Château Lynch Bages 2023

Château Lynch Bages is one of the most recognizable properties in Bordeaux. This is due to the tireless exploits of Jean-Michel Cazes, who was quite possibly one of the most active brand ambassadors of all time. This charming, charismatic man dedicated his entire life to a crusade promoting this excellent Fifth Growth Pauillac estate, ensuring everybody knew of the greatness of Château Lynch Bages. Jean-Michel Cazes even agreed to send a half bottle of Château Lynch Bages to the moon in 1985, making sure it was the first wine in outer space.  Yet despite all of the fanfare and brilliant marketing, the truth about the grand vin of Château Lynch Bages is that the wine is excellent.  At this property, the viticultural team doesn’t just talk the talk - they walk the walk. 

Château Lynch Bages derives part of its name from the ancient village of Bages which was a commune for winemakers of many generations.  In 1862, the property was sold to the Cayrou brothers who named it after Thomas Lynch, the patriarch of the original family that owned the estate.  Château Lynch Bages was classified as a Fifth Growth in 1855, and less than a hundred years later was acquired by the legendary Jean-Michel Cazes.  Jean-Michel Cazes was already very well respected in the Wine Trade due to his ownership of Les Ormes de Pez, a leading Cru Bourgeoise estate located in St-Estéphe.  He bought Château Lynch Bages shortly before World War II and the property has stayed within the Cazes family ever since.  

The vineyards were expanded to 100-hectares in the late 1990s and Jean Michel Cazes made sure everything was modernized at Château Lynch Bages.  A new vat room was installed – though the old vat room is still available to visit to this day.  In 2017, a massive renovation and modernization of the winery’s technical facilities took place.  The project was headed by Chien Chung Pei and Li Chung Pei, sons of the famous architect,  I.M. Pei, who designed the glass pyramid for the Louvre (Le Grand Louvre) in Paris.  The wine cellar is now a 100% gravity flow facility, with impressive vat rooms that house 80 stainless steel vats in various sizes for parcel-by-parcel vinification.  Château Lynch Bages is one of the most cutting-edge estates in terms of wine technology, using satellite imaging to survey the vineyard and conducting soil surveys to ensure the vines reach their full potential.  Château Lynch Bages also produces a gorgeous white wine, Blanc de Lynch Bages, that is said to be one of the finest white wines in all of Graves.

The wines of Château Lynch Bages can be enjoyed young but continue to unfold beautifully with time.  The vintages have continued to dazzle and impress with their deep color, tannic structure, controlled concentration and impressive sophistication.  They are accessible and friendly, but also possess the dignity of the finest Pauillacs.

"The flagship 2023 Château Lynch-Bages is based on 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, resting in 75% new French oak. One of the biggest, richest wines in the vintage, it’s deep purple-hued and offers up some classic Lynch richness in its smoky black fruits, smoked earth, graphite, and tobacco-driven aromatics. These carry to a full-bodied Pauillac with ample mid-palate depth, ripe, building tannins, and a great finish. While it's clearly in the lively, fresher style of the vintage, it's a serious, structured, incredibly impressive Pauillac with tons to love. It's not far off the style of the 2019." - Jeb Dunnuck, Bordeaux 2023 En Primeur, (05/08/2024), Ratings: 95-97

"Concentrated, intense and muscular, not a word that I have used very often in 2023 Bordeaux. You get a deeply-rooted tannic grip, with soot, squid ink, cassis, blackberry, bilberry, liqourice root, slate scrap, pummice stone and mint. Lynch Bages seems to be wrought from a different place than it was a decade ago, impressive, powerful Pauillac, with an eye on long ageing. 75% new oak, Jean-Charles Cazes owner, Nicolas Labenne technical director." - Jane Anson, (05/06/2024), Ratings: 96

"The 2023 Lynch-Bages is a dark, brooding wine. In so many vintages, Lynch-Bages is a wine of sensuality, but in 2023, it is quite the powerhouse. Formidable tannins wrap around a core of black fruit, spice, menthol, licorice and gravel. This is a somber, introspective Lynch-Bages with a ton of Cabernet Sauvignon character. I can't wait to taste this from bottle." - Antonio Galloni, Vinous, (04/30/2024), Ratings: 94-97

"As usual one of the chunkier, broader-shouldered wines of the Médoc, the 2023 Lynch-Bages exhibits aromas of dark berries and cassis mingled with pencil shavings, licorice and pipe tobacco, framed by creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, rich and layered, it's deep, concentrated and generously extracted, with plenty of youthfully chewy tannin to carry it along in the cellar. The 2023 is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot." - William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (04/26/2024), Ratings: 93-95