Ch\u00e2teau Haut-Bages-Lib\u00e9ral was both our first stop and one of the exceptions. We\u2019ve touted the quality of this Chateau for a few vintages now and, whilst it exists outside of the established order, to say that the terroir is anything other than exceptional is wrong. Positioned between some of the big boys of Pauillac (Pichon Baron, Latour and Lynch), Claire Villars-Lurton transformed the property when she bought it in 2000, taking it fully biodynamic by 2007. Whilst this didn\u2019t initially yield absolute success, it paved the way for it, and the last few vintages have been some of the best value wines in Pauillac. We loved the fleshy, fuller style of the 2021 \u2013 everything you want from the AOC, and at a guilt free price (they even managed to keep their yields from plummeting, down 25% on last year \u2013 an impressive feat with organics\/biodynamics). Galloni has given it a 94-96 (you can tell I wrote this bit after scores had been published) and we think it\u2019s well deserved.<\/p>\n
![\"Chateau](\"https:\/\/www.leaandsandeman.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Pichon-Lalande-600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
C<\/strong>h\u00e2teau Pichon Baron & <\/strong>Ch\u00e2teau Pichon Longueville<\/strong><\/h4>\nWe always love going for a tasting at the brace of Pichons. The wine is always fantastic, and you\u2019re transported to a land of spired castles\u2026 The walk is short too, which we like.
\nThis year, the wines are best described as athletic. Baron, more like a gymnast \u2013 deceptively powerful, but with grace and elegance. Lalande, like a sprinter \u2013 lean, zippy and slightly too quick to the finish. The biggest sadness is that yields for Pichon Lalande were just 15hl\/h, an enormous drop, so there won\u2019t be much to go around.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Mouton Rothschild<\/strong><\/h4>\nHere\u2019s some weird advice \u2013 buy white wine from Mouton Rothschild. The red was good\u2026 Classic even, in the way that a car or piece of clothing is classic. It was slightly tricky to taste En Primeur because it felt like it had its tie done up tightly, collar starched and off to its first job interview \u2013 we hope and expect (like many critics) that it might relax after it gets the job and goes to the pub afterwards. Back to the white. Aile d\u2019Argent was a bit of a surprise contender for white wine of the vintage. La Mission, Haut-Brion and Margaux all made fantastic white wines, but you\u2019d predict that, but Aile d\u2019Argent was more of a surprise. With the witheringly small amounts of white Burgundy to come, you\u2019ll be glad to have a bit of this around, and in the scheme of top white wine (from Bordeaux of Burgundy), it\u2019s really quite affordable.<\/p>\n
![\"Chateau](\"https:\/\/www.leaandsandeman.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/chateau-Pedsclaux-vineyard.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau P\u00e9desclaux<\/strong><\/h4>\n![\"Chateau](\"https:\/\/www.leaandsandeman.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Chateau-Pedesclaux.jpg\")
Yet another surprise, or sort of surprise, greeted us pulling into the winery of the Ch\u00e2teau with glass wings. Pedesclaux, depending on your architectural leanings, is either a wonderful combination of old and new, or a goldfish bowl \u2013 a strange post-modern twist on \u2018how Ch\u00e2teau might look in the future\u2019 after everything has gone apocalyptic and the odd very wealthy person is able to hermetically seal themselves away for preservation.
\nWhatever you think of the Ch\u00e2teau, the wine bowled us over. The winery itself is a corridor of gleaming vats, equipped with all the latest in tech and Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen has deployed it very well. The wine has generosity, something which was missing a bit in Pauillac, whilst not missing out on the style of the vintage. Like Haut-Bages-Lib\u00e9ral, it\u2019s usually a steal and we\u2019ll be backing it to the hilt.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Pontet-Canet<\/strong><\/h4>\n![\"Cheese](\"https:\/\/www.leaandsandeman.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Cheese-table-.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Pontet Canet is a rambling Ch\u00e2teau. Sometimes you\u2019re in France, other times you feel like you\u2019ve stumbled into ancient Persia. I heard many years ago, when they were rising to fame, that there was a bit of a joke amongst the lesser Ch\u00e2teaux of the M\u00e9doc \u2013 if you wanted the latest in winery technology, just wait for Pontet Canet to buy it, then sell it a year later.
