Sweet blackcurrant fruit on the nose, softly jammy and expressive. You can really feel the ripeness here, grapes got full maturity and this is plush, mouthfilling and plump with chewy tannins - more opulent and perfumed than others also with more power and body. Tannins are mouthfilling and you get the stone minerality and the Cabernet freshness that really takes over giving this a sense of tension and grip. A really characterful and expressive Pauillac where the tannins and acidity perfectly compliment each other with the muscular and concentrated fruit also giving a multi-faceted dimension. 3% Cabernet Sauvignon completes the blend. 3.72pH. Ageing 75% new barrels.

Lovely depth to the nose of this young Bordeaux with black currant, ink and walnut aromas that follow through to a medium to full body with a solid core of polished and integrated tannins. This will drink beautifully in 2026 and onwards.

Has the austerity that you want of a great Left Bank wine at the beginning of its life, with cool vintage savoury raspberry leaf, capsicum and peony. Tons of slate-textured tannins, not hugely concentrated which makes it an outlier of recent Lynch Bages vintages, but it's exceptionally well balanced, and has excellent appellation character, with cassis and blackberry fruits. A high tannin index of 90IPT. Harvest September 27 through to October 9. One of the best in Pauillac, finishing up with chewy tannins. 75% new oak.

Smoke, cedar, cigar box, cassis, spearmint, and spice nuances set the perfume where it needs to be. The palate, with its layers of vibrant, sweet, fresh, energetic, chewy fruits leaves a lasting impression. There is concentration, depth of flavor, chewiness, and length here that would make this a serious wine in a top vintage. But, with 2021, this is a tremendous success that exceeds the vintage. The wine blends 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc. The yields were low at 34 hectoliters per hectare. Drink from 2027-2050.

The 2021 Lynch-Bages has a wonderful bouquet with intense blackberry and bilberry fruit, retaining the estuarine element I remarked upon from barrel. The oak here is seamlessly integrated and gains complexity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, very supple and focused, a little more peppery toward the finish with impressive grip and depth in context of the vintage. This is a superb achievement in a tricky season. Chapeau, Jean-Charles Cazes. -- Neal Martin

Displays a nice mix of almost caressing black cherry and black currant paste flavors, with warm cast iron, sweet tobacco and chestnut notes, showing just a nip of the vintage's austerity. Rock solid for the vintage, this offers a lively, savory edge that adds cut and energy. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2026 through 2040. — J.M.

(93+ points) One of the most concentrated wines in the vintage, the inky hued 2021 Château Lynch-Bages is based on 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, raised in 75% new oak. It offers ample smoked black fruits, graphite, leather, and an undeniable sense of minerality. It has the firmer tannins of the vantage yet brings beautiful mid-palate depth, has medium-bodied richness, perfectly integrated oak, and terrific overall balance. This is one of the few 2021s where the cellar is going to really be required, which shouldn't surprise any long-term fans of this château. Hide bottles for 5-7 years and enjoy over the following two decades. The 2021 hit 13.14% alcohol, has a pH of 3.72, and a massive IPT (the amount of tannins) of 90.

(93+ points) The 2021 Lynch-Bages is one of the vintage's bigger, broader-shouldered wines, offering up aromas of crème de cassis, plums and spices, framed by a generous application of creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, dense and chunky, with a velvety attack that segues into a layered core of fruit framed by generously extracted tannins, it concludes with a long, lusty finish. Fully 40 hectares of this estate is now cultivated organically, principally those parcels that adjoin the houses of Pauillac. As is almost invariably the case with this estate, it will repay a bit of patience. - William Kelley