Château Lynch-Bages 2009 Pauillac 750ml

"In the running for the greatest vintage ever from this château." That is how one veteran taster described the 2009 Château Lynch-Bages — and after more than a decade in bottle, it's a claim that has only gained conviction rather than lost it. According to the château itself, the 2009 carries the highest level of polyphenols ever measured at the estate, alongside unusually high alcohol approaching 13.5% — the physical signature of a growing season that delivered a rare, near-perfect combination of warm days and cooling nights, allowing the fruit to ripen slowly and completely while the wine's essential Pauillac backbone of firm tannin and structure remained fully intact.

Château Lynch-Bages sits on the gravelly Bages plateau at the entrance to Pauillac, a Fifth Growth in the 1855 Classification long regarded by serious collectors as a "super second" — quality that consistently rivals the region's most celebrated Second Growths, under the stewardship of the Cazes family since Jean-Charles Cazes first leased the dilapidated vineyard in the 1930s and his grandson Jean-Michel later rebuilt it into one of the Médoc's most beloved and reliable names. The 2009 vintage stands, by numerous independent assessments, as the finest Lynch-Bages since the celebrated 2000, 1990, and 1989 — some tasters have gone further still, calling it the best since 1982.

The scores reflect that consensus: Robert Parker's Wine Advocate awarded 98 Points, calling it "an expressive, voluptuously textured effort with unctuosity and powerful, juicy, succulent blackberry and black currant flavors... this exquisite Lynch Bages should drink well for 30+ years." James Suckling awarded 97 Points. Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast each gave 96 Points, with Wine Spectator placing it at #93 on their Top 100 Wines of 2012. Neal Martin, also writing for the Wine Advocate, awarded 95 Points, finding it "very well defined on the nose, yet powerful with ample fruit to spare: blackberry, wild strawberry, cranberry mixed with cedar and a light mint touch... it exerts a gentle grip from start to finish, then delivers an engaging, spicy finish that lingers in the mouth. Excellent." A powerful bouquet of blackcurrants, freshly sharpened pencils, smoked tobacco, and gravelly earth — full-bodied, concentrated, structured, with beautifully integrated tannins building toward a great, great finish. This is Lynch-Bages at its most complete: a wine, as more than one critic has put it, still only at the early stages of its prime, with decades of exceptional drinking ahead.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Château Lynch-Bages sits on the gravelly Bages plateau at the entrance to Pauillac, overlooking the Gironde estuary — a 1855 Fifth Growth Classified estate whose history traces to the Dejean family's original vineyard, expanded and sold to Pierre Drouillard in 1728, who bequeathed it to his daughter Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Lynch, in 1749 — the union that gave the estate its name across three quarters of a century of Lynch family ownership. Jean-Charles Cazes, already managing neighboring Les-Ormes-de-Pez in St. Estèphe, took over management of the dilapidated Lynch-Bages vineyards in the 1930s, an arrangement that suited both the cash-strapped owner and the ambitious, energetic Cazes. His grandson Jean-Michel Cazes restructured and modernized the estate beginning in 1974, and in 2006 handed the estate to his own son Jean-Charles, named for his great-grandfather.

The vineyard spans roughly 100 hectares on gravel, chalk, and sand soils across the Bages and Monferan plateaus, further divided into 140 separate parcels. The 2009 blend was 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot, harvested at a yield of 54 hectoliters per hectare and aged in 70% new oak barrels. The growing season delivered ideal, extended ripening conditions — warm days balanced by cooler nights — producing what the château itself describes as the highest level of polyphenols ever measured at the estate, alongside unusually high natural alcohol near 13.5%.

Critics Reviews

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate — 98 Points:
"Performing even better from bottle than it did from barrel, this appears to be the finest Lynch Bages since the 2000, 1990 and 1989. According to the chateau, the 2009 has the highest level of polyphenols ever measured as well as high alcohol (nearly 13.5%). A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest largely Merlot with touches of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it is an expressive, voluptuously textured effort with unctuosity and powerful, juicy, succulent blackberry and black currant flavors, low acids, a layered, massive mouthfeel, but no sense of heaviness or fatigue. This exquisite Lynch Bages should drink well for 30+ years."

James Suckling — 97 Points:
"Wow. Intense aromas of blackberries, currants and blueberries, follow through to a full body, with wonderful fruit and ultra-fine tannins. Fabulous Lynch. One of the top buys of the vintage."

Wine Spectator — 96 Points (#93, Top 100 Wines of 2012):
"Tight and backward, this has dense, almost chewy layers of fig, currant and plum cake behind a very solid wall of cedar, roasted vanilla and charcoal notes. There's serious grip on the finish, with an iron edge that won't quit. Best from 2015 through 2035."

Wine Enthusiast — 96 Points

Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate — 95 Points:
"The 2009 Lynch-Bages is very well defined on the nose, yet powerful with ample fruit to spare: blackberry, wild strawberry, cranberry mixed with cedar and a light mint touch. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a fine bead of acidity and lightly spiced with superb focus. It exerts a gentle grip from start to finish, then delivers an engaging, spicy finish that lingers in the mouth. Excellent."

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Advocate:
"The medium to deep garnet colored 2009 Lynch Bages is boldly scented of crème de cassis, blackberry pie and baked plums with chocolate box, incense and underbrush suggestions plus a waft of bay leaves. Medium to full-bodied, taut and well sustained in the mouth, it has a firm, grainy texture and a lively backbone lifting the black fruit core to a nice long finish."

Tasting Profile

Nose
Deep purple-garnet with a lilac rim — a color of genuine density and concentration. Fresh, slightly minty blackberry and cassis lead the nose, joined by freshly sharpened pencils, smoked tobacco, and gravelly earth. Chocolate box, incense, and underbrush add layered secondary complexity, alongside a waft of bay leaves. Blackberries, currants, and blueberries carry vivid, intense fruit character.

Palate
Full-bodied, concentrated, and structured — powerful, juicy, succulent blackberry and black currant flavors carry a voluptuously textured, unctuous mid-palate with low acidity and a massive, layered mouthfeel that never tips into heaviness or fatigue. Fig, currant, and plum cake sit behind a solid wall of cedar, roasted vanilla, and charcoal. Wonderful fruit meets ultra-fine, beautifully integrated tannins, building toward real depth and complexity.

Finish
Great, great length — serious grip with an iron edge that won't quit, engaging and spicy, lingering in the mouth well after the sip. A finish built for exceptional long-term cellaring, with critics consistently placing the wine's prime drinking window decades into the future.

Quick Overview

Food Pairings

• Roast lamb or leg of lamb
• Grilled ribeye or aged steak
• Duck breast
• Aged hard cheeses
• Classic Bordelaise cuisine