1988 Bordeaux Horizontal (Hawksmoor NYC): Having recently enjoyed the 1986 Château Lynch-Bages in a four decades of Bordeaux vertical, I was excited to dive into another example from the 1980s with the 1988 Château Lynch-Bages. This was absolutely drinking younger than I was anticipating, but lacked a 'wow' factor. The nose had a mossy quality to it, made better by hints of blackberries and light baking spices. The palate, though, showed off the youthfulness of this bottle as redcurrants and blackcurrants were omnipresent in the upfront prior to notes of leather, oak and white pepper providing a backbone in the mid-palate. The finish was dominated by sous bois, licorice and herbs, boasting tannins that had yet to settle down. I have one bottle left of 1988 Château Lynch-Bages and I think I'd give it 2-3 years before I revisit it.
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Black, opaque colour! Strong black fruits, peppery notes, rather monolithic, austere on the palate! The seriousness is phenomenal, bothering to the status of the super clinical! Is it another version of vintage nineteen seventy-five? I think it still needs a few more years of cellaring!
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Decanted and tasted over 3 hours. Best were the last drops. This was a shockingly youthful bright garnet color with no bricking. Nose was classic Bordeaux with slightly musty, earthy notes and mostly red berry fruit like cranberry, red cherry and pomegranate with some florals. Palate evolved slowly after an initial burst. At the end it was a brightly acid driven and even still a bit closed. It was expressive and long on the finish. It did go great with both grilled Cajun rubber pork chops and NY Strip steaks.
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Nez discret mais profond, fruit, tabac froid, mine de crayon, menthe. Bouche aux tanins magnifiques, très fine mais avec de l'énergie, beaucoup de fruit, c'est très agréable.
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Dark color with the edges still a solid red, wonderful black currant and dark cherry nose, tannins are softening leading to a long finish with hints of cedar.
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This is another hit in the lineup of 80s Lynch Bages. Great pencil, blackberry, cassis and leather notes. Well balanced, excellent aromatics and a nice beam of fine tannin holding it all together.
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Another magnum tonight for a friend's 85th birthday. Fill up near cork. Dark red color, garnet rim. Cherry extract with hints of cedar. Good body. Chewy cherry fruit with hints of smoke and graphite. A really nice bottle of wine to slog down with BBQ meats.
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Classic claret. Blackberry and currant fruit. Sous bois, damp earth, forest floor, tobacco / cigar box, some red cedar spice. Structured and firm, tannin somewhat integrating. Chewy palate. Chocolate covered cherries, but darker. Had been having an unusual craving for Bordeaux and this was about as classic / down the middle as it gets. Very fine indeed.
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Auction purchase, fill into neck, cork intact. Opened for our 35th anniversary. Dark red core. Nice nose right on opening, blossoms further over 30-45 minutes. Cassis, moist fresh earth, tobacco, hint of green. Medium body, nice complexity, great balance, mellow tannins, medium-long finish. Excellent.
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Another bottle purchased in futures. Garnet with ruby red rim. Black cherry fruit with hints of cedar. Soft tannins, edgy fruit, not enough extract. Long cherry fruit finish.
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Had with CA and S Dakota ribeyes in celebration of pathology results. Jacob declined then I poured him a taste just in case: "I changed my mind. I'll have some more of that, please."
Classic Bordeaux. Not a hair out of place.
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Pop and pour. This showed very pauillac yesterday with dense earth, charcoal, cedar and plenty of herbs. Notes from 24 hrs open. Still going really strong on Day 2. More herbs, charcoal, soft dried blackberry. On the palate, lovely acidity, leaning hi-toned. Tannin is but a memory. A touch thin on the mid for a Pauillac, but really a lovely example and in a fantastic place right now.
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Wine Group December 2022 Tasting (Yan's China Bistro, Walnut Creek, Ca.): Nose of black berry, saddle leather, cedar and saddle leather, has a touch of bret, more of the same on the palate, tasty, mouth filling fruit, slightly past peak tasting but holding well, best from start to finish at being fruit forward, and a medium/long finish, uploaded photo.
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A spontaneous selection, but no preparation was needed. Very pleasant - bright color - solid nose. Familiarly herbaceous, blackberry flavor with good acidity and balanced tannins. Should last a while yet.
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4/19/22 Vinum55 Phoenix BYOB Tasting (Vinum55 Phoenix): [Decanted for sediment] Med intensity of leather, game, green bell pepper, slightly spicy nose. Light body, low acid, low tannin. Not much structure or body left and the fruit was basically completely gone, left with the essence of bell pepper and smokey meats in tomato juice base. Perhaps some dried plum, but just overshadowed by the more intense vegetal note. Most also thought it was way over the hill, left with structureless tomato juice. Nonetheless, you can taste the history and age here. While there was the lack of structure, there were very prominent tertiary notes and remnants of green bell pepper. I would say drink this now as it is already quite past the hill.
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Surprising amount of fruit for a Bordeaux of this age. But maybe not, since fruit has been a hallmark of Lynch Bages compared to other Pauillacs. Double decanted and consumed about an hour later with cheddar cheese. Delicious, with a great deal of complexity and a long finish. Clearly, at its peak and time to drink up over the next couple of years. It will not get better than it is now. This wine was upon release labeled a "Classic" especially compared to the wonderful 1989 and 1990. What they really meant was that it was tannic and closed by comparison. Fortunately, that meant the price was lower and those who bought the '88 should be congratulating themselves.
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20 Vintages of Lynch Bages (1986-2017): All wines tasted blind. Not decanted. A few conclusions: 1) The overall quality of the wines surpassed my (and the groups) expectations slightly. There were good wines in all decades. 2) The style is very Cabernet, very Pauillac, quite classic, with a good grip, pleasantly high acidity and a good, not too ripe fruit core. 3) Most vintages don‘t have the depth of its neighbours and, until more recently, there are some quite angular tannins. 4) Lynch these days doesn’t reach the same elegance and complexity as both Pichons but plays in the same league as Pontet Canet, which, is less classically built. 5) Highest rating of 95 pts for 3 crowd favorites: of course for the 1990 and 2016, but rather surprising also for the 2017.
TN: Medium intense nose with slightly liquory fruit, slightly dried out fruit, hints of tobacco and earth and oxidative notes. On the palate this is all about broth, soy sauce, oxidation notes and dark dried fruit. The structure would have been fine but this bottle was clearly past its peak.
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Lynch Bages vertical (1986-2017): Lynch Bages vertical spanning 20 vintage (1986-2017) hosted by a private collector. My key observations were: 1/ The “twin peaks” of 1989 and 1990 continue to perform well, 3/ among the younger vintages 2017 and 2016 stood out, 3/ mid- to late-90ies were unimpressive as a group, rustic with harsh tannins, 4/ 2000-2008 showed extracted fruit profiles, but with juicier palates, 5/ After 2009 the fruit turned brighter and more red in nature, less extracted and fruit-forward palates. Note the wines were not decanted and served blind in flights of 4.
Tasting note: Beef juicy aromatics here, looks past its prime. This masks aging notes and the fruit. Palate was barely intact.
