CHÂTEAU LYNCH BAGES

The 2018 Lynch-Bages has a wonderful bouquet of supremely well-defined blackberry, briar, crushed rock and pencil lead aromas that develop more floral scents with continued aeration (the samples were monitored over 6–8 hours). The palate is beautifully balanced with fine-grained tannins and superb acidity. Fresh and focused with a touch of graphite toward the finish. There is a swagger, a bit of brio, about this Lynch-Bages, one that will age over 30–40 years with style. Bravo, l’equipe Cazes! Drinking range: 2024 - 2050 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2021)

An utterly fabulous wine, the 2018 Lynch-Bages captures all of the richness and generosity that make the year so appealing, and yet doesn’t stray too far from its classic feel. Rose petal, lavender, spice, sweet red berry fruit and mint are all beautifully lifted in the glass. Racy and silky to the core, the 2018 is a real head-turner from the very first taste. All the elements fall into place effortlessly. Readers will have a very hard time keeping their hands off this jewel of a wine. Drinking range: 2028 - 2048 Rating: 96 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Mar 2021)

Aromas of blackberries, cloves, licorice, dried leaves, graphite and black olives. It’s full-bodied with firm, tight tannins. Structured and tannic with beautiful austerity and a long, mineral and layered finish. The tannins grow on the palate. Drinking range: 2026 - Rating: 97 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Jan 2021)

Vibrant, with a violet and cassis lead-in that then expands to include steeped black cherry and plum fruit as well as extra savory, iron and licorice root notes. Nice latent grip too, with a mouthwatering tug of earth at the very end. The fruit is so vibrant, it's a tease now, but there's structure here for the long haul, so be patient. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 97 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Jan 2021)

Cassis, graphite, blackberries, scorched earth, and graphite notes all emerge from the 2018 Château Lynch-Bages, which is a rich, blockbuster style beauty up with the finest vintages to date from this historic estate, which by the way, is just about complete with a massive new cellar construction project. Checking in as a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, brought up in 75% new French oak, it's incredibly concentrated, opulent, and sexy on the palate, with building underlying structure, a stacked mid-palate, and a great finish. It reminds me of the 2009 with its fleshy, powerful style. The IPT, or amount of tannins, is a through the roof 95 and it hit 14.1% alcohol with a pH of 3.66. It’s going to live for just about forever. Rating: 96-98 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2019)

The 2018 Lynch Bages is made up of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot aging in 75% new barriques. Very deep purple-black in color, the nose is quite coy and restrained to begin, fanning out to offer pure, ripe blackcurrants, black cherries and preserved plums with wafts of red roses, cigar box, incense, cardamom and fenugreek with savory touches of black olives, Marmite toast and smoked meats. Full-bodied, the palate is built like a brick house, with a solid foundation of very firm, very ripe, grainy tannins and superb freshness supporting the generous black fruit layers, finishing long with provocative ferrous suggestions. Rating: 96-98 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2019)

Black core. Spicy, intense cassis nose. Imposing grip in the tannins holding everything prisoner at the moment but they are compact and dense rather than tough. Chewy, dense, powerful and 'masculine'. Highly structured and muscular but well balanced. Not a charmer but finely built in its power. Drinking range: 2028 - 2040 Rating: 17 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2019)

This is incredibly powerful and structured with so much tannin backbone and length, yet it’s cool and fresh with a compact palate and great length. Muscular. Rating: 97-98 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2019)

Here we have a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. The alcohol level is declared as 14%. It presents a really enticing nose, with an array of dark and grilled fruits, grilled red cherry in particular, with an overlay of toasted and tobacco-tinged oak. The palate is fresh, pure, broad and cool, with a very complete poise, carrying a fine and tightly-knit bed of tannins, along with a wealth of dark and grilled fruits, all looking very harmonious, complete and poised. A bold and polished style, but one that is simply brimming with grip and substance and this comes through on the finish which is loaded with tannin, fading slowly over a minute or two. Great potential here. The élevage is in 75% new oak, for 18 months. Rating: 94-96 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2019)

This vintage shows the elegant side of a typically powerful wine. It offers dense black fruits that are balanced by the stylish wood aging and bold tannins. This impressive wine is likely to age well. Rating: 96 Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast www.winemag.com (Apr 2019)