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Chateau Lynch Bages

2005
Blend
12% Cabernet Franc
72% Cabernet Sauvignon
15% Merlot
1% Petit Verdot
Country
France
Region
Bordeaux
Appellation
Pauillac
UPC
3760020131661
0 15643 70431 4
Red Wine
Verified Stock
Verified Stock
1644-05
1644A-05
Product Ratings
James Suckling 96pt

A meaty and decadent Lynch with very ripe currant aromas on the nose. Full body, velvety-textured tannins and a powerful finish. It shows so much structure and fruit yet remains polished and focused.

by James Suckling, 2015
Vinous Media 95+pt

The 2005 Lynch-Bages is a surprising wine. Whereas so many 2005s have begun to enter their first plateau of early maturity, the 2005 comes across as still young and in need of further cellaring! The purity of the fruit is striking. Readers who want to get the full Lynch-Bages experience will have to wait at least a few more years. The 2005 is a wine of substance and depth, with all of the raciness that is typical of this wine. It is one of the dark horses of the vintage, and still has room to go. Impressive.

by Vinous Media, 2021
Wine Advocate 92pt

As for the 2005 Lynch-Bages, it is a sexy, surprisingly soft and accessible style of wine, with a deep ruby/purple color, loads of crème de cassis, cedar wood and forest floor notes, medium to full body, ripe tannin and a long, fleshy finish. Drink it over the next 15+ years.

by Wine Advocate, 2015
Wine Enthusiast 96pt

Classic Lynch-Bages with just a bit of extra power and richness. While the tannins are structured, it is the velvety fruit that rolls around the mouth that is the most dominant character. It is coming together into a wine that will be big and dense, but never over the top.

by Wine Enthusiast, 2008
Wine Spectator 96pt

Textbook, with mouthfilling and slightly gutsy black currant, fig and blackberry fruit flavors bound together by singed cedar, iron and tobacco notes. Features a tug of loam followed by a second wave of fruit through the finish. This is just starting to stretch out.

by Wine Spectator, 2018
James Suckling 96pt

A meaty and decadent Lynch with very ripe currant aromas on the nose. Full body, velvety-textured tannins and a powerful finish. It shows so much structure and fruit yet remains polished and focused.

by James Suckling, 2015
Vinous Media 95+pt

The 2005 Lynch-Bages is a surprising wine. Whereas so many 2005s have begun to enter their first plateau of early maturity, the 2005 comes across as still young and in need of further cellaring! The purity of the fruit is striking. Readers who want to get the full Lynch-Bages experience will have to wait at least a few more years. The 2005 is a wine of substance and depth, with all of the raciness that is typical of this wine. It is one of the dark horses of the vintage, and still has room to go. Impressive.

by Vinous Media, 2021
Wine Advocate 92pt

As for the 2005 Lynch-Bages, it is a sexy, surprisingly soft and accessible style of wine, with a deep ruby/purple color, loads of crème de cassis, cedar wood and forest floor notes, medium to full body, ripe tannin and a long, fleshy finish. Drink it over the next 15+ years.

by Wine Advocate, 2015
Wine Enthusiast 96pt

Classic Lynch-Bages with just a bit of extra power and richness. While the tannins are structured, it is the velvety fruit that rolls around the mouth that is the most dominant character. It is coming together into a wine that will be big and dense, but never over the top.

by Wine Enthusiast, 2008
Wine Spectator 96pt

Textbook, with mouthfilling and slightly gutsy black currant, fig and blackberry fruit flavors bound together by singed cedar, iron and tobacco notes. Features a tug of loam followed by a second wave of fruit through the finish. This is just starting to stretch out.

by Wine Spectator, 2018

Technical data

Surface : 90 hectares
Terroir (soil) : Garonne Gravel
Harvest : Hand-picked and sorted at the vineyard
Ageing : French oak barrels for 15 months (80% new wood)
Blending : 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot

Vintage

The 2005 vintage is one of our greatest vintages of recent decades.
2005 vintage characteristics in a nutshell:
A warm summer,
Near-drought conditions,
Harvest remained largely free of rainfall, and the fruit was brought in by relaxed and happy workers.
The potential of the vintage was already clear, even before the first fermentations were finished.
Lynch-Bages 2005 was aged in 80% new oak which is the most we have ever used, feeling it necessary to cloak the exceptional fruit and powerful tannins.