2010 Lynch-Bages, Pauillac (Pre-Arrival)
SKU #1067106
98 points
James Suckling
A wine with great beauty and finesse. Such elegance and ethereal quality for this estate. Full body, with ultra-fine tannins and a juicy delicious finish. Long and beautiful. This is the best Lynch in a long, long time. I love the precision here.
(2/2013)
97 points
Decanter
Deep inky purple in colour, this is a majestic Pauillac to be savoured by Bordeaux lovers. Again we are far from it being ready to drink and the tannins continue to be dominant, although not hiding the layers of rich earthy loam, slate, pencil lead and concentrated cassis that lie underneath. It's impressive and built, muscular, taut and architectural. An excellent reflection of what 2010 brought to the wines in this corner of the Médoc. (JA)
(1/2020)
96 points
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 Lynch Bages is an absolutely brilliant wine, and somewhat reminiscent at this stage in its development of the profound 1989. Jean-Charles Cazes, who took over for his father a number of years ago, has produced a magnificent wine with the classic creme de cassis note intermixed with smoke, graphite and spring flowers. It is a massive Lynch Bages, full-bodied and very 1989-ish, with notable power, loads of tannin, and extraordinary concentration and precision. (RP)
(2/2013)
96 points
Wine Enthusiast
This sumptuous wine is driven by perfectly ripe fruit as well as dense, dusty and dry tannins. Great swathes of blackberry sweep across the palate, followed by juicy acidity. *Cellar Selection* (RV)
(2/2013)
96 points
Wine Spectator
Roasted cedar, tobacco and bay leaf notes start off this structured but lively bottling, with intense currant, blackberry and black cherry flavors at the core. The iron-laced grip and pleasantly austere plum pit and licorice snap accents fill in on the tar-tinged finish. Great range, character and typicity. If you ever need to explain Pauillac to someone, give them this. (JM)
(3/2013)
95 points
Vinous
The 2010 Lynch-Bages has a stunning bouquet with pixelated black fruit, crushed stone and graphite aromas that soar from the glass. This is just amazingly focused. The palate is medium-bodied with concentrated black fruit curiously tinged with cough candy, which here I find just a bit out of place. The acidity is extremely well judged and there is immense persistence on the finish. Bold, brassy and ambitious, this is an extremely impressive wine, although I suspect that there are better bottles out there. (NM)
(4/2020)
94 points
John Gilman
The 2010 Lynch-Bages is one of the stars in the Left Bank this year, as the Cazes family has fashioned a superb and perfectly balanced example of the vintage. The deep and complex nose soars from the glass in a mélange of cassis, dark berries, espresso, cigar ash, a touch of lead pencil, gravel, leafy young cabernet tones and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and most impressively soil-driven, with a fine core of pure fruit, excellent focus and balance, bright, well-integrated acids and fine length and grip on the ripely tannic and beautifully delineated finish. A fine, fine vintage for Lynch-Bages. 94+
(3/2011)
92 points
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar
Bright ruby-red. Classic Pauillac aromas and flavors of cassis, black cherry, menthol, minerals and licorice lifted by a violet topnote. Intensely flavored and sharply delineated, with terrific fruit intensity to support its very bright acidity. This firmly structured, gripping wine is a bit dominated by its serious tannic spine today, but the dark berry fruit gained dramatically in creaminess with some time in the glass. Potentially one of the best vintages for this large property in many years. (ST) 92+
(8/2013)
Jancis Robinson
Youthful crimson colour. Fragrant and cedary. A little bit herbaceous. Taut, firm and dry but beautifully structured. Juicy even with all that cedary character. Lots of tension and needs time to meld more fully. Still pretty firm, dry tannins. (JH) 17.5/20 points
(2/2020)
K&L Notes
96 points Lisa Perotti-Brown in Wine Advocate: "Deep garnet colored, the 2010 Lynch Bages comes sailing out of the glass with notes of redcurrant jelly, black cherry compote and cassis plus wafts of smoked meats, tar, cigar box and dried roses. Full-bodied, the palate is stacked with red and black fruit layers, framed by ripe, firm, fine-grained tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing very long." (03/2020)