\nThis demonstrates how far they\u2019ve come. A humble 5th growth, defying convention. We barely had time to say hello to the horses before being taken through Persia and up to the tasting room overlooking the vineyards. It\u2019s a wonderful, bucolic sort of spot for one of Pauillac\u2019s most touted wineries \u2013 looking out the window into their \u2018back garden\u2019 of amazing vineyards, stretching far as you can see. The most striking thing about 2021 Pontet are the aromatics \u2013 it smells Chambolle-esque, with a heady mix of iris, rose petal and lavender. Quite a departure from the norm.
\nWe had lunch in the courtyard after trying the 2021 and were given a glass of the 2017 to drink, which was in a really nice spot. We also bid a welcome return to the Pontet Canet cheese table \u2013 possibly (I may get fired after this comment) the most exciting thing about Bordeaux En Primeurs. A huge trestle, laden with every cheese you can imagine (and more), with two cheese experts on hand to help you pick. I could have spent hours there.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Lafite <\/strong>Rothschild\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\nTaking a trip up to Lafite is always alright. \u2018Hello mate, what are you up to today\u2019<\/em> \u2013 \u2018well I\u2019m just off to Lafite actually<\/em>\u2019 is a nice thing to be able to say\u2026 Sometimes you have to stop yourself on these tours and just appreciate where you are and how lucky you are to be there. A sentence I\u2019m using in part to refer to the Pontet Canet cheese table, but mainly to be visiting Lafite! In a vintage which terroir was king, the most hallowed and consistent terroir of the M\u00e9doc didn\u2019t disappoint. For once, every noteworthy critic also seems to have agreed \u2013 it is universally regarded as a 95-97pt wine (Anson just went straight in with a 97), which is a really, really nice Lafite. We\u2019re talking 2005, 2009, 2000, maybe even 1996. It might not quite hit that 100 point bell, but the joy of the 2021 was how different it was to what we\u2019ve grown accustomed to tasting the last half decade. It\u2019s just 12.6% alcohol and is a return to the Lafite of the 1990s, or perhaps even 80s. Forget \u2018contextualising this within the current market\u2019, you just can\u2019t. In modern context, it\u2019s unique, and you\u2019ll want it in your cellar.<\/p>\nCh\u00e2teau Duhart Milon<\/strong><\/h4>\nA special mention here to Duhart Milon. It\u2019s already been released and whilst the price doesn\u2019t peg it as a \u2018must buy\u2019, this carries through. It\u2019s very proper and rather wonderful \u2013 precise, sculpted aristocratic Pauillac. It\u2019ll be entirely different to any other recent vintage in your cellar and I daresay puts itself in contention as the qualitative \u2018second wine\u2019 of Lafite. This was their first year or fully organics conversion, and just the second wine made in the new premises.<\/p>\n
![\"Lynch](\"https:\/\/www.leaandsandeman.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Lynch-Bages-cellar.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Lynch-Bages<\/strong><\/h4>\nThe day began to draw to an end on a high. Please, Lynch Bages, forgive me this \u2013 I hope it doesn\u2019t get our allocation cut, but I can\u2019t help myself (it\u2019s like architectural tourettes syndrome). Have you ever caught the train from Paddington to Reading (or beyond)? There are a couple of big business parks here, all a bit 90s \u2013 glass fronted, nondescript. You know the sort. Picture these and you\u2019ve more or less got what Lynch Bages’ new winery looks like. Sort of\u2026 Office blocky.
\nNow before the scandal totally hits, I want to say that I admire this. Firstly, with the village of Bages, we know that Lynch aren\u2019t unsympathetic to architecture or the old ways, but what they\u2019ve built here is an amazing and amazingly practical space for getting the job done. It\u2019s a big, airy, easy to clean, purpose-built glass box where they haven\u2019t dumped loads of cash into having flashing lights, stone columns, vaulted ceilings\u2026 They\u2019ve focussed on making it work and removed the focus entirely from glitz and glamour.