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Cork in excellent shape. Decanted, still holding a nice ruby color. Showing some age but nose still has dark fruit with some tobacco. Medium body with nice tannins leading to a touch of cedar on a medium to long finish. Still excellent.
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Purchased on release for $21.67. Color medium garnet without browning and not much sediment. Musty, Bordeaux nose with typical Lynch Bages fruit. Just not up to the '86, '89 or '90. Some 88's have blossomed, and I think my prior bottles of this wine had. I think Parker's analysis of all these wines years ago was spot on.
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Nearing the end of its drinking window, this wine still provides considerable pleasure with its lovely cedar-infused nose, meat, pencil lead, and forest floor. Cashmere texture with fully resolved tannins. Not a blockbuster but a lovely, medium-bodied claret from a modest vintage. If you've got some in the cellar, you may wish to drink them sooner than later as I don't see any upside from here. Wonderful.
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This is all dark fruit, flowers, cedar, and rolling tobacco from the minute it's opened. There's a green, minty top note that plays well with roasted meats and despite having a severity to it, this feel like it's at apogee. A reward for fans of old school Bordeaux. Narrowly edged out by the '90 Sammarco tonight.
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Auction purchase 2020. Fill into neck. Cork soaked half-way up. Dark red core. Opens over 45 minutes to show captivating nose of cassis, moist fresh earth, tobacco, hint of green. Medium body, nice complexity, great balance, medium-long finish. Excellent.
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Opened up nicely over 1.5 hours, good character and intensity and no signs of fading. This should continue to drink well through 2023 or 2024 for well stored bottles.
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Slow ox for two and a half hours. Not as good as I remember it. Lots of lead pencil, tobacco on the nose. The palate shows black currant, blackberry, more pencil and smoke. The wine is fully mature and perhaps in decline. Quite four square without much elegance stylistically. Old fashioned bordeaux all the way but not a great one.
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Slightly muted nose (unlike the 85), medium body on the palate. Lots of dense fruit mid palate and a lingering finish, with hints of mint. Tannins well integrated and good balance. More depth than I expected. Opens up after an hour in bottle (I didnt decanter), very enjoyable with food. Probably drank this too fast!
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Auction purchase 2020. Opened on our 33rd anniversary. Fill into neck, cork soaked 1/8 way up, came out easily. Dark red core, hint of bricking at rim. Unlike the last bottle from this lot that had an immediately beautiful nose, this shows a bit of VA or band-aidy Brett on opening. That blows off over an hour or two, after which a richly complex nose of cassis, plum, iron, leather, clean moist earth, and a bit of a green streak to add interest comes to the fore. Medium body, beautifully balanced, great mix of crisp and complex fruit, a bit of green, umami, still enough tannin to go another decade, medium finish. Drinking beautifully and should continue to do so for another decade or more, great old school Bordeaux. Matched beautifully to a reverse-sear ribeye finished on the grill. Excellent.
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Auction purchase 2020. Fill into neck, cork soaked 1/5 way up, came out easily. Dark red core, hint of bricking at rim. Immediately beautiful forward nose with cassis, plum, iron, leather, clean moist earth, just enough of a green streak to add interest. Medium body, beautifully balanced, great mix of crisp and complex fruit, a bit of green, umami, still enough tannin to go another decade, medium finish. Drinking beautifully and would expect it to continue to do so for at least another decade, great old school Bordeaux. Excellent.
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Stored in a cold cellar since release. High fill. Deep colour. Lovely cedar wood bouquet. Perfect balance. Stately. Every thing in place. Seems to have years in hand but drinking so well seems no reason to keep.
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Lovely perfectly aged classic Bordeaux. Showing better than I expected for the vintage and in the mid to late drinking window right now. Cork fully saturated. Color is youthful and intense nose of classic bordeaux aromas—tobacco, pencil lead and plums. A bit of barnyard that blows off with a few minutes of air. This was drinking best after first opening. After a few hours seemed to develop a bitter note on the finish which lowered the score a point or so. Perhaps I should have had it standing longer to let the sediment settle.
From a well-cellared magnum; notes after the bottle has been open for a few hours - from my final glass. Really good colour; dense, with almost no bricking. Incredibly youthful nose - could easily be a ten-year-old wine; deep and rich with aromas of graphite, cassis and other dark fruits. Some development on the nose, but it's in the background. Plenty of luscious, sweet fruit in the mouth as well. Rich and plush. Some grip on the medium-length finish. Again, there are obviously signs of development, but this could easily be mistaken for a much younger wine. Superb.
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Auction purchase 2020. Fill into neck, cork soaked 1/3 way up, came out easily. Dark red core, hint of bricking at rim. Beautiful forward nose right out of the starting gate with cassis, plum, iron, leather, clean moist earth, just enough of a green streak to add interest. A hint of iodine (Brett?) on opening disappears within 30 minutes.. Medium body, beautifully balanced, great mix of crisp and complex fruit, a bit of green, umami, still enough tannin to go another decade, medium finish. Really drinking along the top of its plateau, great old school Bordeaux. Excellent.
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Popped, slow-oxed for about 2 hrs. Cork soaked 3/4 of the way through, and broke apart as I opened it... Lovely aromatics: smoked cedar, charcoal, dried plum and blackberry On the palate, soft acidity, more cedar and black raspberry. Seems missing a step on the mid, maybe slightly past prime, but that's a nitpick...aging very gracefully and really lovely.
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Beautifully aged but still a huge wine. Chocolate, smoked meat, and blackberries. Medium tannins, plum and blackberry fruit, tobacco, earthy. Great finish.
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This wine checks every box. Nose of leather, spice, tobacco and finally dark cherry. There was a little fruit still present, mostly red cherry initially then quickly there is forest floor, pine, mushroom, spice, cedar, and currant. The finish was very long. The tannins were silky and everything was in wonderful complex balance. 31 years old and in a wonderful place. I would guess that it will continue on for a few more years but there is no point in waiting. I don’t see it getting any better. All of the risk would be to the downside. So drink up and enjoy.
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I will be in the minority here, the 88 LB is the best currently drinking LB right now. I had the 89 a month ago and once again it was too young. 90 still needs time. This 88 is stonking. Perfectly stored and cork saturated half way up, bottom neck fill. This wine is ready to go right from the start. Classic nose leaps from the bottle and glass. I mean, it literally fills the room. Plum, cassis, wet mulch, earth, iron, forest floor, tobacco, and pencil. I was struck by how this "average" year could deliver so profoundly. Palate backs up the promise and it was layer after layer of complexity. I love 85 LB, but some are starting to fade. This 88 is sublime. 95 Pts
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Deep garnet with lots of sediments. Mature nose of tobacco, leather, black truffle, blackberry and some sweet spices and cocoa bean. Smooth and velvet with some additional roasted gamey notes. Quite intense palate.
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Surprised at this one. Very good wine, that got better and better with 60-90 minutes in the glass. Black and red fruits, a bit of tobacco and herbs. Very good structure still in place. Was a ringer bottle in a 1970's/1980's cali cab tasting, and for me was tied for #1 (with a 1984 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill).
