Chateau Lynch-Bages 2008

Very solid, with a super beam of dark currant, tobacco and iron pushed by charcoal, melted fig and cocoa notes. There's a nicely rounded feel, but also plenty of grip in reserve. Best from 2013 through 2018. 30,500 cases made.

In the powerful style of Lynch-Bages, although perhaps less exuberant than usual. Instead the concentration comes from juicy fruit, which gives it a softer quality. Even so, it still has solid tannins, a dense texture and always the promise of good aging.

More concentrated and tannic than many of the other Pauillacs in this vintage, with powerful cassis fruits, notes of liquorice and still-chewy tannins, with cigar box and menthol starting to tunnel though. It could do with another few years, and it's built to go the decades. Accomplished and enjoyable.

Wonderful purity of fruit here with flowers, clean fruit with strawberries and currants. Full bodied with fine tannins and floral and fruity with ultra fine tannins and elegance. Give it four to five years.

Crunchy red fruits, spice box, leaf, tobacco, cassis, peppery herbs and cranberry crowd the entrance here. There is weight, freshness and a bite to the crisp red fruits. Very classic in style, this could use another 7-9 years in the bottle before it shows its best.

The 2008 Lynch Bages is brilliant stuff as well as a textbook Pauillac. Revealing a still youthful ruby/purple color as well as impressive notes of graphite, cedar pencil, cassis, tobacco, and obvious minerality, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, polished tannins, and a concentrated, layered texture. Jean-Charles Cazes described the vintage as late and great for Cabernet Sauvignon, and this beauty has classic Cabernet flair in spades. Powerful yet also fresh and elegant, it benefits from a decant and will continue drinking beautifully for another 20-30 years.

Dense, dark garnet with a purple sheen. Compact, deep bouquet of blackcurrant and blackberry with dark woody notes; ripe Cabernet Sauvignon. On the palate, firm and fleshy, with sweet, tightly knit tannins, then a powerful, muscular finish with a sandy edge. A real tour de force, yet a classic one. And at around €42, the most affordable Lynch-Bages on the market!

Dense, dark garnet with a purple sheen. Compact, deep bouquet of blackcurrant and blackberry with dark oak notes, pointing to ripe Cabernet Sauvignon. On the palate, firm and fleshy with sweet, tightly knit tannins; the finish turns powerful and muscular, with a sandy edge. A feat of strength with classic poise! (18/20). 10: tasted just before bottling at the Château. Very aromatic with fine tannins and medium potential; at the moment still a bit angular and tightly extracted—it needs time to settle. (18/20). 13: dark, with a purple glint. A floral start, spicy Cabernet, with a touch of green, but not grassy—more like a fairly big Chilean, with eucalyptus and mint. On the palate pleasantly fleshy, medium build, plum skins in the extract with Sichuan pepper; the finish again lets the cool, or slightly under-ripe character of the vintage show through. It will remain rather refined. Today: 17/20.

Velvety, fresh, fragrant bouquet with notes of blackcurrant, liquorice, mocha and cedar. Silky, elegant, aromatic palate with good tannins, refined fruit, intense aromatics and a long, delicate finish. Can still improve. 17/20 drink – 2035

Inky ruby in colour, with concentrated aromatics of cigar box, graphite, tobacco leaf, undergrowth and leather. Easy to sink into, with tannins beginning to soften but still holding the brambly fruit in place. It softens on the finish, but this is a fine, balanced and elegant Bages. 75% new oak. Eric Boissenot, consultant.

Powerful aroma with notes of mocha, a generous body, a tight texture and firm tannins, plenty of intensity in the wine’s structure and on the finish; significant ageing potential that is both evident and necessary.

A very fine success: the wine combines depth and brightness, with a juicy character and a beautiful mineral backbone that carries the palate.

Supple and fluid, slightly vegetal, medium-bodied, but harmonious and, above all, very long.

A dark, intense, bright and beautiful color. A pure nose with ripe fruit aromas. Powerful. Full, fruity attack that is immediately juicy. Flavorful mid-palate, with depth and power. Austere finish that needs to soften. Long and good. Still needs more time. Blend: 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Aged in 75% new oak barrels.

A sensational effort for the vintage, this textured, opulent, superb Lynch Bages is already strutting its stuff and should easily last for 20 years. Medium to full-bodied with an opaque dense purple color, notes of flowers and cassis, a layered texture that builds incrementally in the mouth and tremendous purity and depth, it can be drunk now or cellared for two decades or more. Bravo!