\nThis is why we love their wine, and we really loved the 2021. It was imbued with such fruit intensity and dense structure, that you could easily mistake it for a warmer vintage and it seemed fit to compete with any of their greats, albeit with a slightly more old school bent. Bravo to Lynch-Bages and their very practical winery.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Haut Batailley & <\/strong>Ch\u00e2teau Grand Puy-Lacoste<\/strong><\/h4>\n![\"Grand](\"https:\/\/www.leaandsandeman.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Grand-Puy-Lacoste.jpg\")
To further this, it felt like Haut Batailley had also really come of age.
\nYou know you\u2019re always in safe hands at Grand Puy Lacoste. Which is more than they could say for my hands, which were very tempted to lift a very fun ornament they had in the hallway of a military Mr Hare. Once I\u2019d dragged myself away from that and entered their tasting room, we were warmly greeted by the injured Emeline Borie, who had slipped off a chair whilst trying to change a light bulb (proving how salt of the earth she is!). The wine was a brooding giant. Like Lynch, it had plenty of stuffing, despite a more old-school leaning. Depending on which critic you consult, this is either a Grand Puy to rival their very best, or simply one that is good \u2013 if you ask me, I fall into the former camp. Everything was there, but some of the expansiveness had been swapped for aromatics and poise. It\u2019s exactly what we look for in Pauillac.<\/p>\n
\nThis year, the wines are best described as athletic. Baron, more like a gymnast \u2013 deceptively powerful, but with grace and elegance. Lalande, like a sprinter \u2013 lean, zippy and slightly too quick to the finish. The biggest sadness is that yields for Pichon Lalande were just 15hl\/h, an enormous drop, so there won\u2019t be much to go around.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s some weird advice \u2013 buy white wine from Mouton Rothschild. The red was good\u2026 Classic even, in the way that a car or piece of clothing is classic. It was slightly tricky to taste En Primeur because it felt like it had its tie done up tightly, collar starched and off to its first job interview \u2013 we hope and expect (like many critics) that it might relax after it gets the job and goes to the pub afterwards. Back to the white. Aile d\u2019Argent was a bit of a surprise contender for white wine of the vintage. La Mission, Haut-Brion and Margaux all made fantastic white wines, but you\u2019d predict that, but Aile d\u2019Argent was more of a surprise. With the witheringly small amounts of white Burgundy to come, you\u2019ll be glad to have a bit of this around, and in the scheme of top white wine (from Bordeaux of Burgundy), it\u2019s really quite affordable.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau P\u00e9desclaux<\/strong><\/h4>\nYet another surprise, or sort of surprise, greeted us pulling into the winery of the Ch\u00e2teau with glass wings. Pedesclaux, depending on your architectural leanings, is either a wonderful combination of old and new, or a goldfish bowl \u2013 a strange post-modern twist on \u2018how Ch\u00e2teau might look in the future\u2019 after everything has gone apocalyptic and the odd very wealthy person is able to hermetically seal themselves away for preservation.
\nWhatever you think of the Ch\u00e2teau, the wine bowled us over. The winery itself is a corridor of gleaming vats, equipped with all the latest in tech and Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen has deployed it very well. The wine has generosity, something which was missing a bit in Pauillac, whilst not missing out on the style of the vintage. Like Haut-Bages-Lib\u00e9ral, it\u2019s usually a steal and we\u2019ll be backing it to the hilt.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Pontet-Canet<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n
Pontet Canet is a rambling Ch\u00e2teau. Sometimes you\u2019re in France, other times you feel like you\u2019ve stumbled into ancient Persia. I heard many years ago, when they were rising to fame, that there was a bit of a joke amongst the lesser Ch\u00e2teaux of the M\u00e9doc \u2013 if you wanted the latest in winery technology, just wait for Pontet Canet to buy it, then sell it a year later.
\nThis demonstrates how far they\u2019ve come. A humble 5th growth, defying convention. We barely had time to say hello to the horses before being taken through Persia and up to the tasting room overlooking the vineyards. It\u2019s a wonderful, bucolic sort of spot for one of Pauillac\u2019s most touted wineries \u2013 looking out the window into their \u2018back garden\u2019 of amazing vineyards, stretching far as you can see. The most striking thing about 2021 Pontet are the aromatics \u2013 it smells Chambolle-esque, with a heady mix of iris, rose petal and lavender. Quite a departure from the norm.
