1994 LYNCH BAGES - Pauillac 

Bordeaux - France

Open 3 hours - not decanted. 
Ruby hue. Rather unpleasant nose, animal and metallic. After being warmed in the glasses, much better flavours of cherry and almond paste fortunately come out. Rough and rather thin body, characterized by an aqueous and herbaceous finish. Can bode well with a fat steak, but there is probably nothing much to expect from it. The less exciting wine of the evening. Drink now. 
82/100

1997 LYNCH BAGES - Pauillac

Bordeaux - France

Open 3 hours - not decanted.
Ruby and slightly orange on the rim. Ripe fruits, mint and torrefied flavours. Round body although lacking of depth. Ripe cherry and green pepper. Little hollow on mid palate. Pleasant to drink for the next 3-4 years. 86/100

1983 LYNCH BAGES - Pauillac

Bordeaux - France

Open 3 hours - not decanted. 
Evolved hue with orange on the edge. Beautiful complexity of tertiary flavours, wet earth, sandalwood, cedar, animalized. Earthy and spicy on the palate while tannins are not totally integrated. Good length with a little disturbing phenolic taste on the finish. Seems to have passed its peak. Drink now. 88/100

1999 LYNCH BAGES - Pauillac

Bordeaux - France

Decanted 3-4 hours.
Dark hue. Muted, slightly animalized aromas, green pepper and unfortunately very slightly corked, which fortunately doesn't show too much on the palate. The tannins are a bit rough but are however well balanced by some ripe fruit (prune). Mineral taste on the tongue (graphite) and light astringency on the finish. Finally, a much more traditional Pauillac than I expected. It is OK but currently seems in a ungrateful evolution phase. Desserves to be reviewed again in a few months with a bottle that does not present any potential defect.

1998 LYNCH BAGES - Pauillac

Bordeaux - France

Decanted 3-4 hours.
Beautiful opaque crimson. Nose still overwhelmed by wood, spices and cedar, with pleasant flavours of cherry and violets in the background. Square, solid structure with well marked tannins. The fruit is however ripe and balance well some slightly drying tannins by the end. Quite austere at this point but reveals its great potentialities for the next 10 years and more. Will probably soften a bit within the next couple of years. Long term hold. 89/100 today but potentially better at peak.

1995 LYNCH BAGES - Pauillac

Bordeaux - France

Decanted 3-4 hours.
It's the second time that I taste Lynch-Bages 1995 within the last 6 months. Alas, this second try did not convince me better in spite of the vintage's excellent reputation! Nice ruby hue. Behind the initial blackcurrant, one finds unpleasant glycerol and rubber aromas. Excellent ripe fruit but disappointingly imbalanced. The tannins are too aggressive and the finish appears very alcoholic. As such, the wine does not sing at all. Furthermost I have difficulties to spot its potentialities for any future improvement. 84/100

2001 LYNCH BAGES - Pauillac

Bordeaux - France

Decanted 3-4 hours.
Crimson hue. Initially reticent nose but after three hours in the decanter it has expanded into a concentration of buttery roasted wood, cedar, vanillin, and blackberry jam. Excellent balance of pure fruit and fine tannins on the mid-palate. Slight bitterness and a long finish. An easy wine to enjoy "on the fruit". Just a little too "international" in style and probably lacks of personality to enter the propertie's Hall of Fame. 89/100

1996 LYNCH BAGES - Pauillac

Bordeaux - France

Decanted 4 hours.
Ruby red. Gained depth in decanter nicely. Beautiful ripe fruit, blackcurrant, prune, truffle and cedarwood aromas. Full bodied, incredibly concentrated and well balanced between soft tannins and very pure fruits. Very long and dense finish. An excellent traditionally made Medoc. Should magnificiently age for 10 - 15 years and more. A very solid score: 92/100

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1989 LYNCH BAGES - Pauillac

Bordeaux - France

Decanted 4 hours.
At the opening this Lynch 89 is a true wonder. Sweet, dense ripe fruit and complex tertiary flavours - truffle, sandalwood, leather. The wine fills up the palate. Hugely concentrated, perfectly balanced and a finish that went on and on. So I decided to use a decanter for the next four hours in the same way I did for Lynch 1986, 1996 and 2000. What a disastrous mistake!
Four hours later the hue has turned orange. The flavours have completely lost their magic. Admittedly, one finds spicy animal and slightly roasted flavours but unfortunately, wet floor cloth and acetic smells dramatically break the charm. The body is wide structured and fills out the mouth completely. But the finish has become more astringent. All in all this was a hard but good lesson. In the future I'll be much more cautious on decanting 15 years old wines for so long! 

1986 LYNCH BAGES - Pauillac

Bordeaux - France

Decanted 4 hours.
Dark garnet. At first it was quite resinous with notes of tar. I was worried that the wine was cooked, but in fact it was just quite closed and got much better as it warmed: liquorice, mocha and spices. Well balanced, good concentration and with a gripping structure that just stuck your front teeth to your lips. The finish is surprisingly short. One can nevertheless wonder whether the tannins will really one day totally integrate the structure before the fruit fades away. To my view, I see more and more similarities between 1986 and 1975. 89/100

Decanted 4 hours.
The hue is so opaque I can hardly see the flame of the candle through the bottle as I decant the wine! Four hours later, what a symphony: red fruits, spices, blonde tobacco, cigar box, ripe cherries. Such an amazing persistence! The mouth is particularly silky, with an enormous richness, very concentrated and pure. A mix of Lynch-Bages 1996 and 2001, but with a much higher dimension. It is extremely consistent and chewy. However one wonders how this wine will turn out in 15 years from now. For the moment, it is just pure pleasure and seduction! It is worth noting that a long decanting made it turn much better, whereas it appeared quite closed and muted at the opening. 95/100

  In conclusion, the tasting was a fascinating experience of the multiple talents of Pauillac's most famous 5ème Grand Cru Classe. While rather dull in poorer years, Lynch-Bages really seems to be sublimated when all the right conditions are met in great vintages. Contrary to other properties, the qualitative fluctuations from one year to another are notably well marked. Also, it appeared to us that the potential of ageing was probably not the highest of the area. This rule however is certainly not immutable because I still have in memory an incredible Lynch-Bages 1949 tasted 4 years ago. However, after 10-15 years, the better vintages seem to reach their peak. Some will probably stay there for a while, but my impression is that one should drink them before their maturing window while their qualities are expressed the best. Lastly, the most recent years (2000 and 2001) seem to mark a change in the propertie's style. Their wines seem more accessible and very flattering, probably less typified Pauillac. Remains to see whether the future vintages will confirm this trend or not.

Alain Bringolf - for ccvo-bg.org

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