Red dry
One of the most recognisable and charismatic Pauillac 5ème Grand Cru Classé estates, renowned for its firm structure, clear Cabernet Sauvignon expression and exceptional ageing potential.
The aroma is intense and unmistakably Pauillac: blackcurrants, blackberries and dark cherries intertwine with notes of cedar, graphite, tobacco leaf and a subtle smoky nuance. With aeration, layers of black pepper, cocoa, dried herbs and a light earthy tone emerge, adding depth and seriousness to the bouquet.
On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, with a powerful yet impeccably controlled structure. The tannins are dense, ripe and polished—hallmarks of the Lynch-Bages style—while the acidity is lively and precise, supporting the concentration of fruit and ensuring long-term ageing. Flavours of dark berries, graphite, cedar and gentle spice dominate, leading to a long, dry, mineral finish with an elegant hint of tobacco and salinity.
The Château Lynch-Bages vineyards lie on Pauillac’s gravel terraces over a limestone subsoil, allowing the vines to root deeply and maintain balance and aromatic purity even in warm vintages. This terroir gives the wine its classic Médoc backbone and power, which with time evolves into refined elegance.
The harvest is carried out by hand, with careful grape selection. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled vats, followed by ageing for approximately 18 months in French oak barrels.
Serve at 16-18 °C with red meat stew with black plums, beef and veal steak, roast lamb, medium-hard cheeses.
A terrific Lynch from a hot vintage with blackcurrants, mint, dried lavender, graphite and thyme on the nose and palate. Medium- to full-bodied, it shows fantastic tannins with a lovely texture that reminds me of cashmere, becoming slightly chewy in the finish. Give this four to five years of bottle age. Try after 2028.
Although there are records of the Bages territory as far back as the 16th century, the history of wine production in the area really began in the 18th century. From 1749 to 1824, the vineyard was owned by Thomas Lynch, the son of an Irishman from Galway who worked as a merchant in Bordeaux. Thomas Lynch managed the land wisely and produced high quality wines under the name of ''Cru de Lynch''. As part of the prestigious 1855 Classification, for the Exposition Universelle de Paris, his wine would soon be classified as one of the fifth growths. Later on, Jean ''Lou Janou'' Cazes, a ''Montagnol'' (a term used to describe farmers from the austere upper valleys of Ariège), came to the Médoc to earn a living. In the 1930's, General Félix de Vial, a descendant of the Cayrou family, leased the vineyard to Jean-Charles Cazes, the son of ''Lou Janou'' and a farmer at Château Ormes de Pez in Saint-Estèphe. Cazes went on to purchase both properties in the wake of World War II. Lynch-Bages has been run by the Cazes family ever since.Lynch-Bages' old vat-house represents a rare example of traditional winemaking equipment the Médoc area. Its slatted flooring which introduced the advantages of gravitational design now used in modern vat-houses, was invented by Skawinski in 1850. Back then, grapes were transported in a cart pulled by horses and then being lifted by crane and emptied into a wooden tank on wheels and tracks. One or two winemakers inside the tank then crushed the grapes, making the juice flow out through openings into vats on either side. A rope-pulley-bucket system and no less than six workers were then required to remove the leftover grape skins from the fermentation vat.