\nWe had lunch in the courtyard after trying the 2021 and were given a glass of the 2017 to drink, which was in a really nice spot. We also bid a welcome return to the Pontet Canet cheese table \u2013 possibly (I may get fired after this comment) the most exciting thing about Bordeaux En Primeurs. A huge trestle, laden with every cheese you can imagine (and more), with two cheese experts on hand to help you pick. I could have spent hours there.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Lafite <\/strong>Rothschild\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\nTaking a trip up to Lafite is always alright. \u2018Hello mate, what are you up to today\u2019<\/em> \u2013 \u2018well I\u2019m just off to Lafite actually<\/em>\u2019 is a nice thing to be able to say\u2026 Sometimes you have to stop yourself on these tours and just appreciate where you are and how lucky you are to be there. A sentence I\u2019m using in part to refer to the Pontet Canet cheese table, but mainly to be visiting Lafite! In a vintage which terroir was king, the most hallowed and consistent terroir of the M\u00e9doc didn\u2019t disappoint. For once, every noteworthy critic also seems to have agreed \u2013 it is universally regarded as a 95-97pt wine (Anson just went straight in with a 97), which is a really, really nice Lafite. We\u2019re talking 2005, 2009, 2000, maybe even 1996. It might not quite hit that 100 point bell, but the joy of the 2021 was how different it was to what we\u2019ve grown accustomed to tasting the last half decade. It\u2019s just 12.6% alcohol and is a return to the Lafite of the 1990s, or perhaps even 80s. Forget \u2018contextualising this within the current market\u2019, you just can\u2019t. In modern context, it\u2019s unique, and you\u2019ll want it in your cellar.<\/p>\nCh\u00e2teau Duhart Milon<\/strong><\/h4>\nA special mention here to Duhart Milon. It\u2019s already been released and whilst the price doesn\u2019t peg it as a \u2018must buy\u2019, this carries through. It\u2019s very proper and rather wonderful \u2013 precise, sculpted aristocratic Pauillac. It\u2019ll be entirely different to any other recent vintage in your cellar and I daresay puts itself in contention as the qualitative \u2018second wine\u2019 of Lafite. This was their first year or fully organics conversion, and just the second wine made in the new premises.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Lynch-Bages<\/strong><\/h4>\nThe day began to draw to an end on a high. Please, Lynch Bages, forgive me this \u2013 I hope it doesn\u2019t get our allocation cut, but I can\u2019t help myself (it\u2019s like architectural tourettes syndrome). Have you ever caught the train from Paddington to Reading (or beyond)? There are a couple of big business parks here, all a bit 90s \u2013 glass fronted, nondescript. You know the sort. Picture these and you\u2019ve more or less got what Lynch Bages’ new winery looks like. Sort of\u2026 Office blocky.
\nNow before the scandal totally hits, I want to say that I admire this. Firstly, with the village of Bages, we know that Lynch aren\u2019t unsympathetic to architecture or the old ways, but what they\u2019ve built here is an amazing and amazingly practical space for getting the job done. It\u2019s a big, airy, easy to clean, purpose-built glass box where they haven\u2019t dumped loads of cash into having flashing lights, stone columns, vaulted ceilings\u2026 They\u2019ve focussed on making it work and removed the focus entirely from glitz and glamour.
\nThis is why we love their wine, and we really loved the 2021. It was imbued with such fruit intensity and dense structure, that you could easily mistake it for a warmer vintage and it seemed fit to compete with any of their greats, albeit with a slightly more old school bent. Bravo to Lynch-Bages and their very practical winery.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Haut Batailley & <\/strong>Ch\u00e2teau Grand Puy-Lacoste<\/strong><\/h4>\nTo further this, it felt like Haut Batailley had also really come of age.
