ECHO
2014 de Lynch Bages Pauillac Château Lynch Bages
73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot. This has a nice feel. Quietly grown-up bright cabernet crunch and then some clean, mineral push for the dark cherry fruit. Deep and rich in the middle, but not too glossy, good straight-talking Pauillac. Proper second wine. Rating: 91 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 Echo de Lynch Bages has quite a powerful bouquet with blackberry, blueberry, sage and cedar aromas, not quite as defined as the 2014 Clos du Marquis tasted alongside, but there is ample fruit and it is not pushed too hard. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, well-judged acidity, coming across as grippy in the mouth with impressive density. It is maybe a bit rough around the edges but there is good presence and mass to this wine and it feels balanced and fresh towards the long finish. This showed relatively poorly in barrel and just after bottling, however, this is much more promising. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. Drinking range: 2018 - 2026 Rating: 88 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2018)
Dark crimson. Intense, meat extract nose. Rather bloody and meaty. Takes no prisoners and doesn’t really seem that intent on pleasing the taster. Rasping tannins on the end. May improve. Drinking range: 2024 - 2034 Rating: 15.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Feb 2018)
The 2014 Echo de Lynch-Bages is dense, pliant and quite deep for a second wine. Élevage has softened some of the rough edges that the wine showed in its youth. Today, I am surprised by how primary and dense it is. Readers should be prepared to cellar the 2014 for at least a few years. There is little in the way of aromatic or flavor development at this stage, and the wine feels very closed. The blend is 73 % Cabernet Sauvignon and 27 % Merlot, the highest %age of Cabernet since 2001. Drinking range: 2019 - 2029 Rating: 91 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2017)
The Echo de Lynch Bages 2014 is a blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot. It is just missing a little presence on the nose at the moment with light blackcurrant pastille developing in the glass. The palate has a strong salty tang on the entry plus a dash of spice, with a crisp, lively finish that partly compensates for the aromatics. Drinking range: 2016 - 2021 Rating: 84-86 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2015)
The 2014 Echo de Lynch-Bages is a juicy, forward wine that will deliver considerable pleasure pretty much upon release. Distinctly Cabernet-inflected notes take center stage, with savory/floral overtones that add nuance. The tannins are a bit rough around the edges today, even though the fruit is quite voluptuous. In 2014, the Echo is 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot, the highest percentage of Cabernet since 2001. Rating: 89-91 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2015)
The fruit on the nose is fresh quite light backed by a mix of fragrances. The palate starts with firm black cherry but there is mid sweetness a mix of black fruits cherry and cassis. Lighter at the back blueberry freshness the fruit lingers on the finish. Drinking range: 2025 - 2034 Rating: 85-88 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk (Apr 2015)
As it did in 2013, the second wine at Lynch-Bages contained no Cabernet Franc. Representing 27% of the total crop, it's got a lot of the personality of the grand vin: vigorous, firm and densely structured, with sweet tannins, plenty of plum, blackcurrant and damson fruit and stylish oak. Drinking range: 2018 - 2026 Rating: 92 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2015)
A structured and muscular red with blackberries, blackcurrants and minerals. Full-bodied, chewy and intense. Excellent second wine. Gripping. Rating: 89-90 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.