Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Hi,

The Cazes family is on the verge of buying Château Haut-Batailley, another 5th growth Pauillac.

The latter belongs to Mme Françoise Des Brest (88 years old) and has been managed for 20 years by François-Xavier Borie, owner of nearby Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste.

This would put the Cazes family with more than 100 hectares of great growth vineyards. The Bordeaux newspaper remarks "It is not yet known if Haut-Batailley will remain a separate brand or if all or part of the wine will be sold under the Lynch Bages name, seeing as the former estate is much less well-known".

Of course, nothing would stand in the way of such a decision (the 1855 classification is not subject to French law, other than appellation regulations).

The rise of Lynch Bages in recent years is one of Bordeaux’s great success stories. The château will be building a new cellar in 2019 designed by architect Chien Chung Pei.

Alex R.

Wow....

Don't know if it's a good thing or bad... My hunch is they will sell all under lynch bages by slowly integrating the fruit... Will the integrated estate still be "Poor man's Lafite" or turn into GPL-like remains to be seen...

Imagine this... BWE France, circa 2025---

BD will be kissing the Soil of the famed 5th growth from Pauillac - GPL

Doesn't sound like good news for consumers. There might still be supplies available of the 2012 available in the low $30s.

I'd expect new owners to push that price upwards. Presumably the quality would increase too, but I never thought Haut Batailley was bad or anything.

I just didn't buy it much.

The rise of Lynch Bages in recent years is one of Bordeaux’s great success stories.

Boy, it seems to me more like: "The decline of Lynch Bages in recent years is one of Bordeaux's great stories of failure."

I hope they will do like AXA millésime, that own Pichon Baron and Fonbadet, and kept both property separated.

Guess it will help to glorify Haut Batailley? Time will tell.

Nic

Jim,

Could you please go into more detail about your disappointments with recent vintages of Lynch Bages?

TIA,
Alex

I haven't had many recent vintages Alex but my observation is that they seem to have gone Rolex on us.
And, other than perhaps the 2000, what vintages I have had have been quite GPL-like.
Plus, their Parker points leave something to be desired.
How can they be considered successful if their Parker points leave something to be desired.

I think that the pricing is more of the issue for me as both the 2009 and 2010 were stellar examples of Lynch Bages. The 2009 came out over here at around $108/per and I bought a couple but the 2010 came out around $180 if I remember correctly which was around the price that the 2009 had settled almost a year later not to mention the off vintages (2011, 2012 and 2013) coming out at around a $100/btl all of which seems a tad bit steep for me.

Agree with jckba...

If Lynch is competing with purple baron in price (at times more) in recent vintages, it better be top of its game. 09 Lynch IMO is a dynamite but purple baron edges out by a whisker. 10 Lynch is a different story vis a vis baron. Baron edges it by a full horse length IMO. Lynch has indeed gone Rolex...Post 2010, the Lynch asks for a premium, but I am not sure if it's worth that much having tasted 2011, 2012 and 2013...

Sad!