\nYou know you\u2019re always in safe hands at Grand Puy Lacoste. Which is more than they could say for my hands, which were very tempted to lift a very fun ornament they had in the hallway of a military Mr Hare. Once I\u2019d dragged myself away from that and entered their tasting room, we were warmly greeted by the injured Emeline Borie, who had slipped off a chair whilst trying to change a light bulb (proving how salt of the earth she is!). The wine was a brooding giant. Like Lynch, it had plenty of stuffing, despite a more old-school leaning. Depending on which critic you consult, this is either a Grand Puy to rival their very best, or simply one that is good \u2013 if you ask me, I fall into the former camp. Everything was there, but some of the expansiveness had been swapped for aromatics and poise. It\u2019s exactly what we look for in Pauillac.<\/p>\n
Yet another surprise, or sort of surprise, greeted us pulling into the winery of the Ch\u00e2teau with glass wings. Pedesclaux, depending on your architectural leanings, is either a wonderful combination of old and new, or a goldfish bowl \u2013 a strange post-modern twist on \u2018how Ch\u00e2teau might look in the future\u2019 after everything has gone apocalyptic and the odd very wealthy person is able to hermetically seal themselves away for preservation.\nWhatever you think of the Ch\u00e2teau, the wine bowled us over. The winery itself is a corridor of gleaming vats, equipped with all the latest in tech and Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen has deployed it very well. The wine has generosity, something which was missing a bit in Pauillac, whilst not missing out on the style of the vintage. Like Haut-Bages-Lib\u00e9ral, it\u2019s usually a steal and we\u2019ll be backing it to the hilt.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pontet Canet is a rambling Ch\u00e2teau. Sometimes you\u2019re in France, other times you feel like you\u2019ve stumbled into ancient Persia. I heard many years ago, when they were rising to fame, that there was a bit of a joke amongst the lesser Ch\u00e2teaux of the M\u00e9doc \u2013 if you wanted the latest in winery technology, just wait for Pontet Canet to buy it, then sell it a year later.
\nThis demonstrates how far they\u2019ve come. A humble 5th growth, defying convention. We barely had time to say hello to the horses before being taken through Persia and up to the tasting room overlooking the vineyards. It\u2019s a wonderful, bucolic sort of spot for one of Pauillac\u2019s most touted wineries \u2013 looking out the window into their \u2018back garden\u2019 of amazing vineyards, stretching far as you can see. The most striking thing about 2021 Pontet are the aromatics \u2013 it smells Chambolle-esque, with a heady mix of iris, rose petal and lavender. Quite a departure from the norm.
\nWe had lunch in the courtyard after trying the 2021 and were given a glass of the 2017 to drink, which was in a really nice spot. We also bid a welcome return to the Pontet Canet cheese table \u2013 possibly (I may get fired after this comment) the most exciting thing about Bordeaux En Primeurs. A huge trestle, laden with every cheese you can imagine (and more), with two cheese experts on hand to help you pick. I could have spent hours there.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Lafite <\/strong>Rothschild\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\nTaking a trip up to Lafite is always alright. \u2018Hello mate, what are you up to today\u2019<\/em> \u2013 \u2018well I\u2019m just off to Lafite actually<\/em>\u2019 is a nice thing to be able to say\u2026 Sometimes you have to stop yourself on these tours and just appreciate where you are and how lucky you are to be there. A sentence I\u2019m using in part to refer to the Pontet Canet cheese table, but mainly to be visiting Lafite! In a vintage which terroir was king, the most hallowed and consistent terroir of the M\u00e9doc didn\u2019t disappoint. For once, every noteworthy critic also seems to have agreed \u2013 it is universally regarded as a 95-97pt wine (Anson just went straight in with a 97), which is a really, really nice Lafite. We\u2019re talking 2005, 2009, 2000, maybe even 1996. It might not quite hit that 100 point bell, but the joy of the 2021 was how different it was to what we\u2019ve grown accustomed to tasting the last half decade. It\u2019s just 12.6% alcohol and is a return to the Lafite of the 1990s, or perhaps even 80s. Forget \u2018contextualising this within the current market\u2019, you just can\u2019t. In modern context, it\u2019s unique, and you\u2019ll want it in your cellar.<\/p>\nCh\u00e2teau Duhart Milon<\/strong><\/h4>\nA special mention here to Duhart Milon. It\u2019s already been released and whilst the price doesn\u2019t peg it as a \u2018must buy\u2019, this carries through. It\u2019s very proper and rather wonderful \u2013 precise, sculpted aristocratic Pauillac. It\u2019ll be entirely different to any other recent vintage in your cellar and I daresay puts itself in contention as the qualitative \u2018second wine\u2019 of Lafite. This was their first year or fully organics conversion, and just the second wine made in the new premises.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Lynch-Bages<\/strong><\/h4>\nThe day began to draw to an end on a high. Please, Lynch Bages, forgive me this \u2013 I hope it doesn\u2019t get our allocation cut, but I can\u2019t help myself (it\u2019s like architectural tourettes syndrome). Have you ever caught the train from Paddington to Reading (or beyond)? There are a couple of big business parks here, all a bit 90s \u2013 glass fronted, nondescript. You know the sort. Picture these and you\u2019ve more or less got what Lynch Bages’ new winery looks like. Sort of\u2026 Office blocky.
