2021 Château Lynch-Bages

Community Tasting Note

4 comments have been posted

• Comment posted by Jake Barnes:

  5/21/2022 8:23:00 AM - Thanks for all your 2021 en primeur notes! Early futures pricing seems to suggest the chateaux may not be prepared to price 2021 to truly reflect the quality of the vintage. Have you experienced any 2021s you think are worth buying as a future, or would you agree with James Molesworth—keep buying those 2020s while they are still available as futures and backfilling your cellar with 2015s and 2016s?

• Comment posted by chatters:

  5/21/2022 7:52:00 PM - My pleasure to share them,
  
  That is a great question...before I answer a minor disclosure - I have no issue with 'bad/winemaker/challenging' vintage Bordeaux; I like 01, 04, 08, 11, 12 & 14 for instance.
  
  The 2021 vintage feels like the culmination of the knowledge gleaned in the 2013 and 2017 vintages (and should really be priced at this point). Of the 2021's I've tried that I enjoyed none have released their pricing (other than Duhart Milon - too expensive) yet...I use www.bordoverview.com as it shows historic pricing as well...but if the right wine is at the right price I'll consider it - they all have the acidity to last forever, it's just whether the fruit and tannins are in balance. Margaux and Pichon Baron were very good, some right bank wines e.g. Berliquet, Mondot (entry level ish at Troplong Mondot) were pleasing and some of the cheaper wines - Le Crock/Ormes de Pez were enjoyable but it's about price.
  
  I'm not a massive fan of 2020 (& I'm getting older) so I'm squandering my cash on older vintages on the secondary market - If I toy with younger stuff I think 18 & 19 are both worth a look, depending on what you like, as well as 15 & 16 and I'd chuck 11, 12 & 14 in their as well (bearing in mind my qualifying comment above)
  
  happy buying
  
  chatters

• Comment posted by Jake Barnes:

  5/22/2022 6:57:00 AM - Thank you very much for your insights. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond so thoughtfully. I see that you are right—it’s going to be all about the prices on the 2021 futures.
  
  I like pre-modern Bordeaux (‘70s and ‘80s and the good ‘90s vintages) quite a bit, and like you, I also like a number of the so-called “off” vintages between 2000 and the present (I’ve had very good luck with ‘01, ‘06, and ‘14). I can certainly like the blockbusters, too. I try not to be dogmatic about it. If I like it, I like it.
  
  I asked about 2021, though, because I’m 52, and I just became interested in wine a few years ago. That puts me in an awkward place—I don’t have any wines I’ve aged to maturity myself (thus, I, too, squander my money on mature wines on the secondary), and given my age, my days of buying current vintages to lay down for twenty years need to come to an end relatively soon. This is why I wondered about 2021.
  
  Thanks again!

• Comment posted by chatters:

  5/22/2022 8:33:00 PM - We're in the same boat regarding age - I have pretty much stopped buying EP since 2015. I don't need cases of wine post that vintage unless I'm buying to sell. I also ask myself how much longer my nose and palate are going to last...15 years if I'm lucky?
  
  Actually if I was going to summarise 2021 I'd say that it is very much a reflection of those earlier vintages; alcohol levels (even with chaptalisation) are mostly 0.5-1.5% less than the last vintage. I don't think I saw anything above 13.5%.
  
  I suppose the only other question is how old do you like your wines?
  
  cheers, chatters