CHÂTEAU LYNCH MOUSSAS
2019 5ème Cru Classé Pauillac
Attractive open nose but with a dark edge to the fruit. On the palate there's a good feel. Plump but not overbearing. A more cooked less floral, fruit led drive to the mid palate. There's dark fudge and some meaty notes too. Finishes quite nicely tight - but a dark more sinewy, savoury wave becomes more prominent towards the tightly bound finish with sweet mortadella and tarry damson notes. Vines here are more than 40 years old. 73% Cabernet Sauvignon & 27% Merlot.
2019 marks the 100th Anniversary of the Castéja family here and they are celebrating with a one-off special bottle and label. L&S (Jun 2020)
* 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 2019 Lynch-Moussas is a wild, potent wine. Dark red cherry, iron, smoke, espresso, licorice, leather and mint convey intensity and virile power. The 2019 is deep and fleshy, at times a bit rustic too, but long on character. I would give it a few years in bottle first. Drinking range: 2027 - 2044 Rating: 94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2022)
The 2019 Lynch-Moussas, in an embossed bottle to celebrate a century of ownership by the Castèja family, has an understated bouquet of blackberry, briar, tobacco and touches of pencil shaving, and still that touch of mint. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, good backbone, firm grip and much more substance on the finish compared to previous vintages, that tincture of Earl Grey coming through with time. This is an excellent, classically styled Pauillac. Drinking range: 2024 - 2050 Rating: 92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2022)
A good shot of pencil lead on the first nose. This is easy to approach, firm blackberry fruits, and softened tannins even at this stage. First vintage of this wine was in 2018, and it offers an easy to approach Pauillac. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 89 Jane Anson, Decanter (Jan 2022)
The 2019 Lynch-Moussas comes in a swanky bespoke embossed bottle to celebrate a century's ownership by the Castèja family (and very tasteful it is too.) Does it have a wine worthy of this anniversary, you ask. Well, it has a very attractive mint-tinged bouquet, a mélange of red and black fruit laced with brown spices and cedar. It gains intensity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with a lightly spiced entry: black pepper and a touch of Earl Grey infusing the black fruit. Well-balanced, fresh and showing similar class to its sibling Batailley. This is indeed a very fine Lynch-Moussas that frankly is a significant step up from some of the wines I was tasting a decade ago. Excellent. Drinking range: 2024 - 2050 Rating: 92-94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2020)
A big, rich LM with lots of blackcurrants, black chocolate and tar. It’s full and layered with loads of fruit and ripe tannins. Muscular and rich. Extracted. A wine for aging. 73% cabernet sauvignon and 27% merlot. Rating: 94-95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2020)
Château Lynch Moussas
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 Castéja bought Lynch Moussas in 1919, and his family still own the estate. Lynch Moussas has has not really matched its apparent namesake estate of Lynch Bages which exceeds its 5th growth status with ease. Indeed, by the end of the 1960's, Lynch Moussas was run down with the chais in such bad repair that the wine had to be made at neighbouring Batailley. Things have improved considerably since then and, in good years, Lynch Moussas produce some perfectly decent claret. There are 60ha of vines, in various plots around Pauillac, planted with 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those on the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do contact our private client team via email or on 020 7018 0187.
Ordering
Prices are all in bond by the case size stated.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price is within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.
Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought-after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of email confirmation. Pre-orders are not binding if the release price is above your upper price band.
Invoices are all raised at the in bond price (excluding any duty and VAT) which will become payable at the prevailing rates when the wines arrive in the UK, should you wish to take duty paid delivery.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We regret we cannot accept credit cards for en primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (at 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 £500. Orders below this total will be charged an administration and handling fee of £16.50+ VAT when invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery of 2022 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2025. Delivery dates may vary as wines are shipped from Bordeaux at different times.
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). Immediate payment of invoices is then required by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option but please note that confirmed orders are still binding even if the final invoice has not yet been issued.
Please specify on your wishlist order form where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. If this is to a third-party bonded warehouse, please specify the relevant account details. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue a second invoice for duty and VAT at the prevailing rate when the wines are available for delivery.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the format you want. While most of our listings are for 75cl bottles, we can source wines in any format that is offered by the Château. Please note that format requests cannot be changed once wines have been invoiced. Additional charges for special formats do apply and are as follows:-
- +£18.00 per case of 12 half-bottles
- +£30.00 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£7.50 per case of 3 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£11.00 per case of 6 Magnums
- +£45.00 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£60.00 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.
Storage Options:
Wines bought en primeur won't arrive in the UK until 2025. If you do not wish to take home delivery at that point, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our private client team for more information.