Chateau Lynch Bages 2010

JAMES SUCKLING: "A wine with great beauty and finesse. Such elegance and ethereal quality for this estate. Full body, with ultra-fine tannins and a juicy delicious finish. Long and beautiful. This is the best Lynch in a long, long time. I love the precision here. Try in 2018."

JEB DUNNUCK: "The 2010 Château Lynch-Bages is straight-up brilliant and shows the quality of this incredible château – as well as the vintage – beautifully. Still deep purple-hued, with a stunningly pure and classic Pauillac nose of cassis, darker currants, smoke tobacco, and lead pencil, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel, polished yet substantial tannins, and an awesome finish. This beauty is up with the finest vintages from this château and has another 30-40 years of prime drinking."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "Still a saturated ruby-black in hue, the 2010 Lynch-Bages offers up aromas of rich cassis fruit mingled with hints of pencil shavings, loamy soil and cigar wrapper. Full-bodied, deep and muscular, it's rich and layered, with a concentrated core of fruit that's framed by firm, powdery tannins and lively acids. The most brooding, backward Lynch-Bages of the decade and one of the real successes of the vintage, this is a vibrant, tightly wound wine that is still an infant at age 10. Readers with bottles in their cellars might try one now out of curiosity, but this 2010 won't begin to hit its stride until age 20."

WEINWISSER: "79 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 18 % Merlot, 2 % Cabernet Franc, 1 % Petit Verdot. Extrem dunkles Purpur mit lila und violetten Reflexen. Blau- und schwarzbeeriges Bouquet, kompakt und auch gebunden, mittlere Intensität. Erstaunlich geschmeidig im Gaumen, fleischige Tannine, ausgeglichene Adstringenz, leicht kernige Substanz mit viel Rasse. Ein Lynch-Bages-Bolide, dem 1990er verwandt, aber mit wesentlich mehr Konzentration und Power! Wer den 2000er schon ausgestrunken hat, sollte sich hiermit einen würdigen Ersatz erwerben."

DECANTER: "Deep inky purple in colour, this is a majestic Pauillac to be savoured by Bordeaux lovers. Again we are far from it being ready to drink and the tannins continue to be dominant, although not hiding the layers of rich earthy loam, slate, pencil lead and concentrated cassis that lie underneath. It's impressive and built, muscular, taut and architectural. An excellent reflection of what 2010 brought to the wines in this corner of the Médoc. It's not the most enticing for drinking today; give it another few years to soften and open further, or really allow it to have a good four to five hours in a carafe. But there is no mistaking the future of this wine."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "This sumptuous wine is driven by perfectly ripe fruit as well as dense, dusty and dry tannins. Great swathes of blackberry sweep across the palate, followed by juicy acidity. Such a combination will make this impressive wine a delight to drink in 10 years and beyond."

WINE SPECTATOR: "Roasted cedar, tobacco and bay leaf notes start off this structured but lively bottling, with intense currant, blackberry and black cherry flavors at the core. The iron-laced grip and pleasantly austere plum pit and licorice snap accents fill in on the tar-tinged finish. Great range, character and typicity. If you ever need to explain Pauillac to someone, give them this. Best from 2018 through 2037. 25,000 cases made."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Just an infant in its development, the wine is all about its potential. Powerful, full-bodied, concentrated and quite bright, fresh and tannic, the wine is not in a fun place to drink. The fruit is bright, lifted, fresh and firm, and there is a lot of it. But the structure and tannins are so front and center today that it demands at least a decade of aging before becoming civilized. For classic Pauillac fans, this is going to be worth the wait. But patience is warranted."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Still very dark in colour. Rich, candied fruit – very much a warm-vintage nose. There's lots of oak too, and a dark, leathery complexity to finish. Only just opening up – but the tannins are soft and ready now. Great persistence. With such opulence, I could see this appealing to fans of Napa Cabernet."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, dezente Randaufhellung, schokoladig unterlegte Kräuterwürze, dunkles Waldbeerkonfit, rauchige Nuancen, zarte vegetale Noten. Frische Kirschen, extraktsüße Textur, etwas betontere Säurestruktur, dadurch markantere Tannine, insgesamt etwas schlanker, dabei durchaus trinkfreudig."