2013 Lynch Bages
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Tasting notes
72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Aged for 18 months in oak barrels (75% new). Red hue but lighter at the rim. Open and fresh with liquorice and herbal notes. Supple fruit on attack with a firmness of tannin behind. Finish perhaps a little tough and certainly shorter but no faults evident. Moderate but one of the better 2013s. (JL)
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
The 2013 Lynch-Bages is one of the better Pauillacs in this vintage. With lively black fruit on the nose, there's some essence of mineralité and tension. A cassis hint emerges with time. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins. Touches of cola infuse the black fruit. It's sweet on the finish with blood orange and herbaceousness on the aftertaste. Thoroughly enjoyable, given the growing season. Tasted at Bordeaux Index's 10-Year On tasting.
The 2013 Lynch-Bages showed a little volatility initially, although this seems to disappear with aeration. It displays red fruit, kirsch and just a touch of fig aromas. Strange for this vintage! The palate has commendable concentration but becomes a little monotone in the glass and lacks a bit of joie-de-vivre . Tasted at the Lynch-Bages vertical at the château.
Medium ruby in colour, fresh redcurrant and raspberry fuits, delicate and sappy with attactive floral character given depth by sweet cedar, campfire and ash notes, finishing with waves of salty caramel. The team here has done a great job with a difficult vintage, without bypassing its issues altogether. 70% new oak. Harvest October 1 to 12.
About the producer
Ch. Lynch-Bages is one of the largest and best properties in Pauillac, in the Médoc. While officially classified as a Fifth Growth estate, it regularly competes with the First and Second Growths when it comes to quality and ageability.