Garnet-tinged dark red. Aromatic nose displays a floral, delicately spicy quality to its red fruit, shoe polish, cedar and tobacco aromas. More red fruits in the mouth, with mineral and loamy nuances on the linear, moderately persistent finish. Better than a number of more evolved bottles of this vintage that I've had over the years.

This wine is jammy black currant fruit intermixed with cedar wood, herbs, spice, and pepper. It is a light-styled yet friendly effort with creamy new oak, low acidity, and a medium-bodied, attractive albeit superficial appeal. Drink it over the next 5-6 years.