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Blind Tasting of Aged Napa Cabs (Residence): This was smokey, with medium+ acidity and medium tannin. This was another example of an aged Bordeaux showng balance after extended aging. The flavor profile included an earthiness, that when you taste enough Cru Bordeaux, you come to recognize. Still with fresh fruit (blackberry) and stewed currants, the fruit was forward on the palate. I am not a huge fan of Pauillac wines. I prefer the St. Estephe and Margaux regions in Bordeaux, but this was drinking nicely at 30 years and was a strong representative of aged Left Bank Bordeaux. An easy tell within a blind tasting of Napa Cabs.
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Wine Spectator newbies; 10/18/2018-10/20/2018 (Marriott Marquis): Lovely aged Bordeaux. After a weekend of drinking wines that were mostly on the young side it's nice to see something that's right in window. There's the balance of the leather and the fruit and everything well integrated. Feels like it would do a touch better with food, but overall, very tasty. Many thanks to the folks who shared.
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The 6th Quinquennial Wine and Food Extravaganza (New Jersey, USA): In my cellar in the OWC since release and opened for this occasion. We double decanted 8 bottles about 3pm and served them at about 9pm. On opening they was dominated by "brett" on the nose but later in the evening this had dissipated significantly. There was little significant bottle variation. The color was medium to dark garnet with little to no sign of bricking. The nose had little fruit even later in the evening but did develop some leather and cedar. The palate was fairly dense but mostly lacking much fruit which was pretty much just some cassis, but the secondary flavors were out in force like earthy leather and cedar. Very "old school" and from a difficult vintage, this was good but not great. It did complement the duck dish very nicely however.
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This is absolutely packed with tannin. Thankfully there's plenty of black fruit to balance it out, plus the other mature Bordeaux earthiness/graphite/tobacco notes are there in spades, but this just feels really structured right now and still years from maturity.
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Almost 7yrs from my last bottle. This has softened considerably. Tannins mostly resolved. Terrific nose. Fruit mostly tertiary and leans on the darker side as Lynch tends to. Less mint than last bottle, side saddle leather and cedar spice character. I don't see this getting any better and maybe mildly tired for me, it's still a terrific Pauillac.
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Really enjoyed this tonight. Was open for business from the get go, Got a fair amount of mint (which wasn’t appreciated by everyone), tobacco, well developed character and minimal tannin. Caught this wine in a great place. Holding and not declining imo as I retasted over 2+ hours. Wasn’t the equal of the ‘89 Lalande but not sure how many wines would’ve been tonight. My last bottle but so glad I got to share with friends.
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The 1988s are absolutely arriving. After years of toughness, these are drinking fabulously finally and the LB is no exception. Tons of smoky, gamey LB notes like on release, but tannins totally smoothed out. Very impressive in an LB sort of way and absolutely worth a try
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A very correct Bordeaux in prime drinking window. Light bricking. Classic nose, medium bodied. Black and red fruit, cedar, tobacco leaf, tea. The tannins are well integrated and there is good balance . A really good wine that doesn’t quite deliver the knockout punch.
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Initially, big hit of green pepper aromas then dark earthy black fruits. This wine really unwound nicely in the glass with time gaining weight and depth. When served blind to my tasting group most settled on 1995 as the vintage. A very good showing from a pristine bottle. No real rush to drink up.
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Château Lynch-Bages Vertical Dinner (San Diego, California): While not sourced from my own cellar, this particular bottle delivered a well-preserved, deep garnet specimen. Plum, mulling spice, cigar box, cedar and bay leaf aromas precede a full-bodied, freshly acidic, seamlessly alcoholic (12.5%) palate. The flavors mirror the nose and the middle is solid. The lengthy finish carries some tannic grip. Comparably cellared bottles should provide pleasure for several more years. Drink now-2025.
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Essentially at its peak in Nov 2017. Could go another year or two. Good classic Bourdeux, not great like the 1989. Earthy. We enjoyed with beef. It held up very well. If you have some consider drinking in 2018-19. Go slow and delicately w cork removal; it broke apart but none made it into the wine.
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Delicious fully mature Pauillac. A hint of game and grilled meat to go with the red fruit and tobacco and dried herbs. Smooth and elegant, drinking beautifully.
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Chicago Wine Flock...Don Serving So Many Great Blind Wines/Flights (Park Ridge, IL): Tasted double blind in what turned out to be a Lynch-Bages/ Togni flight. Very similar to the 1986 in the previous glass, so clearly the start of a vertical (in my mind). Just slightly richer and more persistent, less structured. I thought this was the 4th or 5th best wine of the flight, and the group ranked it #4. Much better than another bottle from last year.
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Cork on decent condition though soft, so remove with care. Decanted approx 1 hour. Aromatics were classic though not as pronounced as some other 88 Bordeaux. On the palate, classic aged Pauillac, austere and civilized / refined, and still decent amount of fruit. Drink up!
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Ripe nose, ripe middle deep colour, a bit sturdy, but also a bit fatigue, so besides the power a bit unbalanced; however, no punishment to taste this wine.
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in this flight 85,86 and 88 the less evolved and most awkward wine, a lot of cassis and some green pepper, Needs some time, some compared him with the Young 88 Mouton, 93+
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Bucket List 3.0 (Sbicca Restaurant, Del Mar, California): Decanted. Clear dark garnet color. Funky bouquet of mud flats, oyster shells, mixed black fruit, black olives. Similar on the palate, medium-full body, balanced. Funkiness persisted throughout the evening. Nice old bordeaux with plenty of personality.
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Old school styled Pauillac, with a combination of strict, austerity and a charming, cedar, tobacco, cigar wrapper, leaf and cassis personality, the wine is full bodied, fully mature, ending with a spicy, cassis finish. Give it an hour of air, at this stage. It will add softness and depth.
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Tasted together with the 05 and 03. I just love mature Bordeaux like this. Interestingly so does the market given the auction price is the same as the 2005! Pristine ex-chateau bottle, mid-ruby with a touch of separation, very approachable on the nose, tobacco (although with a touch of green freshness to it in a good way!) and cassis. Fully mature and delicious. The freshness of the 88 vintage keeps everything in check and in balance. Not a blockbuster and not your uber-ripe Californian style hot Bordeaux year, just pure elegance and enjoyment. Easyt to drink the entire bottle. I have been buying a lot of this whenever I can find it and it provides. Great QPR and a classic Bordeaux drinking experience. Loving the top 88s right now!
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Awesome sauce. Lush, full bodied, tons of fruit. A little brett. A slight green note on the finish adds to the overall positive impression. Tannins are in the background. Mature, but will last for another decade.
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Drinking quite well. This had lots of cedar/pencil shaving aromas dominating the nose, but some cool dark fruit underneath. The palate has come into nice balance, with relaxed, mature fruits buffered by some still firm tannins. Long finish reprising the aromas from the nose. Very very nice wine.
