2017 Château Lynch Bages Pauillac Grand Cru Classé

The founder of Lynch-Bages is the Irish John Lynch who settled in Bordeaux in the 17th century. The village of Bages is the home of the château. Since 1933, Lynch-Bages has been run by the Cazes family, an institution in the Médoc and a famous name in the world of wine. Third generation André Cazes was mayor of the municipality of Pauillac from 1947 to 1991. His son Jean-Michel has been running the family estate for several decades. His motto is; "great wine in search of the absolute". Considering the appreciation and status of Lynch-Bages, this 'absolute' has been reasonably achieved. Officially the château has the status of 5th Grand Cru Classé, but unofficially it is considered one of the greatest of the Médoc. The other parts of the family business can also be described as very successful. Cordeillan-Bages, winery, hotel and best eatery in the area and restaurant/caterer Le Chapon Fin in Bordeaux are good examples of this. Father André founded the Commanderie du Bontemps de Médoc in the late 1940s and Jean-Michel can call himself the founder of the École du Bordeaux. In short, an eventful family in the world of wine.

Although the 2017 vintage started with a very dry winter, temperatures were very mixed, with a very cool January and a fairly mild February. Thus, bud breakout for the earliest Merlots began around March 20. By mid-April, the phenological stages were on average ten days ahead of 2016, comparable to the 2014 vintage. The last two weeks of April saw two periods of heavy morning frost in the Bordeaux vineyard. However, thanks to the proximity to the river mouth, our red grapes were not affected and produced satisfactory yields. The first flowers appeared ten days earlier than the average dates of the past twenty years, and flowering and fruit set took place under very favorable conditions. In early summer there were high temperatures, while water stress became apparent, especially on the gravelly soils. However, this phenomenon was weakened by the return of rain at the end of June. The particularly dry summer of 2017, relatively sunny but quite cool despite sporadic temperature peaks, confirmed that the vintage would continue its early development until harvest. The harvest took place between September 18 and October 5, a week earlier than in 2016. With its deep garnet red color and purple-blue tones, Lynch-Bages 2017 offers a wonderful freshness, characteristic of the vintage. The attack is smooth, rich, with good volume. It expresses an aromatic palette of black and red fruits with spicy notes. The beautiful ripeness of all our grape varieties has produced tannins of excellent quality.

The Lynch Bages 2017 is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The wine has matured for 18 months in French oak barrels (75% new). Very deep purple-black in color, it jumps out of the glass with black cherries, plums and blackcurrants. Then you will find underlying notes of wood, smoked cigars and fragrant earth. The palate is medium-bodied and offers a good persistent mid-palate and a firm frame of grainy tannins with plenty of freshness and minerality in the long finish.

FACT : In the Tab: Appendix you will find the official fact sheet of this beautiful wine. We will send it to you automatically when you order this wine. The wine is stored in our conditioned Wine Warehouse and if you pick up the wine you will often receive a nice discount. You will immediately see the possible discount if you choose Pickup in the Checkout page. We are almost next to the Rijksweg with plenty of parking. Click here for address.