Chateau Lynch Bages 1989

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "One of the all-time great vintages for this château is the 1989 Lynch-Bages, a striking wine that offers up pure and intense aromas of cassis, pencil shavings, spring flowers and hints of cigar wrapper. Full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, it's seamless and concentrated, with a rich core of fruit, ripe tannins and a beautifully defined finish. Still an infant at age 32, it surpasses all three of Pauillac's first growths in 1989."

WEINWISSER: "Mittleres Purpur, dunkel in der Mitte. Kompaktes, intensives und sehr tiefgründiges Bouquet, Pflaumentöne, dunkle Edelhölzer, noch sehr verschlossen wirkend, mit einem riesigen Nasenpotenzial. Reifer, pflaumiger Gaumen, tolle Aromatik, Zedernholz, Kandis und eine gewaltige Süsse im leicht rauchigen Finale, viel Druck."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, zarter Ockerrand, tiefe Farbe. Reife, fast opulent wirkende dunkle Beerenfrucht, Brombeeren, Cassis und ein Hauch von Eukalyptus, kandierte Orangenzesten, feine Kräuterwürze. Am Gaumen kraftvoll, sehr stoffige Textur, perfekt ausgereifte Frucht, feste, bestens integrierte Tannine, mineralisch, schwarzbeerige Nuancen im Abgang, sehr gut anhaltend, verfügt über gutes weiteres Reifepotenzial."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "The first thing you notice is the unmistakable aroma of an unsmoked Cuban cigar, with its hint of bitter chocolate, coupled with cedar, smoke, tobacco, mint, spice, herbs and roasted blackberries. Full-bodied, concentrated, intense and firm, there is a sweetness to the fruit, a hint of green pepper and a gorgeous display of blackberries and cassis in the long finish. This is not about finesse. Instead, it is all about the fabulous, big juicy gulp of mouth-filling cassis that really hits the spot! The wine is showing great today. If you have a bottle, do not hesitate to check it out."

WINE SPECTATOR: "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: "I have always been a big fan of this rich wine, with its currant and tropical fruit character on the nose and palate, and just a hint of toasted oak. It’s full-bodied, with wild fruit and tobacco character, and a roasted coffee bean aftertaste. This is a fabulous wine. Served from imperial bottle."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Lovely deep garnet and vibrant with very little sign of development. Fabulous sweet fruit still, plus a touch of coffee and cigar box. Complex and elegant but rich too. Then vibrant and spreading on the palate. Velvety but still finely structured. A wonderful whole and drinking perfectly even though it still has plenty to give. Later: still plenty of sweet fruit although it has become slightly more medicinal. And the fruit seems less full in the mouth than earlier."