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Really quite charming, this is one of the better 1988 Pauillac wines for sure. Close to fully developed, with a focus on its crisp, bright, red berry palate, there is plenty of wet earth damp forest, cedar wood and cigar box aromatics to please fans of mature claret. This is more stern than regal, and it is not as you would expect, as good as either of its bookend vintages, 1989 or 1990, but it makes for nice drinking today, as it slowly makes its way to its 30th birthday.
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Four weeks ago without taking notes. A bottel of satisfactory provenience kept in a winefridge the last 2 yrs. Good dense colour with maturity. Tertiary notes disappeared with air, licorice and red blue berryfruit dominated later. Tannins were present and fine grained with interesting "sanding (or powdering?)out" in thequite long and homogenous finish. Very good to excellent. This is my second positive encouter with this wine after a demi 9years ago.
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Not a hint of maturity. Looks like a 10 year old wine. Classic cedar, ripe fruit and becoming richer at this point in its life. Great mouthfeel , velvety, the structure becoming covered by the fruit. Lovely balance and length. Very very Good.
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Lynch Bages dinner at RPM Steak (Chicago, IL): The nose here is very well balanced, between the lead pencil shavings, sweet fruit, and just a bit of green. The acids are quite high here, and there are some clear secondary notes (one of the few wines of the evening to have them). The palate's also got a lot more earthiness here, which makes this standout a little bit in the context of the other wines tonight. Plenty of acid gives this a good lift as well.
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Wunderbar weicher, harmonischer Pauillac. Noch besser als meine letzte Flasche. Schöner gereifter Duft, seidig, sexy, animalisch.....ein Traum. Auf dem Punkt und sehr empfehlenswert!! trinken -2025
Wonderfully soft, harmonic Pauillac. Even better than my last bottle. Beautiful mature scent, silky, sexy, animalistic ..... a dream. On the spot and highly recommended !! drink -2025
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Classic Pauillac. Black currants, graphite, black tea, solid structure, some tannin present, medium finish. As with many '88's, this was a bit lean, but very enjoyable. I don't think it's fully mature yet and may still improve.
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Cellared since release. Perfect cork and fill to within 1/2" of cork. Decanted off sediment and enjoyed over 2 1/2 hours. Dark red core, lighter at rim. Immediately forward complex nose of mature black fruits, cassis, cedar and leather. Medium body, nice balance, tannins present but well integrated, mature fruits carry forward to palate with some mineral undertones and sweet complexity. Medium to long mellow impish maintaining balance and complexity throughout. In no danger of going over the hill. Outstanding.
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Excellent provenance. High shoulder fill. Completely saturated cork. Next to a 1989 La Dominique, the color on this '88 was far darker. Blind, I guessed a much younger wine. No detailed notes, but it was fantastic. This is why we let Bordeaux age!
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Le nez s'exprime d'abord discrètement avec des notes de poivron au début, avec pour la suite de la viande crue, du cassis, de la fumée. La bouche est d'un équilibre spectaculaire, fraiche et presque veloutée, c'est magnifique. Un superbe Pauillac abouti, à maturité. 94 pts
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All you need to know about why one ages good Bordeaux is in this bottle. Medium light color with moderate bricking on the edge and without much sediment, this Lynch-Bages initially smelled surprisingly like dried cranberry with light dried floral notes, opening up into robust "old wine cellar" with a few minutes of decanting. The initial impression on the palate offers forest floor, old leather and red currant preserves. With time, it woke up and gained a slightly toasted, almost black tea essence on the finish. The wine remains fresh. Boasting a light body and silky texture, the balance is near perfect. So deft and so elegant for a Lynch Bages that seemed tight and burly when young. While at its peak, this wine could last for years. There is no suggestion of dryness or stewed fruit here that points to any decline.
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Süsser Cabernetduft. Schön gereifter, feiner, klassischer Pauillac mit den typischen animalischen LB-Noten. Im Jahr 1988 wurden im Bordeaux langlebige, aber dafür vielfach kantige Weine erzeugt. Dieser Wein ist jedoch ohne zu dekantieren sehr zugänglich. Ich bin beindruckt und freue mich auf die nächste Flasche! 94/100
Nach Lafite war dies der beste 88er. Dahinter kommen Gruaud, Pontet Canet und Montrose......
Sweet Cabernetnose. Beautifully mature, fine, classic Pauillac with the typical animal LB notes. In 1988 were in Bordeaux durable, but often produces edged wines. However, this wine is without decant very accessible. I am impressed and look forward to the next bottle! 94/100
After Lafite this was the best from 88. Behind come Gruaud, Pontet Canet and Montrose ......
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Still so young looking, deep ruby. Wonderfully open from the get go, classic Paulliac nose of cassis and tobacco and cedar. Love the freshness that these higher acidity years bring after suitable bottle age. Now it is all is great harmony. Mid weight for a Lynch Bages but in a good way meaning you can enjoy it and drink it with pleasure and it just leaves you wanting more. Worth looking out for given that it is a third the price of the 89/90.
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Some maturity. Lovely developed nose, graphite mineral and broad softer fruit. Lovely warmth on the palate, surprisingly rich and velvet mouthfeel. Goofd length. Just edged the Leoville Barton 88 paired with it.
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Parker describes this as "old", so I didn't expect much. However, it was almost as good as the '89 Pichon Lalande from last night. This was also dark and opaque, with slight brick at the edges. Pronounced complex aroma of cedar, cassis, black fruits, leather, very similar to Pichon. Perfectly balanced flavors, maybe not quite as concentrated and intense as Pichon, with little tannin left but extremely enjoyable. Won't get any better, so it's time to drink and enjoy! Ric
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Light red with a bit of sediment. Red fruits with Cigarette smoke deep into the nose. Rendolent with smoke, slightly sour raspberries, with a medium body. The smoke (which really surprised me) lasts a very long time into a very long finish.
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Bought from retail. Cork slightly sunken, fill into the shoulder. Not totally dead - still some pencil and dark fruit but this seemed off. Where should this really sit in the otherwise fantastic line-up of the 85, 86, 89, and 90?
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Wow hard to believe it's been over 8 years since i had this wine, and looking at my former notes it appears that this time it did not show as well. Simply put the tannins are starting to take over and while they are round and smooth it appears that they are now the most prominent component of this wine. Of course it's hard to make conclusions based on one bottle but my gut feeling is that this is not going to improve much from here. A bottle of the 1985 tonight, while overall more advanced, was also much more balanced and enjoyable to me.
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Tasted after the 1985 Lynch-Bages, and again, the same latent lactic aroma on the nose. No age (color-wise) to speak of on this very well cared for/stored bottle (cork in perfect condition); aromas are out of the gate, but slowly out of the gate; rising, over the course of half an hour to medium intensity. Bell pepper, graphite, soil, repeat. On the second night, more fruit than place, having added some weight, though only slightly. Medium-bodied, elegant, and in a good place now and for the next 3-4 years. Finished on night 3, by which time it was subtle and faded, though still somewhat enjoyable. recommended
From a bottle personally purchased upon release and cellared in pristine fashion, this wine was double-decanted and presented to our tasting group in double-blind fashion. Deep garnet and throwing a heavy sediment, it has a nose which is intensely expressive within 30 minutes. Kirsch, plums, allspice, leather and cedar aromas precede a full-bodied, moderately tannic palate with medium acidity, nicely integrated alcohol (12.5%) and flavors which mirror the nose. Building on the mid-palate, it concludes with a lengthy finish which shows some tannic grip. Beautifully balanced and delightfully drinkable at this point, there is no doubt that well-cellared bottles of this wine will provide pleasure for another decade or more. Drink now-2025.
