1989 Lynch Bages
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Tasting Notes
Delivers so much blackberry, leather and dried fruits on the nose. Full-bodied, with ultrapolished tannins and a silky mouthfeel. The palate turns to leaves, cedar and dried berries on the finish, which goes on and on. This is still reserved for the vintage, suggesting a long life ahead. Just coming around now, but will improve many years ahead. I have always loved this Lynch.¿'89/'99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now. 35,000 cases made. James Suckling,Wine Spectator 2010
Critic Scores
Average Score
Wine Spectator
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
The 1989 has taken forever to shed its formidable tannins, but what a great vintage of Lynch Bages! I would rank it at the top of the pyramid although the 1990, 2000, and down the road, some of the more recent vintages such as 2005, 2009 and 2010 should come close to matching the 1989's extraordinary concentration and undeniable aging potential. Its dense purple color reveals a slight lightening at the edge and the stunning bouquet offers classic notes of creme de cassis, subtle smoke, oak and graphite. Powerful and rich with some tannins still to shed at age 22, it is still a young adolescent in terms of its evolution and will benefit from another 4-5 years of cellaring. It should prove to be a 50 year wine. Wine Advocate.August, 2011
I have tasted the Chateau Lynch Bages 1989 several times since my last penned note in 2010. It is such a consistent wine, a Pauillac that never lets you down. Here it continues to sport a relatively backward blackberry and cedar scented nose, the graphite (pencil box) element a little more accentuated. The aromatic purr like a Bentley, unraveling with each swirl of the glass. The palate is very well defined with a rigid structure, well-judged acidity and hints of chestnut and cooked meat offering secondary notes on the dense finish that suggest a long drinking plateau. What a stupendous wine from Jean-Michel Cazes! Tasted June 2014. Jul 2016, www.robertparker.com
About the producer
Ch. Lynch-Bages is one of the largest and best properties in Pauillac, in the Médoc. While officially classified as a Fifth Growth estate, it regularly competes with the First and Second Growths when it comes to quality and ageability.