Caramelized fruit, coffee bean, espresso, black cherry liqueur, licorice and spice aromas jump from the glass of this dark ruby/plum-colored wine. Concentrated and silky-textured, this full-bodied, voluptuous wine is a brilliant example of the 2011 vintage. Give it 2-4 more years in the bottle and enjoy it over the next 15 or more.

This is tightening up a little now, with a graphite edge holding sway over lightly mulled plum and boysenberry fruit, revealing a lovely tug of earth at the end. This has lost the caressing feel of its youth and picked up the vintage's telltale briary edge, but the fruit is as gorgeous as always.—Non-blind Le Pin vertical (December 2015). Best from 2018 through 2030. 502 cases made. JM

Boysenberry, chocolate, earth and plum scents open to a fresh, spicy, supple-textured, flashy style of Pomerol ending with a silky, opulent red and black plum finish.

Jacques Thienpont is a true friend to BI, and it's a pleasure to see him every year. With their beautiful if appropriately restrained new building on show, Le Pin once again didn't fail to live up to its legendary billing. It was effortlessly beautiful and just so individual; haunting and intoxicating. The wine is poured and slowly the aromas escape from the glass; a first wave of dark plums, sweet raspberry, mocha and spice leads to Asian spice and stewed figs then dark cherries and floral notes. It's so very complex but all in perfect balance and the palate matches up - the flavours build and flow, the acidity is perfectly poised and the use of oak is bang on perfect. 5 minutes after the flavour and texture keep your attention. 'Like drinking pure silk' was one comment on the texture. Sure, some will say that it's not a TOP Le Pin, but our advice is to forget that - there is something special in the land here and it delivers a wine that is the best of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Barolo all in one glass. If you can find it and afford it, buy it - it's that simple.

The 2011 Le Pin is quite high-toned on the nose with pure black cherries, Seville orange mocha and fig, well defined and developing more pressed flower aromas with aeration. The palate is rounded and pure, velvety in texture, slightly lower in acidity than its peers but very harmonious with a touch of spice towards the finish. This seems to manifest more complexity with aeration with a prolonged spicy aftertaste. This is actually showing better than the bottle that I drank in 2020. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting.

This is extremely bright and exotic, with crushed berries, flowers, orange peel and strawberries. Full body with a super-refined tannin structure and gorgeous, subtle chocolate, coffee and orange peel with red fruits. You want to drink it now, but better in 2016.

(100% merlot, harvested on September 12 and 13; 3.7 pH; 35 h/h; 13.3% alcohol): Opaque ruby-purple. Brooding nose hints at very pure cassis, violet and milk chocolate. Dense, rich and serious, with deep cassis and mineral flavors firmed by noble tannins. Very long and pure on the aftertaste. Considering the amount of gravel in the soil here, Le Pin has done a standout job in 2011. This is the year the estate inaugurated its small new chai designed by Belgian architect Paul Robbrecht, with seven stainless steel vats ranging between 15 and 45 hectoliters in capacity. Jacques Thienpont told me that this will allow for greater precision in harvesting the property's various parcels. Ian D'Agata

Tasted blind. Bright garnet. Direct, convincing perfume. Lacks real intensity but the balance is good. Rather restrained with some mintiness. A model of restraint in fact. Impressive persistence. Nothing showy. Claret incarnate. Drink now - 2035
JR - Oct 2021