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Brown Bag Wine Dinner at Two Chefs - Double Blind: Garnet color with medium forming legs, and aromas of eucalyotus, black currant, violet, and cedar. It's balanced and has flavors of black currant and licorice anise with a medium body Satin-like texture with a medium finish. David's wine, fooled us.
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88 Degu 3.5h offen in der Karaffe und immer noch verschlossen. Ein Langstreckenläufer dem kein Alter angemerkt wird. Wenn dieser Wein offen ist, dann geht die Post ab.....
Super Nase. Leichte Fruchttöne, mineralisch, Zedernholz, leider im Gaumen am Ende abgeschnitten.
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Good deep crimson red under the light with just the slightest hint of brown pigment at the edge. Light cigar smoke on the nose along with a mixture of mulled red and black fruits. Very light, almost fatty, presence on the tongue, yet the tannins are quite firm. Lovely raspberries, white pepper, and a bit of blackberry at the mid-palate.
A bit of tobacco throughout with Cigar on the finish mixed with red fruits. The finish lingers quite a while. Overall, quite nice, but not the greatest QPR.
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Rich nose, but maybe too much plum, almost prune. Drinking okay and the color is excellent. Didnt love this one but it improved as must wore off -- thought maybe it was flawed but decanting helps!
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Very classy nose, fully mature but with good tension and lift. Palate was however a bit hollow and rode on the acidity instead of fruit. Perfect provenence.
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1988 Red Bordeaux, with Richard Brazier (Handford Wines, London): Finally a 1988 to get excited about and by far the best of the line up along with the Pichon Lalande. Extremely dark colour.. is this a 2005? Spicy, light earthy (the first of the 88s to show an earthy side tonight). Young still but with good weight of fruit, vibrant and complex! Great balanced across good fruit on the mid palate, light leather tones. Tannin is there on the finish but in general this is a very good wine. Lots of life ahead and more ageing will only but help! 93-94+
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Dark and glowing in colour. Complex nose with sweet fruit, tobacco, spices. Powerful on the palate, nice red and black fruit, round and balanced, fresh, but pretty tannic towards the long and persistent finish.
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From 750ml. Level was IN, cork was perfect, only soaked 1mm. Decanted and served an hour later at Pied a Terre in London. Colour was a deep, port-like colour. Youthful but not glossy, almost a little cloudy but no brown edges. The nose was a big hit of black fruits, followed by some leather, cigar box and liquorice. The palate was immediately involvling. Lots of tempting ripe fruits, plenty of of acidity, a touch of cedar. Extremely well balanced with completely integrated tannins and a long finish. This was a real surpise from LB. I am a fan of '88 vintage on the left bank but this really was a very good example. This is a wine that sung in the glass and didn't exhibit a single hard edge. The rich fruit and tannin were in perfect harmony too. Maybe a lucky bottle (this was a better outing than the last bottle I had in 2012) but this was Lynch Bages on top form. Well worth the wait and one to absolutely enjoy now.
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The color is starting to show red bricking on the edge but still a nice purple in the glass. Showing great aromatics of cedar, tilled earth, and savory note to accompany the red fruit. The palate shows nice life with secondary and teriary flavors. Nice enjoyable aged Bordeaux.
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La Commanderie de Bordeaux à Vancouver - 1988 Horizontal (Boneta): a slightly riper nose here with dark red fruits, cedar and some creamy/toasty/vanilla notes that seemed to blow off after 30min in the glass (thankfully). And while there is still the hint of green, it’s even less obviously than the Palmer. This LB has the most weight of this flight but the palate is a bit tart and simple with quite a bit of structure left. A brawnier wine. Very good.
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La Commanderie de Bordeaux: 1988 Horizontal (Boneta Restaurant - Vancouver, BC): Less sweetness on the nose with more tar evident than the Palmer tasted along side. Lots of black pepper and asphalt aromas, along with black cherry, strawberry, graphite, cedar, and menthol. plenty of rich black cherry upfront on the palate, followed by spicy black pepper, cedar, leather, tar, and red currants. Firm acidity, with a medium length finish ending on notes of red currants and black pepper. Lots of tar and spice on both the palate and nose here, but the palate came up short after the promise of the nose. It just didn't have much oomph in the mouth, was a bit astringent and chalky and ended on a tart/bitter red currant note. Still youthful and seems like this could use more time in the cellar. Very good.
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Decanted for sediment in a small decanter for 1 hour. Nice dark color. Had a little wet dog at the begging but after 30 minutes it was gone. Wine feels a bit rustic in style classic old brodeaux. In my humble opinion this wine it's ready to go, It will not get any better but it will hold for a few more years. Damp earth, mushrooms, and sour apples, nice smooth long silky finish. I have a lot of respect for a wine that can last 25 years and still offer an excellent drinking experience.
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decanted 1 1/2 hours.Vigorous deep red, very little maturity. Nose immediately black fruit but then expanded with cedar , tobacco and fresh leaf. Restraint of vintage but fabulous with slow cooked lamb. delicious wine. will keep for years yet
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S FL WS Group tastes 1988 Bordeaux (and others) (Jupiter, FL): Another magnificently balanced wine that featured a slightly redder fruit profile that comes across as high toned that I often get from this wine. Medium plus body and medium acidity with a lovely 40 sec finish.
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Great show. This has had a resurgence and is now showing a second life. 2 more bottles left. Showed very well against stiff competition at the 1 beardsley lane tasting
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Fantastic, this is wine is fully mature and wonderfully balanced. Fruit, tannins, a long finish, with cedar, tobacco and some spice. Great bottle, wish I had more. Purchased on release.
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Decanted for 2 hours and consumed over the course of several hours with other mature wines; this Lynch-Bages seemed to transform itself into a different wine every 30-40 minutes each time we returned to it. Color was deep and rich with no hint of oxidation. The first visit was disappointing with herbal green peppers dominating both the aroma and taste. After 30 minutes more the green pepper was completely gone and it was a completely different wine; aroma and taste were all about layer after layer of rich mature red fruit. Another 30 to 40 minutes and it evolved further; all about earthiness with some leather and cedar. By the final visit in another 30-40 minute it was yet a different wine, all about earthy, charcoal smokiness. Quite a lot going on in this bottle and a very wild ride over the course of several hours - more so than I have ever before experienced in one bottle of wine.
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Opened with the typical bordeaux nose of cedar, herbs,earth, and boysenberries, deep red color, cork 95% stained red, slightly better base neck fill when opened; more of the same on the palate, nose grew more intense as time went on, delicious wine but not as complex as 5 years ago; medium/long finish. Time to drink up.
