2001 Château Lynch-Bages
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Tasting notes
78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Aged for 15 months in oak barrels (65% new). Brick colour. Evolved nose but not over-expressive. Herbal notes. Palate more aromatic with an almost perfumed, floral edge. Plenty of freshness again. Tannins a little dry and edgy on the finish. Seems to have reached its apogee. Not the same grandeur (at least this bottle) as the 2000 just tasted. (JL)
Critic scores
Wine Spectator
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
The 2001 Lynch-Bages has a complex bouquet, well defined with a mélange of red and black fruit mixed with freshly rolled tobacco, sage and cedar. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit. It's sweet and candied with veins of orange peel and hints of sloes and fig towards the finish. I appreciate the harmony here, plus the persistence. Very fine, though on this occasion, it is just pipped by its millennial counterpart. Tasted blind at the Lynch Bages vertical at the château.
Soft curl of smoke, the beginnings of tertiary notes , this is showing some evolution at 20 years old, as does the slight sediment that has formed in the bottle. Tobaocco smoke, saffran, brambled fruits, melted tannins. An elegant 2001 and one that I would suggest beginning to drink. It will continue at this level for a few decades but will not improve much from here. 65% new oak.
Evolved blackish crimson. Rich, sweet with the suggestion of iron filings and some light gaminess. Just a little skinnier than the 2000 served alongside it. (JR)
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.