\nNow before the scandal totally hits, I want to say that I admire this. Firstly, with the village of Bages, we know that Lynch aren\u2019t unsympathetic to architecture or the old ways, but what they\u2019ve built here is an amazing and amazingly practical space for getting the job done. It\u2019s a big, airy, easy to clean, purpose-built glass box where they haven\u2019t dumped loads of cash into having flashing lights, stone columns, vaulted ceilings\u2026 They\u2019ve focussed on making it work and removed the focus entirely from glitz and glamour.
\nThis is why we love their wine, and we really loved the 2021. It was imbued with such fruit intensity and dense structure, that you could easily mistake it for a warmer vintage and it seemed fit to compete with any of their greats, albeit with a slightly more old school bent. Bravo to Lynch-Bages and their very practical winery.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Haut Batailley & <\/strong>Ch\u00e2teau Grand Puy-Lacoste<\/strong><\/h4>\nTo further this, it felt like Haut Batailley had also really come of age.
\nYou know you\u2019re always in safe hands at Grand Puy Lacoste. Which is more than they could say for my hands, which were very tempted to lift a very fun ornament they had in the hallway of a military Mr Hare. Once I\u2019d dragged myself away from that and entered their tasting room, we were warmly greeted by the injured Emeline Borie, who had slipped off a chair whilst trying to change a light bulb (proving how salt of the earth she is!). The wine was a brooding giant. Like Lynch, it had plenty of stuffing, despite a more old-school leaning. Depending on which critic you consult, this is either a Grand Puy to rival their very best, or simply one that is good \u2013 if you ask me, I fall into the former camp. Everything was there, but some of the expansiveness had been swapped for aromatics and poise. It\u2019s exactly what we look for in Pauillac.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Duhart Milon<\/strong><\/h4>\nA special mention here to Duhart Milon. It\u2019s already been released and whilst the price doesn\u2019t peg it as a \u2018must buy\u2019, this carries through. It\u2019s very proper and rather wonderful \u2013 precise, sculpted aristocratic Pauillac. It\u2019ll be entirely different to any other recent vintage in your cellar and I daresay puts itself in contention as the qualitative \u2018second wine\u2019 of Lafite. This was their first year or fully organics conversion, and just the second wine made in the new premises.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Lynch-Bages<\/strong><\/h4>\nThe day began to draw to an end on a high. Please, Lynch Bages, forgive me this \u2013 I hope it doesn\u2019t get our allocation cut, but I can\u2019t help myself (it\u2019s like architectural tourettes syndrome). Have you ever caught the train from Paddington to Reading (or beyond)? There are a couple of big business parks here, all a bit 90s \u2013 glass fronted, nondescript. You know the sort. Picture these and you\u2019ve more or less got what Lynch Bages’ new winery looks like. Sort of\u2026 Office blocky.
\nNow before the scandal totally hits, I want to say that I admire this. Firstly, with the village of Bages, we know that Lynch aren\u2019t unsympathetic to architecture or the old ways, but what they\u2019ve built here is an amazing and amazingly practical space for getting the job done. It\u2019s a big, airy, easy to clean, purpose-built glass box where they haven\u2019t dumped loads of cash into having flashing lights, stone columns, vaulted ceilings\u2026 They\u2019ve focussed on making it work and removed the focus entirely from glitz and glamour.