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Decanted one hour then consumed over a further two hours.The colour is astonishing. Still deep dark with hints of purple. Showing very young. Nose cassis cedar, with some secondary development. A very frim structure, typical pauillac but with the richness of LB. A taut elegance perhaps shows the vintage but this is by no means lean. Burst of fruit well managed by the tannins . A softening after aeration but the deloicious firmness and freshness stayed. Delicious with pork tenderloin wrapped in prosciutto.
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Words are not enough to describe this wine. Open for some friends tonight. This wine has pedigree. I bought it from British Airways when they decommissioned Concorde. Direct from the cellar, no less.
I have had 3 bottles from the case and they are all extremely aligned in terms of nose texture and taste. Still very youthful. Absolutely no signs of ageing. Dark plums and currants dominate the palette. Overall, the wine is deftly balanced and just sails on. Remarkable. All loved it!
Scoop it up if you can find it... :0)
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La Commanderie de Bordeaux à Vancouver - 1988, 1989, 1990 Red Bordeaux (CinCin Restaurant): Medium red, some bricking. This had a classic Lynch-Bages with mature red fruits, menthol and cedar. On the palate this wasn’t as impressive as it was light in the mouth with cool flavours of mature red fruits and pencil shavings. Fades quickly on the finish. Pencil shavings, mature red fruits. A few at the table thought this was elegant on the palate, but I was thinking more along the lines of thin and dilute. The nose was actually quite nice…too bad the palate didn’t live up to it. Drink now. Good.
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From 750ml. Bottle in pristine condition with level well into the neck and cork only soaked 2mm at most. Decanted 1 hour, drunk over 2 hours. Colour is solid brick red, bright with purplish hue in the centre of the glass. Looks relatively young for its age. On the nose this remained fairly closed, but plenty of cassis, some leather and a hint of earthiness. On the palate the wines comes to life. Elegant, balanced with very well integrated but noticeable tannins. Moderate amount of fruit are held together with a warm mid-palate and a long finish of nicely integrated tannins. Very fresh, in a Pauillac way, for a wine of this age. Earth, cedar, black fruits and a little bit of tar make up the palate. There is a touch of bitterness on the end which hints at an uncertain future. Will do better served with food, especially foods that will balance the tannins e.g red meat.
A lovely example of the 1988 vintage. More balanced than most but lacking the forward fruit to make it truly great. Certainly punching well above its 5th growth ranking but now that Lynch Bages is becoming highly fashionable and highly priced to boot, it might be easy to get carried away in scoring this wine. It pales into comparison to the Latour in the same vintage and I actually think the Leoville-Barton is better by a margin too. Very, very good wine from a vintage that I rate very highly, but it is not truly great and probably not worth the price the market would pay for it. This bottle was perfect drinking now and it will hold but I don't think it will improve further. Enjoy perfectly aged and classic Claret now if you are lucky enough to own a bottle or two.
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She was very old and was past the prime time to drink. Have some mint smell when she had opened already. Decanted for 3 hours, many red fruits smell but no change continued.
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Deep dark purple with slight browning on the edges. Opened, decanted and drank over 1 hour. A somewhat reserved minty nose of wet stone and dark fruits. A little violet, red fruit and some sweetness on the palate. A medium slightly tannic finish. Overall a very nice wine that has reached maturity and will stay here for some time. Enjoyable with food.
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Excellent level, well into the neck. Great lively ruby colour with hints of brick. On the nose earthy with tobacco and some fruit. Masculine, mouthfilling, tannins well integrated, silky, smooth, the essence of a great 20+ year old bordeaux.
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Sampled 11/12/11. Fill was into neck. Color is still that of a young wine. No sediment. Decanted for an hour and poured back into the bottle before heading to the restaurant. The nose is classic Bordeaux left bank but with more red fruits. On the palate too this wine had many more strawberry and raspberry notes than I expected. Plenty of graphite, cassis, minerals and hints of dried peat. The wine did no change at all during dinner and is clearly ready to stay in the bottle up to another 10 years in fine form. In short I thought the wine was a 92+ and gave it a little extra for its ageability and therefore agree with RP. Not sure what WS was tasting then they gave it a 97.
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San Antonio Wine Geeks do Bordeaux for Veterans Day (Home of Mike and Sandra O.): Popped and poured. Initially, not very interesting with typical mature elements—some tobacco, leather, and reds fruits. Developed beautify over the next few hours. Very aromatic nose, with flint, leather, spice, and pipe tobacco. Palate was a little austere, but carried great depth and complexity, with mint, red fruits through on a lengthy gravel driven finish. Certainly on par with the Haut-Brion, well proportioned and balanced. In the discussion for WOTN. Fantastic mature Pauillac that won’t fade any time soon. 92-95
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I liked this wine alot. It took 1-2hr to open up but was otherwise everything I expected from mature bdx. Earthy, smooth, with plenty of residual tannin. It really shined with the roasted meats. Acidity to spare. Night 2 - able to concentrate on this and the Dominus from last night without the other 12 btls distraction. The lunch has a wonderful eucalyptus, herbaceousness along with tobacco notes. Certainly lacks the fruit of new world wines but the balance between earthiness and red fruit is excellent. Tannins are slightly coarse compared to the '92 Dominus.
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Initially quite closed. Taste is a bit strange. Like a very much dimmed version of the 1985 it was drank together with. Gets better with time in the glass, but doesn't compete in the same league with the better vintages.
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Brown Bag Wine Dinner at Two Chefs; 10/4/2011-10/5/2011 (TWO CHEFS, MIAMI, FL): - Garnet color with medium forming legs and aromas of eucalyptus, black currant, violet and cedar. It's balanced and has flavours of black currant and licorice anise with a medium body. Satin-Like texture with a medium finish - Al's wine.
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Last of three bottles we purchased last year. Since we decanted the other two bottles on earlier occasions and felt that the wine was almost a bit over the hill, we decided not to decant this time and just open the bottle 3 hours prior to drinking. WOW, What a fantastic bottle of Pauillac this was. All the elements that make a nice, ripe Lynch Bages so appealing were present. Not over the hill at all ! It's not as brilliant as the 1990 ( The 1990 Chateau Lynch Bages being one of the best wines I have ever tasted ), but it's close. Loads of dark fruits and lead pencil in this very rich, fantastic smelling wine.
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The nose was just lovely with all the Pauillac attributes. Unfortunately it does not deliver the same experience in the mouth. Very nice a fresch wine but without that extra dimension
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Bottom 1/3 of cork pulled away, and had to work it out - top 2/3 spoungey, but 'clean' - only the bottom 1/3 had any liquid. Tell tale scents of LB waffed up, telling me the bottle would be stellar: good news. 3 hr decant. deep, dark ruby color throughout. Nose of cassis, tobacco and traces of mint, tar, blackberry jam and barnyard. Black cherry, currants, traces of chocolate, walnut, black truffel front to back, left to right were rich and long. tannis are toned down but not quite resolved. Terrific concentration; a delicious bottle. I think the '88 may well be "sleeper of the vintage" in 5-6 years. 94 with upside.
