BLANC DE LYNCH BAGES
2014 Château Lynch Bages
Aged for just 6-7 months in barrel - this has nearly finished its élévage and will be bottled soon. Really fun and perky style. Fresh with a lovely tropical bounce - a touch of sherbetty zip from the 20% Muscadelle which balances well with the textured floral feel. Bright minerality tidies up the long finish with a lick of grippy dustiness - impressive and enjoyable, almost instantly. 52% Sauvignon Blanc, 28% Semillon, 20% Muscadelle. Rating: 93 L&S (Apr 2015)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
The Blanc de Lynch Bages 2014 is a blend of 52% Sauvignon Blanc, 28% Sémillon and 20% Muscadelle raised in 45% new wood. It has a crisp, fresh pear and green apple-scented bouquet, the oak neatly disguised. The palate has a twist of bitter lemon on the entry, with good weight in the mouth and is lively and quite spicy toward the finish with a touch of lemongrass on the aftertaste. Not bad at all. Drinking range: 2016 - 2022 Rating: 88-90 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2015)
The just-bottled 2014 Blanc de Lynch-Bages is intensely aromatic, with plenty of sweet, tropical-leaning notes from the significant presence of Muscadelle in the blend. Orange peel, white flowers, Chamomile and lightly honeyed notes are laced into the expressive finish. The blend is 52% Sauvignon Blanc, 28% Semillon and 20% Muscadelle. Rating: 88 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2015)
Sauvignon Blanc 52% Sémillon 28% Muscadelle 20% Bright fresh the nose has a citrus mix quite floral the palate bright and fresh. Grapefruit a touch of greengage gives more mid depth the richness balanced by the citrus freshness on the finish. Drinking range: 2016 - 2025 Rating: 88-91 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk (Apr 2015)
This contains the highest percentage of Muscadelle since 2011, and is one of the few top dry whites to contain the grape. Smoky, grapefruit, pithy and refined, it's a delicious blend that compares with all but the very best examples from Pessac-Léognan. The 50% new is deftly handled here. (One of Tim's Top 10 Dry Whites.) Drinking range: 2015 - 2022 Rating: 94 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2015)
Dense and tangy with dried pineapples, lemon rind and hints of stone. Full-bodied, flavorful and bright. Rating: 92-93 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2015)
Château Lynch Bages
Pauillac Cinquième cru 1855 Thomas Lynch emigrated to Bordeaux from Galway in Ireland in 1691. He had two children and it was his son Thomas who associated the family name with Bordeaux by inheriting Lynch-Bages through his wife, and buying Lynch-Moussas and Dauzac in Margaux. Jean-Charles Cazes, who had recently bought Château Les Ormes de Pez in St Estèphe, took the tenancy of Lynch-Bages in 1934, and bought the property outright five years later. It has been the ownership of the Cazes family, who still own the estate, which turned Château Lynch Bages into the leading estate it is today, far exceeding the seemingly lowly 5th growth status bestowed upon it in 1855. There are 90ha of vines in the small village of Bages, just south of Pauillac. Red grapes are planted to 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Wines are fermented in temperature-controlled stainless-steel before ageing in wood (60% new) for 15 months. There has been a second wine produced at Lynch-Bages since 1978 that was originally called Château Haut Bages Averous, but has recently been renamed Echo de Lynch Bages. A small amount of Château Lynch Bages Blanc is made from 40% each of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon and 20% Muscadelle.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.