2018 Chateau Lynch-Bages Echo de Lynch Bages Pauillac

  • Outstanding 96 Point Vintage
  • "Smart Money Will Hide Bottles" until 2023 ~ 94 Points, Jeb Dunnuck
  • Second Wine From 5th Growth Classified Estate
  • Awesome Value Pauillac
  • Free Shipping on 6 or More Bottles

About the Wine

One of 18Fifth Growth Grand Cru Classe wineries in Bordeaux, this winery alwayspunches above its weight and over-delivers. Château Lynch Bages consistently outperforms its ranking, and it’sthe highest-profile estate in its classification. This is the second wine from the estate.

Owned by the Cazes family, this property always seems to be on the up and up. The family purchased the estate in 1939, ensuring this hundreds-of-years-old winery continues its prestigious work. The modern estate has 100 hectares of vines split into two parts, one near the château on the Bages plateau in the southern half of the Pauillac commune,not far from Château Latour, and the other near Château Mouton Rothschild. The soils are mainly gravel and sand, which allow for good drainage.

These soils, plus mastery in the cellar, never fail to createwines of great quality, and consumers clamor for that quality.

This wine is hitting its stride in 2023. Don't miss it.

2018 was an outstanding year for Pauillac. Vinous Media, Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator blessed this year with a 96-point review, the last one stating that the wines have "terrific drive and definition."

Aging: 75% new French oak for 18 months.

Tasting Notes:62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc. Full-bodied and rich with intense aromas of blackberry, mulberries, chocolate, and the tell-tale lead pencil of Cab Sauv. Big fruits, baking spices, and tobacco on the palate with ripe tannins and a minerally finish.

Reviews

The 2018 Echo De Lynch-Bages checks in as a mix of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc that was brought up all in once-used French oak. It has a grand vin tech-sheet with 13.9% alcohol, 3.57 pH, and a massive IPT of 87. Deep purple-hued, with a great nose of blackcurrants, scorched earth, lead pencil shavings, tobacco, and dark chocolate, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a deep, layered monster of a mid-palate, and silky tannins. It's stunning juice all the way, and given its wealth of material and texture, it's drinkable today, yet smart money will hide bottles for 5-7 years, and it's going to evolve for 20 years or more. It's an incredible second wine. ~94 Points, Jeb Dunnuck.

Very layered and dense second wine of Lynch this year. Medium to full body, juicy fruit, and polished and chewy tannins. Will need time. ~93-94  Points, James Suckling.

The nose is fruity, and elegant and offers intensity as well as a certain concentration. It reveals notes of wild blackberry, pulpy wild plum, and small pulpy/ripe blue fruits as well as hints of fresh vanilla, fresh licorice stick, a hint of tobacco, and cardamom. The palate is fruity, well-balanced, fresh, and mineral and offers an acidulous frame, a certain density, a fine grain as well as a small richness and a very fine creaminess. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of pulpy/juicy cassis, juicy raspberry, and small notes of juicy cherry associated with touches of juicy blackberry, violet as well as hints of tonka bean, nutmeg, cardamom, and a hint of vanilla pod. Good length. Tannins are racy. A subtle iodine hint on the finish/persistence. ~93 Vertdevin

Composed of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc and without any new oak, the very deep purple-black colored 2018 Echo de Lynch Bages rolls seductively out of the glass with fragrant notes of candied violets, rose hip tea and fragrant soil over a core of crushed blackberries, warm blackcurrants, and kirsch plus wafts of chocolate mint and crushed rocks. Full, rich, wonderfully concentrated, and well structured, it has a solid backbone of firm, grainy tannins, and bold freshness, finishing long.... The early start of the season was nerve-racking because of the mildew pressure,” Jean-Charles Cazes said. “We had to monitor the vines constantly and react. But we were equally worried about the dry period. We were concerned about getting vine blockage, like in 2003, but it didn’t happen. The rains we had in the spring really helped the vines sail through and reach full maturity. Our harvest dates are pretty much on average, a little early for Lynch Bages, but again not like 2003. Sorting wasn’t really a problem, everything was sanitary. The vintage reminds me of 2010, but more forward, like 2016.” I asked Cazes about their biggest challenge this year. “The challenge was not to overdo extraction," he said. "That was the biggest challenge in the cellar. We had smaller berries, so the ratio of skin to juice was high. This is also why there is so much richness.” ~90-92 Wine Advocate

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