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Deep ruby with light mahogany edge. Nose of sweet red cherries, raspberries and earth. Above shoulder fill, cork looked new with 1/2 inch saturated. Filtered through paper, which produced pinpoints of tannin and a tiny slurry of fine paste. This is a mature and elegant wine with smooth integrated cherries, raspberries and blueberries no longer assertive, but still prominent. Also showing tobacco, green herbs, and a flinty earth with subdued tannins. This is a lovely wine having traded its brash fruit with competing flavors for an elegant, mature whole.
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nose - sauerkraut per doug, heme per brian, earthy, sour cherry, brown sugar, tobacco mouth - complex, earthy, wet hay, tobacco, some herbality intermixed with fruit, and rather solid tannins. an interested aged bordeaux, not for fruit bomb lovers.
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Tobacco and sauerkraut on the nose initially, although the funk dissipated over 30 to 45 minutes, revealing more subtle notes. This was a very nice wine, that changed pretty significantly over the time the three of us finished the bottle.
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Had this at bobby vans for a 43rd birthday party. Cedar box, leather, soft tannins and waning life. Really one of my favorite wines, it is tough to see it go. Drink up its fading away all too fast.
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I fear that this wine is starting to wane a little. This one was a little dusty seems to be going slightly over the hill. Still a lovely, silky delicate wine that shows a lot of elegance and sophistocation and has some lovely fruit which will please even those unfamiliar with Bordeaux. I recommend drinking now though.
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dark ruby color. Classic nose of leather, tobacco and some barnyard. Very elegant and balanced with plums shining through. Paired greatly with lamb loin with herbs.
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Dark ruby color. Classic Pauillac nose of lead pencil, leather, tar. Very elegant with sweet resolving tannins, none of the astringency I have found in a lot of 88s. Beautiful blackberry, plum, and grilled steak flavors with a long vibrant finish. I was very pleasantly surprised by how this performed. I'll be looking for this at future auctions.
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New Years 2011 at Pickberry (Pickberry Vineyard): Elegant Lynch Bages...really has come forward from previous notes. Tannins rounded, and flavors alive and vibrant...long finish. Fairly heavy sediment, 2 bottles were double decanted about 2 hrs before serving. Long finish, with some persisting stemminess. Cork intact and not stained but definitely funky up front so decanting was helpful
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This wine was served at a private walk-around wine and food party. The bottle (750 cc) was taken from my personal cellar, decanted into a magnum-sized ship's decanter and allowed to aerate for approximately three hours. Deep garnet in color, the wine shows a very intense nose of kirsch, plums, tar, leather and earth. Full-bodied on the palate, with medium acidity, medium supple residual tannins and flavors mirroring the nose. The middle palate is full and the finish is long and smooth. This wine is drinking beautifully now and was a delicious match with grilled steak. It should continue to provide enjoyment for many more years. Drink now-12/25.
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Drinking beautifully, with dark cherry, smoke, leather, mineral, earth and some grilled meat flavors. Wonderful balance and texture. Decanted for one hour, perfect!
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Just wonderful. I didn't decant, but it was better after a couple of hours of opening. Beginning to show some tiredness - likely worth drinking sooner rather than later. In it's prime.
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Served in the first flight of our "Remember the 80's" tasting. Very dark coloring with notes of black fruit, sweet oak and some leather and graphite. Remains a big brooding wine that will last much longer.
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Great fill to within 1/2" of cork, almost pristine cork. Opened but not decanted 2 hours before drinking. Dark red core, lighter at rim. Nice complex nose of mature black fruits, cassis, cedar, iron and leather. Medium body, nice balance, tannins present but mostly resolved, mature fruits carry forward to palate with some irony/minerally undertones and some nice sweet complexity. Tannins well covered on the finish until 2 more hours in, then the fruit starts giving way to the tannins on the back palate. Outstanding.
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Marvelous; decanted for only 10 minutes before first pour. Lovely garnet color. Warm, soft, full palette with with multiple notes, clean finish. Hint of the tanins that once formed the backbone, but not at all forward. Very very enjoyable wine. Drank with 88 Branaire which was also excellent with not as soft or full on the palette. Drink in the next few years. It's not likely to improve; my last bottle was much less impressive -- so perhaps we are getting to the end of its life where some bottles make it and others don't.
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Served at christmas lunch alongside 99 leoville barton. Performed beautifully. A point. Slightly soft red colour with a wonderful nose and palate of lead pencil. Perfect, smooth balance on the palate.
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Firm, structured Pauillac with the depth Pauillac aromatics of the best Lynch-es, but without the power or muscle of the 82/89/90. On the night showed well but was outclassed by the more expressive, fleshy Mouton '85
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Dark ruby though no longer opaque with mahogany on its edge. Not decanted. Aroma dominated by barnyard and leather with flinty metal. Delicious subtle, elegant dark red cherries and raspberries with complex earth, cedar and tannins in very good balance. Fruit is diminishing and will last another 3-5 years. Long finish.
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This was terrific. Could not be anything other than Lynch Bages – plump Pauillac at its best. Drinking well now, the bottle was round but had great energy. Long and fine. (93)
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Outstanding. Drank immediately after decanting. Exactly what you expect from a mature Lynch. A somewhat restrained peat and tobacco nose, but bursting with lush, ripe fruit and cassis, berry and earth taste. Just incredibly rich and fruity for a 20 year old wine. Soft tannins, but not fading at all. Drinking beautifully now, and should continue for at leat 6-8 more years.
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Still dark red core, lightening at rim. Very nice nose of mature black fruits, cassis, bit of cedar and herbal/veggie notes and leather add complexity. Medium body, nice balance, tannins present but mostly resolved, mature fruits carry forward to palate with some irony/minerally undertones and just a hint of herbal complexity, medium-long finish, this is showing more mature complexity than the last bottle in 2006, drinking really well now and should hold for 5 years if well-stored. Excellent to outstanding.
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French Bakery BYO GLOBAL Bordeaux Blend Dinner - "The JUDGEMENT of Bay Harbor Islands"; 3/25/2009-3/26/2009 (The French Bakery 1023 Kane Concourse in Bay Harbor Islands): David's wine. 5 1sts of 10, avg 89.8.1sts from Nick, Jason, Carlos, Brett and Mark(me). Nick, BLIND correctly IDed it as Lynch Bages(BRAVO), said signature graphite on nose. From its Vegetal notes I mistook it for my Mount Mary(which was the middle wine in the flight).Carlos deep color; leather; alcoholic, young, light fruit. Brett- old French, got better after opening. Charly - Good structure; a bit closed; firm tannins; too acidic.Jerry- Vegetal. David - closed. Inidividual scores Jason-88, Me-91, Carlos-90, Craig favorite, unrated, Charly-90, Jerry-89David-91.
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Took about 90 mins to open up n the glass. On the heavy side of medium. Intense dark fruit and spicy on the tounge, but very smooth. Nice nose and finish. Excellent with chocolate. Left 1/3 bottle overnight with cork in but not pumped and it had lost a lot of intensity the next day.
