2009 Chateau Lynch-Bages 5eme Cru Classe, Pauillac

Chateau Lynch-Bages 5eme Cru Classe, Pauillac

Colour: Red

Vintage: 2009

Region: Bordeaux, Pauillac

Is there a wine anywhere in the world that can boast the global affection and recognition of Château Lynch Bages? Once known as the “poor man’s Mouton” this iconic Pauillac now plays second fiddle to no one, residing as it does in the finest collections and on the most coveted wine lists in the world. Lynch Bages is surely one of the most underrated chateaux when it comes to the 1855 classification of Bordeaux wines, belying its fifth growth status and producing outstanding wines year on year. Under the Cazes family, first Jean-Michel and now his son Jean-Charles, the estate has seen massive investment - most notably a huge, modern new winemaking facility - and the rewards have been duly reaped. Stylistically, Lynch Bages is quintessential Pauillac, highly consistent in quality, with the trademark regional Cabernet Sauvignon character of black fruit, pencil shavings and leather.

Tasting Notes and Scores

98 RP

Performing even better from bottle than it did from barrel, this appears to be the finest Lynch Bages since the 2000, 1990 and 1989. According to the chateau, the 2009 has the highest level of polyphenols ever measured as well as high alcohol (nearly 13.5%). A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest largely Merlot with touches of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it is an expressive, voluptuously textured effort with unctuosity and powerful, juicy, succulent blackberry and black currant flavors, low acids, a layered, massive mouthfeel, but no sense of heaviness or fatigue. This exquisite Lynch Bages should drink well for 30+ years.

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #199, Feb 2012)

96 - The medium to deep garnet colored 2009 Lynch Bages is boldly scented of crème de cassis, blackberry pie and baked plums with chocolate box, incense and underbrush suggestions plus a waft of bay leaves. Medium to full-bodied, taut and well sustained in the mouth, it has a firm, grainy texture and a lively backbone lifting the black fruit core to a nice long finish. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, March 2019

Wine Advocate

96 WS

Tight and backward, this has dense, almost chewy layers of fig, currant and plum cake behind a very solid wall of cedar, roasted vanilla and charcoal notes. There's serious grip on the finish, with an iron edge that won't quit. Best from 2015 through 2035. JM

Wine Spectator

96 JS

A powerful and ripe wine with a wide-screen personality, this makes a very bold statement without becoming a jot heavy. Serious tannins at the long finish suggest this has long-term aging potential. Drink now with a big steak or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019) - Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com, March 2019

James Suckling

944 WL

Quality 905 | Brand 997 | Economics 937 | buzz brand, investment staple
Quality: Above the average quality score of its peer group for the 2009 vintage, 788 Brand: #3 strongest restaurant presence on Wine Lister, featuring on 54 of the world's top wine lists, including Auberge du Soleil Economics: Below its peer group average price of £116 for the 2009 vintage Production: Older vines than its peer group average of 32 years

- www.wine-lister.com June 2017

Wine Lister

93 NM

The 2009 Lynch-Bages has an intense bouquet which is more forward than Grand Puy Lacoste, albeit without the same complexity. Layers of blackberry, bilberry, brine and a touch of graphite. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannin, slightly lower in acidity than the 2010 Lynch Bages, dense and quite sinewy towards the finish. It might miss the class of its peers but you cannot help but admire the brawn underneath its aristocratic coat. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits' Ten Year On tasting. - vinous.com, March 2019

Neal Martin

17.5 MS

[76CS/18M/4CF/2PV] Dense, crisp, minerally, ripe red and blackcurrant fruit on the nose, complex and aromatic; rich, compact wine, firm in tannin, firm in acidity round a juicily ripe, red and blackcurrant fruit, pure, taut, firmer style within the vintage; long and juicy and subtle within the Pauillac muscle, but without coarseness, and with fine aromatic and fruit length. Here again that fine, concentrated fruit core of the best 2009's. A fine, fairly long term Lynch Bages. 2022-40

Michael Schuster

Chateau Lynch-Bages 5eme Cru Classe, Pauillac