Lynch-Bages 2021 stands as a testament to the château’s enduring ability to craft bold, structured Pauillac wines—even in a cooler, more challenging vintage. With 67% Cabernet Sauvignon at its core, this wine combines power, poise, and finesse in equal measure. Deep aromas of blackcurrant, graphite, ink, and walnut meet a palate framed by finely polished tannins and a vibrant mineral edge. Critics praise its character, complexity, and precision, marking it as one of the vintage’s standouts.

James Suckling | JS 95
Published: Dec 16, 2023

Lovely depth to the nose of this young Bordeaux with black currant, ink and walnut aromas that follow through to a medium to full body with a solid core of polished and integrated tannins. This will drink beautifully in 2026 and onwards.

Decanter | D 95
Published: Apr 1, 2022
Drink: 2026-2048

Sweet blackcurrant fruit on the nose, softly jammy and expressive. You can really feel the ripeness here, grapes got full maturity and this is plush, mouthfilling and plump with chewy tannins - more opulent and perfumed than others also with more power and body. Tannins are mouthfilling and you get the stone minerality and the Cabernet freshness that really takes over giving this a sense of tension and grip. A really characterful and expressive Pauillac where the tannins and acidity perfectly compliment each other with the muscular and concentrated fruit also giving a multi-faceted dimension. 3% Cabernet Sauvignon completes the blend. 3.72pH. Ageing 75% new barrels.
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 13.14%
Body: Medium
Grapes: 67% Cabernet Sauvignon 25% Merlot 3% Cabernet Franc

The Wine Advocate | RP 93+
Published: Feb 8, 2024
Drink: 2031-2051

The 2021 Lynch-Bages is one of the vintage's bigger, broader-shouldered wines, offering up aromas of crème de cassis, plums and spices, framed by a generous application of creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, dense and chunky, with a velvety attack that segues into a layered core of fruit framed by generously extracted tannins, it concludes with a long, lusty finish. Fully 40 hectares of this estate is now cultivated organically, principally those parcels that adjoin the houses of Pauillac. As is almost invariably the case with this estate, it will repay a bit of patience.

Jancis Robinson | JR 17
Published: Feb 25, 2025
Drink: 2030-2045

67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. Aged for 18 months in oak barrels (75% new).
Crimson hue. Graphite and blackcurrant aroma and flavour. Serious and structured but polished as well. Not the weight of top vintages but everything in place. Dry finish. Could surprise.

Lynchbages.com

Fiat Lux !
2020 marks the beginning of a “new era” as this is the first vintage for the new winery at Lynch-Bages. Winter 2019-2020 was marked by mild temperatures and heavy rain. After a particularly dry summer, the 525 mm of rain that fell between October and December 2019 replenished the soil’s water reserves. The mild winter conditions caused an early – by about 15 days – and generally homogeneous bud break: on 20 March for the Merlot and 26 March for the Cabernet Sauvignon.

The first flowers appeared on around 10 May (almost fifteen days earlier than normal), with mid-flowering between 23 and 26 May depending on the grape variety. After a particularly rainy spell in early May, hot and dry weather conditions allowed perfect flowering over the space of ten days, suggesting a beautiful harvest. The rain dried up from 19 June and a gradual increase in temperatures completely transformed the moisture profile of the vintage. The dry, sunny weather and temperature ranges ensured optimal grape maturation.

Harvesting began on 14 September with the fully mature Merlot plants and continued over five days. It finished with the four plots of Cabernet Franc. The pickers then harvested the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot over the space of nine days. Picking ended on 29 September.

Malolactic fermentation took place in the new malolactic fermentation cellar, one third in vats and two thirds in barrels. At the end of November, we began our first blends.

Lynch-Bages 2020 is beautifully sun-ripened, with freshness and, good acidity. This is underpinned by very ripe but powerful tannins, matching the levels found in ’18 and ’19. (May 2021).