\nThis is why we love their wine, and we really loved the 2021. It was imbued with such fruit intensity and dense structure, that you could easily mistake it for a warmer vintage and it seemed fit to compete with any of their greats, albeit with a slightly more old school bent. Bravo to Lynch-Bages and their very practical winery.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Haut Batailley & <\/strong>Ch\u00e2teau Grand Puy-Lacoste<\/strong><\/h4>\nTo further this, it felt like Haut Batailley had also really come of age.
\nYou know you\u2019re always in safe hands at Grand Puy Lacoste. Which is more than they could say for my hands, which were very tempted to lift a very fun ornament they had in the hallway of a military Mr Hare. Once I\u2019d dragged myself away from that and entered their tasting room, we were warmly greeted by the injured Emeline Borie, who had slipped off a chair whilst trying to change a light bulb (proving how salt of the earth she is!). The wine was a brooding giant. Like Lynch, it had plenty of stuffing, despite a more old-school leaning. Depending on which critic you consult, this is either a Grand Puy to rival their very best, or simply one that is good \u2013 if you ask me, I fall into the former camp. Everything was there, but some of the expansiveness had been swapped for aromatics and poise. It\u2019s exactly what we look for in Pauillac.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nThe day began to draw to an end on a high. Please, Lynch Bages, forgive me this \u2013 I hope it doesn\u2019t get our allocation cut, but I can\u2019t help myself (it\u2019s like architectural tourettes syndrome). Have you ever caught the train from Paddington to Reading (or beyond)? There are a couple of big business parks here, all a bit 90s \u2013 glass fronted, nondescript. You know the sort. Picture these and you\u2019ve more or less got what Lynch Bages’ new winery looks like. Sort of\u2026 Office blocky.
\nNow before the scandal totally hits, I want to say that I admire this. Firstly, with the village of Bages, we know that Lynch aren\u2019t unsympathetic to architecture or the old ways, but what they\u2019ve built here is an amazing and amazingly practical space for getting the job done. It\u2019s a big, airy, easy to clean, purpose-built glass box where they haven\u2019t dumped loads of cash into having flashing lights, stone columns, vaulted ceilings\u2026 They\u2019ve focussed on making it work and removed the focus entirely from glitz and glamour.
\nThis is why we love their wine, and we really loved the 2021. It was imbued with such fruit intensity and dense structure, that you could easily mistake it for a warmer vintage and it seemed fit to compete with any of their greats, albeit with a slightly more old school bent. Bravo to Lynch-Bages and their very practical winery.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Haut Batailley & <\/strong>Ch\u00e2teau Grand Puy-Lacoste<\/strong><\/h4>\nTo further this, it felt like Haut Batailley had also really come of age.
\nYou know you\u2019re always in safe hands at Grand Puy Lacoste. Which is more than they could say for my hands, which were very tempted to lift a very fun ornament they had in the hallway of a military Mr Hare. Once I\u2019d dragged myself away from that and entered their tasting room, we were warmly greeted by the injured Emeline Borie, who had slipped off a chair whilst trying to change a light bulb (proving how salt of the earth she is!). The wine was a brooding giant. Like Lynch, it had plenty of stuffing, despite a more old-school leaning. Depending on which critic you consult, this is either a Grand Puy to rival their very best, or simply one that is good \u2013 if you ask me, I fall into the former camp. Everything was there, but some of the expansiveness had been swapped for aromatics and poise. It\u2019s exactly what we look for in Pauillac.<\/p>\n
To further this, it felt like Haut Batailley had also really come of age.\nYou know you\u2019re always in safe hands at Grand Puy Lacoste. Which is more than they could say for my hands, which were very tempted to lift a very fun ornament they had in the hallway of a military Mr Hare. Once I\u2019d dragged myself away from that and entered their tasting room, we were warmly greeted by the injured Emeline Borie, who had slipped off a chair whilst trying to change a light bulb (proving how salt of the earth she is!). The wine was a brooding giant. Like Lynch, it had plenty of stuffing, despite a more old-school leaning. Depending on which critic you consult, this is either a Grand Puy to rival their very best, or simply one that is good \u2013 if you ask me, I fall into the former camp. Everything was there, but some of the expansiveness had been swapped for aromatics and poise. It\u2019s exactly what we look for in Pauillac.<\/p>\n
![\"2021](\"https:\/\/www.leaandsandeman.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/CTA-Bordeaux-EP-browse.png\")
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