The 2016 Lynch Bages has a well-defined bouquet with blackberry, cedar and graphite scents, very complex, extremely pure and seductive, yet the class is absolutely clear. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. There is a symmetry about this '16 that is compelling. Impressive length and bewitching detail from start to finish. Tasted blind (twice) at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting.
Vinous, Feb 2026

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Lynch Bages comes charging out of the gate with pronounced cassis, chocolate-covered cherries, mulberries and menthol notions, backed up by scents of garrigue, tilled soil and a waft of tapenade. Medium to full-bodied, rich and fantastically concentrated, the generous fruit is superbly framed by firm, ripe, grainy tannins with tons of pepper, cinnamon and cloves layers coming through on the finish. Truly, a legendary Lynch Bages!

Very rich and exotic with blackberry, black-tea, graphite and lead-pencil aromas. Full-bodied, dense and structured with lots of ripe tannins and a long, flavorful finish of currants and forest floor, combined with fresh mushrooms and bark. Needs four to five years to show its true potential. Try after 2024. - February 2019

With a nose of cedar, cigar box, tobacco leaf, smoke, red fruits and spicy aromas create the complex aromatics. Pour the wine into your glass and it only takes a single sip to know this is a stunner. The wall of juicy, ripe, sweet red fruits never quits. The wine is powerful, stoic, refined and generous. If you are a Lynch Bages fan, you need this in your cellar. Lay this down for 12-15 years and enjoy it over the next 30 years or more!

This flashes some sporty flavors of ripe cassis, plum and blackberry compote, but quickly pulls everything together with the terrific graphite spine. Alluring tobacco and anise notes line the finish. Delivers fruit, power and cut. A great showing. - James Molesworth (WineSpectator.com, April 2017)

Making a mockery of its Fifth Growth status, Lynch Bages produces brilliant Cabernet which has a true Pauillac character and real ageability. Coiled, dark, brooding nose, hints of that violet and blackcurrant perfume but quiet at this stage. Broad, intense, concentrated palate with a truly beautiful core of sweet, ripe fruit balanced by fabulous gravelly minerality and a beautiful frame of tannins. Well judged acidity holds it up long and bright. - April 2017

Harvest started a week later than in 2015, allowing a longer, slowing ripening as Pauillac fully benefitted from the conditions of the vintage. Touches of reduction for the first minute emphasise the redcurrant notes in with the cassis and bilberry. The acidity is clear, and the layers of fine tannins build to show an extremely impressive construction: thickly sliced black fruits, fresh menthol, toast, tobacco and grilled, almost tarry almonds. 2% Petit Verdot makes up the blend. Eric Boissenot consults. - decanter.com, Jane Anson, October 2018

A stellar wine, the 2016 Lynch-Bages is dark and explosive in the glass. Beams of tannin and bright acids give the 2016 its sense of drive and tension. From bottle, the 2016 is quite a bit more powerful than it was from barrel. Dark flavors and potent tannins give the 2016 a distinctly brooding, somber feel. Sage, lavender, menthol, licorice and wild cherry are all laced into the potent, dramatically sweeping finish. Readers should not be in a rush, as the 2016 is going to need a number of years to be at its best. Even so, it is super-impressive today. - vinous.com, January 2019

The flagship 2016 Château Lynch Bages is a powerhouse, checking in as 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot raised in 75% new French oak. This deep, concentrated, powerful 2016 is going to be one for the ages, but if you’re looking for instant gratification, this isn’t for you. Saturated purple-colored, with thick black fruits, graphite, and scorched earth aromas and flavors, it fills the mouth with fruit, has masses of tannins, and beautiful overall balance. Don’t even think about opening bottles before 7-8 years from now, and it’s going to have 3-4 decades of longevity. - jebdunnuck.com, February 2019

A powerhouse of Pauillac, and another fifth growth estate that has long punched above its classification. Owned by the Cazes family since 1939, and now under Jean-Charles Cazes, Lynch-Bages combines tradition with a modern, international outlook. The 2016 vintage marked the end of an era before construction began on a new winery. The vineyard covers 90ha of deep gravel, planted mostly to Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2016 blend is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, vinified in stainless steel and wood, and aged 18 months in French oak barrels, 75% new. Georgie Hindle: Sweet toasted spices, bramble berry fruit. Muscular and powerful but also supersleek and defined. A classic Pauillac that needs time, yet it’s cool, crisp and very moreish. Vincenzo Arnese: Morello cherry, intense and rich. Great structure and body. Rich with a good finish and integrated tannins. Robert Mathias MW: A slightly toasty nose, with cedar, sandalwood and five spice. Ample cassis fruit on a charming, forward palate. Plenty going on, with Pauillac’s gravelly focus and drive.

75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Aged for 18 months in oak barrels (75% new). Dense, purple-black hue. Pure and reserved on the nose with a nuance of dark fruit. Sublime palate with depth and substance but fresh and balanced as well. Big tannic frame but the tannins refined and integrated. Finish goes on and on. Clearly one for the cellar. (JL)

Very annoyingly, my tasting note on Lynch Bages has evaporated into thin air. I remember the wine as being delightfully plump yet structured and very recognisably Lynch with its trademark spiciness - so there don't seem to be any ill effects to its being made in a completely different place from usual (see pictures above) but more than that I cannot say for the moment. (I am trying to track down another sample.) I think I have remembered the score correctly but am much less certain about the drinking dates I have suggested here. All to be taken with a pinch of salt, I'm afraid. Drink 2025-2042. - jancisrobinson.com, April 2017