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Friday, March 25, 2022 - Everything Pauillac is as intimidating as Pall Mall's line up of gentlemen clubs. You're a member, or you're not. And if you're in, it takes a few generations to blend the code of conduct with your DNA and another dynasty to avoid social suicide while navigating inbetween 3 centuries of implicit evidences. And so is Pauillac : rules maker, standard setter, warden of the elegances, old school and eternal... immensely boring, and therefore absolutely desirable.

And here comes Lynch Bages, the only punk in town who does not bother borrowing a tie to sit at the 1855 Ivy League's table. The Prince Harry of the left bank, Hugh Grant before Divine Brown : so perfectly compliant that his deviances make Parker's systematic contempt for him look like jealousy. But in 2010, even the Wine Advocate could not help but admitting the dunce's genius.

With a solid 70% of new oak and 79% of cabernet in the blend, stats don't call for nuance and subtlety. And the color rather tends to confirm this intuition : lights fails to pass through this deep violine liquide with crimson reflections. It's superb and promises the exhausting experience of virile wine from the Duero's valley, until sight gives way to smell. There rises the black swan, in a prodigiously balanced symphonhy of bramble, ripe raspberries, blackcurrant here; fumes of smoke and smells of undergrowth there; and a whole world of fine spices all over the place... and each of these fragrances at the right place. Rarely could the world elegance find a better definition; as for what happens in the mouth, it's about balance. Same perfect blend of fresh black fruits, yesterday's fire pit, kampot pepper and exotic swirls of an Indian market. At 11 years of age, its tannins are solid but round edged and backed by a surprising acidity that calls for decades of improvement.

This wine is a first class long haul trip to the most extraordinary of the Left Bank. Indulge yourself a VIP pass to the most exclusive Pauillac experience and start wondering : after such a wine, what ?

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