The Lynch-Bages thread

[Musigny 151]

I am not a fan of points, I think they cause more harm than good. I am not in the least bit concerned with classifications. A hundred and sixty six year old hierarchy drawn up by merchants for a forgotten event does not resonate for me nor should it for anybody else. Unless a wine is totally unique, and I would argue no Medoc is, the only important decision is how you decide to buy your next bottle. And to decide requires a lot more thought than just going with the highest score, and critics, cellar tracker etc should be used carefully. Maturity, storage, style etc now kick in. For instance, I am quite fond of 2007 Bordeaux. Ready to drink, nicely balanced and a lot of terroir. There are far better scoring vintages, but not one recently that would give as much pleasure tonight as a good and inexpensive bottle of 2007 claret.

[rthomaspaull]

To Chris F.: While $100 may be a good price for the 2012 Lynch Bages, under my sensible pricing guidelines you would have to score it at 95 (or above) to make it a reasonable buy (judging by other's scores this seems unlikely, but who knows?) I really liked the 2012 Rauzan Segla when I tasted it and bought a case (RP rated it 7.5 points higher than the 2012 Lynch Bages). I take my pricing guidelines very seriously: I once refused to buy a wine because its price was too high by 3 cents for my then maximum price for a wine of its quality. It was not the 3 cents, but the feeling that if I bought it I would likely soon be making more serious "violations" of my pricing guidelines. For what it is worth, and it is entirely up to you of course, I would happily drink the R-S instead, but if you really want to taste a Lynch Bages you could certainly try one bottle (perhaps you could get a better QPR from a different year). All the best, rthomaspaull

[Racer Chris]

To Chris F.: While $100 may be a good price for the 2012 Lynch Bages, under my sensible pricing guidelines you would have to score it at 95 (or above) to make it a reasonable buy (judging by other's scores this seems unlikely, but who knows?) I really liked the 2012 Rauzan Segla when I tasted it and bought a case (RP rated it 7.5 points higher than the 2012 Lynch Bages).
...

Yes, its not a wine I would buy to cellar.
A more sensible 2012 Pauillac purchase would be the GPL. I can get some right now for just under $60. I would only get the L-B for the singular experience, but I seriously doubt it would outshine Rauzan Segla in this vintage. Last night I found the R-S to be very enjoyable indeed. Glad I have 5 more.

[JimHow]

Upon release of the 2012s I bought one bottle each of a couple mixed cases of some normal heavy hitters like Canon, Clinet, Rausan Segla, SHL, Troplong Mondot, etc., etc., I kind of wish I had bought at least two bottles of each so that I could have uncorked one by now and assess how long to hold the remaining bottle. But I have single bottles of those two dozen wines still sitting there, I'm inclined to give them another blanquito.

[Racer Chris]

I'm sure another 5 years won't do them any harm, but I'd be inclined to pick off one or two from the bottom end right now.
The top right bank wines, especially Pomerol, hit it out of the park in 2012.

[Nicklasss]

We had the 2012 Rauzan Ségla next to the 2012 Grand-Puy Lacoste in a hotel room BWE convention pre-diner (i remember stafan and Jim were there, but who else?) and the Margaux was clearly, without any doubts, head and shoulders, a better wine. The GPL was kinda very dumb and dull.

I still have one bottle of 2012 Rauzan Ségla, somewhere in a cold cellar in Lewiston, Maine...

[JimHow]

They are still there, Nicola, I can go to Iceland but I still can’t go to Quebec.

[Ianjaig]

Lynch Bages 2003:

PNP and this opened up straight away with a beautiful, stunning bouquet of blackcurrants and leather. Milk chocolate, black berries with a long lingering finish that lasted a couple of minutes or more. Surprisingly rich, lush and opulent (vintage?), medium+ bodied, juicy finish, lovely balance. This still has a long life ahead of it. Beautiful.

[JimHow]

Thanks for the report, IJ. Notwithstanding a lot of early angst about this vintage, I've rarely seen a less than positive left bank note here on BWE over the years.

[Chateau Vin]

Thanks for the report, IJ. Notwithstanding a lot of early angst about this vintage, I've rarely seen a less than positive left bank note here on BWE over the years.

Barring that raisiny (is that a word?) juice of 03 GPL I had few years back...

[JimHow]

We’ll GPL, of course, there’s not much I can do about that CV, in almost any vintage.

[Ognik]

Buy 2019.
Best Lynch ever, maybe. No brainer.

[Comte Flaneur]

Ahem… you heard it here first…two years ago…

I bought 54 bottles of 2019 Lynch …<<on release>>> …in the U.K. the price has gone up from £395/6 on release…to £625/6, a 60% increase

Not bad for a fifth growth

[Ianjaig]

Wow, nice buying Comte Flaneur. My 2 purchases of the 19 LB pale in comparison though I was pleased to pick them up at $180 NZ.

I haven’t pulled the trigger on any 2021 yet (and may not still) but the offer for LB got me intrigued:
"Lynch-Bages takes top billing with its beautiful rendition of 2021, which to some commentators resembles a modern-day return to their great wines of the 1980s. It’s a more elegant, less muscular style than of late; beautifully integrated, full of verve, this should be a joy to drink in a decade, and last for several more."

[Comte Flaneur]

Ian that is why I always maintain that Lynch Bages is back to super second quality now.

If I bought any 2021 it would be the one I would buy.

Intrigued by Branaire Ducru too, judging by William Kelly’s effusive praise.

[Ognik]

Sorry, didn't hear it first here.....tasted e.p. two years ago.
Took a few....so much wine so little time....

[DavidG]

MacArthur’s 2019 Lynch en primeur price was $94/btl. It’s now available in the US at about $150 per Wine Searcher (60% increase), $130 per Wine Market Journal last auction result (38% increase). I’m not sure how much that says about Lynch vs. the general economic circumstances surrounding 2019 en primeurs, but the Lynch performed better than the mean % increase in WMJ auction prices for all of my 2019 en primeur purchases (23%).

All of that’s nice and I’m glad I bought 2019 Lynch et al en primeur rather than now, but I bought them in the hopes I’ll be around to drink them, not sell them.