Decanted for 5 hours yet barely budged. Shy blue fruit and fine grained tannins, but lacking in depth or richness. Revisit in 3+ years.

Tasted upon opening, then wisely decided to decant. Revisited over 8 hours, and it was not done blossoming even then. Such impressive depth, with powerful dark fruits, violets, graphite and leather. I love the glycerined texture. Truly a benchmark Pauillac for me, and this vintage may be on par with the '82 and '89. Could be ageless. Certainly is timeless.

The cork came out cleanly, and I decided not to decant after taking my first sip. So silky and perfumed, with earthy tones, some mushroom, black currant, cranberry, cedar and plenty of structure. A bit less floral than I expected. Seemed to shut down after 90 minutes, to my surprise.

I feared the worst when the cork crumbled at the mere sight of a cork screw. Suffice it say that this was served through a sieve. The first sips made me fear the wine had madeirized, but that note blew off, and what revelations followed. Light ruby colored, with some bricking but no sediment or cloudiness. Sweet red fruit on the nose. The palate offered complex layers of dark raspberries, mocha and saddle leather, beautifully integrated. Grippy sweet tannins gave way to a medium finish. Unlike prior bottles which bloomed and faded within hours, this was going strong throughout the evening and showed no signs of fading.

I have been fortunate enough to have tried another '66 Lynch Bages 3 years ago. Maybe the trick is to wait for its 50th birthday, because this bottle was a revelation. Good fill. The cork was quite saturated but came out whole, albeit in two pieces. Vibrant ruby toned color, with some bricking on the edges. Haunting sweet nose. Balanced and lovely on the palate, with ample, sweet red berry flavors alongside cedar, leather and a touch of raisin on the lingering finish. Most surprising was the bright acidity. The wine did not fade, after many hours of being cherished. My WOTN for both taste and emotion.