CHÂTEAU LYNCH BAGES
2014 5ème Cru Classé Pauillac
69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Already this is delicious. The nose is full of dark fruit, a whiff of menthol herb and violets. Into the palate this all builds brilliantly. A super weighty core of good blueberry and cassis fruit is supple and nicely layered. Great concentration and focus. It is the balance between density and elegance. At once rich, but floral and perfumed too. Compact shape. One for the long haul. Recommended. Rating: 95 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 2014 Lynch-Bages has a wonderful, precise, focused bouquet that exudes class. The oak is beautifully assimilated with superb mineralité. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a dash of white pepper and sage, gaining depth towards the harmonious and almost Saint-Julien-inspired finish. Probably ready now, but can drink over the next 15 to 20 years. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting. Drinking range: 2025 - 2050 Rating: 92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2024)
Concentrated and muscular, this was the time when Lynch Bages was beginning to move into its more contemporary construction, with full on Pauillac signature at the top end. It was my wine of the year two years ago, and it delivers again - the graphite, the texture, the black fruits, the climb through the palate, it's just brilliant, and punches way above its weight. 70% new oak, Eric Boissenot consultant. Drinking range: 2024 - 2040 Rating: 97 Jane Anson, Decanter (Feb 2024)
The 2014 Lynch-Bages is just a little meager on the nose, well-defined but lacking presence and fruit intensity and a bit dusty by comparison. It could be a question of not having enough time, a tiny amount of stage fright perhaps? The palate is better with pleasant tart red cherries mingling with blackberry, cedar and mint. There is a fine spicy component towards the finish as it gently fans out. Conservative, not necessarily elegant, yet with classic charm. Tasted at the Lynch-Bages vertical at the château. Drinking range: 2021 - 2032 Rating: 92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jul 2023)
Inky plum in colour, you can see this is rich and textured even before going anywhere near the nose, which then displays ripe fruit. Gorgeous quality, a wine that is packed full of graphite, pencil lead, waves of violet, cassis, liqourice, and chewy but well defined tannins. Leaps out of the glass and is clear proof that, when it gets it right, the 2014 vintage equals the 2015 in this northern sector of the Médoc. Good value also compared to the 2015 and 2016 - a must buy for me. 70% new oak, Eric Boissenot consultant. Drinking range: 2024 - 2044 Rating: 97 Jane Anson, Decanter (Apr 2022)
Deep crimson. Rather rich and glamorous. Dense and velvety but not at all sweet. Dry minerally finish. Very Pauillac! Just as it should be. Drinking range: 2025 - 2045 Rating: 18 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Feb 2018)
The 2014 Lynch-Bages is just as powerful and dense from bottle as it was from barrel. Deep, powerful and bold, it possesses remarkable richness in all of its dimensions. Ripe red cherry, spice, leather, tobacco and rose petal all develop in the glass, but it is the wine's sheer amplitude today that is quite remarkable. It will need quite a bit of cellaring to be at its best, and is clearly built to age. This is a terrific showing from the Cazes family. The blend is 69 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 26 % Merlot, 3 % Cabernet Franc and 2 % Petit Verdot. Drinking range: 2024 - 2044 Rating: 94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2017)
This has beguiling hints of plum cake and melted licorice peeking out, while a core of cassis and blackberry confiture waits in reserve. There’s ample grip, but this remains very polished and integrated, with lovely echoes of anise and fruitcake showing through the very lengthy finish. Will be hard to keep your hands off this while it ages. Drinking range: 2019 - 2035 Rating: 94 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Jan 2017)
The Château Lynch Bages 2014 is a blend of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot matured in 75% new oak. Yields were a respectable 40 hectoliters per hectare, although that figure is less than Jean-Charles Cazes predicted earlier in the season. The nose is well defined with veins of graphite infusing the black fruit: quite strict for Lynch Bages, a little reserved at this early stage. The palate is medium-bodied with chalky tannin, racy acidity although the pH is around 3.7, linear and a little austere on the finish. This is tightly coiled at the moment, gritty in the mouth but I like the Pauillac typicité here – not a million miles away from Grand Puy Lacoste in style. This deserves respect and I suspect it will age with the style of Jean-Charles's father, who turned 80 on the day of my visit. Drinking range: 2018 - 2040 Rating: 92-94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2015)
Very well-expressed natural concentration of fruit, very ripe tannins and lots of complexity to come. A richly textured, firmly structured wine with the Lynch-Bages hallmarks for the future. (Highly Recommended Pauillac, Decanter.) Drinking range: 2020 - 2035 Rating: 92 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2015)
A huge, dense wine, the 2014 Lynch-Bages rips out of the glass with layers of intense fruit. Huge swaths of tannin provide the framework for a decidedly extroverted, boisterous Pauillac. Hints of dark red and purplish-hued fruit, spices, new leather and cedar gradually open up, but it is the wine's explosive personality that speaks most loudly at this stage. I don't quite see the finesse of the very best Pauillacs. It will be interesting to see if that develops in the coming years. The blend is 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. At present, the 2014 is aging in 75% new barrels. Rating: 90-93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2015)
Blackish crimson. Sweet and luscious and almost with black-cherry super-ripe aromas! A note of something charred here. Pretty interesting. Lots of work to overpower the tannins. Should make very good old bones to chew over. Long and glamorous. Tasting it blind, I guessed it was Lynch. Drinking range: 2024 - 2040 Rating: 17 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2015)
Fresh, fragrant, violets, mint the nose has a floral charm the start of the palate fresh. Rich in the middle with sweet ripe fruit fine tannins suppleness and fleshiness. The rich mix of black fruits gives depth at the back the finish although full of rich black fruits has brightness and elegance. Drinking range: 2027 - 2040 Rating: 92-95 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk (Apr 2015)
Fans of this château, of whom there are many, should be delighted with the quality of its 2014 release, which is up there with the super second growths. It's a very complete, harmonious wine, even at this young age, with superb oak integration, noble tannins and impressive fruit density. A 20 year wine. (One of Tim's Top 10 Left Bank Reds.) Drinking range: 2022 - 2035 Rating: 96 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2015)
This has fascinating aromas already with blackcurrants and cassis. Hints of spices. It’s full-bodied with ultra-fine tannins and a long, focused finish. Muscular but toned and beautiful. Rating: 95-96 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2015)
Offers lovely weight and feel, with a big core of plum, blackberry and black currant fruit that manages to show refinement, while ample charcoal and warm stone notes flow underneath. This is displaying terrific depth and purity today. Rating: 93-96 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (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.