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Probably one of the best Bordeaux`s I have tasted. Lynch-Bages 88 is at a perfect state. Full bodied, lovely red fruit, complex aromas of leather, earth, licorice, berries, perfectly integrated french oak and smooth tannins. It just lingers, and lingers. and lingers. This is why these wines are among the most expensive in the world. And this is "only" Cinquièmes Crus (Fifth Growth). Wow.
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Lynch Bages Tasting (Don's House): This bottle was opened but not decanted about two hours before it was tasted. I was apprehensive because my two previous bottles of this wine were spoiled. This bottle was fine. The color was in line with what you would expect from a twenty year old bottle. Flavors were nicely balanced with plenty for fruit and spice remaining. Although this was my least favorite of the wines it was the first to disappear.
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Audouzed for 6 hours before serving alongside the 61 and an 88 Pape Clement. Quite a young, unevolved showing for this wine compared to previous efforts. Dark fruited but lacking some of the previous nuances such as lead pencil etc etc.
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Nose: Conveys the image of dark and brooding. Torched bush fruits and plenty of black currants. Earthiness and toasted oak vanillins are present as well. Perfume components less than others tonight - more of a leather/smoke component and some dried herbal teas.
Palate: Great taste and very good from attack through finish. Medium-full bodied with rich character. Cedar components seem to come through more on the palate along with the rich profile of dark bush fruits.
Overall: A great wine that impresses. 92-93 points.
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Lynch Bages Vertical (Sweet and Savories): Jamie nailed it when he described this as classic. A hint of mustiness in the nose that eventually took on a cheese/horseradish scent with a detailed aroma and taste of cigar box. Very smooth in the mouth.
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Lynch Bages Vertical 1961-2005 (Sweets and Savories, Chicago IL): nose: wide open on the nose with a good helping of cedar as the backdrop along with tones of smoke, black fruits, black cherries, cassis, and some earthen inflections. Very interesting as there is more of a blackness to this nose as opposed to the previous vintages and it provides a very interesting contrast to the other vintages
taste: great black fruit core with cedar, smoke, black cherries, and cassis. Good medium/full feel that gives off the power of lynch, but there is a smooth texture at the same time
overall: a very interesting and different lynch from the previous vintages. The black fruits provide a good amount of intrigue and a contrast from the dark red cherries that had been a lynch staple. This is in a perfect place right now and was a stellar bottle
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I love this wine and it provided all the pleasure of an excellent classic bordeaux. Still a very youthful color with deep purple tones. Great balance of fruit and tannins. nice cedar, and minierality and dark cherry and blackberu. Tremendous mouthfeel and long clean finnish.
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Not decanted but open 2 hours before tasted. Given the vintage, remarkably dark for 20 years. Only slight bricking on the rim. Nose was a pleasant mix of fresh cut tobacco, smoke, herbs, red cherry and currant. Palate was consistent w/ no austere edges and well integrated tannins. As the night wore on the nose evolved to show more smoke/ cigar tobacco and less of the herbal fresh cut smell. Mid palate was slightly lacking in depth, but a very nice first experience with this wine.
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Two hour decant. Nice wine. Suffered horribly from following a 82 Pichon Lalande consumed the previous day. Still somewhat primary, with not too much in the way of complexity/ secondary flavors. Still and all a "correct" Pauillac profile and quite enjoyable. Last bottle, wish I had a couple more to track it over the next few years.............
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Dark fruit, currant, smoke flavors, medium bodied, finely integrated tannins, nice finish. Drank with my Met fan friend after my Cubbies swept the Metropolitans out of Chicago -- a great celebratory bottle!
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not up to previous tastings; this one came from auction so provenance perhaps iffy. Nose was subdued, fruits came out after decanting and in glass for 20 min, earthy nuance too. Mouthfeel was tight, leather and cedar with definiite green stemminess. Tannins have softened
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KSC02 does Dallas, Part 2 (Daniele Osteria, Dallas, TX): WIML92. Dark purple color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of dried herbs, a hint of coffee and mixed dark fruits. Flavors of berries, cherries and plums. Medium acidity, medium tannins, medium to full body. Drink or hold.
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Kitchen Tasting Group does Lynch Bages: Dark red color. The nose gives sweet black fruit, tobacco and floral notes. Slightly roasted fruit. The palate impression is more subdued than the previous wines. Stern black fruit. Tannic. Nice, but not up to the level of the other wines tasted.
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Tasting Group Dinner - Lynch Bages (JP's American Bistro, Minneapolis): Great expressive nose of dark fruit and mushrooms. On the palate this shows coffee/espresso, green herbs, and some black fruit. Still quite tannic. The palate is not very expressive, bordering on stern and hard-edged, but the nose is interesting enough to make this a fun bottle.
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Lovely dark fruit with hints of green pepper on the fully mature nose, more of the same on the palate. lovely rich wine to taste, medium/long finish, slightly tart on the finish. First out of five Lynch Bages blind.
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Considerable seepage and saturated cork, so this bottle certainly did not show the best. But still very nice. Tobacco, fruit, leather. Fairly short. Still plenty of sweet tannins, but a bit soft in acidity with some warmth. I'll drink the next one within a couple years.
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This could be a bad bottle. It was very rough even after decanting for 2 hours and was musty. The second day it had mellowed a little but remained musty. Try the other bottle.
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Very nice - had over two nights with steak - tart cherry and spicy...was better the second night, bite on the tounge mellowed out and flavors got deeper and smoother...
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had 3 bottles last night at a dinner party all bottles pretty consistent, enjoyable wine that didn't evolve as much as i would have hoped.Not nearly as good as the 82 (97pts) but more approachable than the '90(92+).it was great with the steak but not memorable,seemed like it still had 5+ years in it.
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Had at the brasserie next to Lynch Bages, so the wine did not have to travel far. Decanted at lunch -- amazing, very fresh and lively wine with nice, smooth tannins and amazing fruit aromas. Showing extremely well, yet not overwhelming. Thanks Jean-Charles!
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Decent, but nothing special. Fairly typical for the late 80's lower-end Bordeaux that I've had. Very tannic, but with only the darker fruits showing - somewhat earthy and austere. Was poorly matched with the food (mostly seafood), so most of it was drunk between courses. I suspect this one won't get better, given the amount of fruit that seems left.
Double-decanted before leaving home (and an hour before beginning consumption). This helped a lot, as it had a fair bit of barnyard funk when opened, and this was all but gone by the time we started drinking.
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Phoenix eRP Offline - Best of Cellar (Backstreet Wine Salon, Phoenix): Dark ruby in color and not showing its age. Bright blackcurrant with hot chilli peppers. Very vibrant and alive. Great acidity. A little barnyard. Not complex but nice. Fading a bit in the glass as the night went on. Brought by Jan.
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dégustation au Yo Yo Le meilleur des cinq 1988 dégustés ce soir là : Forts de Latour, Mouton, Haut Bailly + un autre bouchonné). Très bel équilibre, exotique, wow! 92 pts
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Classical Lynch Bages...dinner with Strotz' and Keysers; just simply lovely. Deep, deep depth and color. Fruits and tannins well blended, and classic Lynch Bages characteristics emerging with graphite, cedar, and coffee. This is getting better and better and has years of pleasure ahead
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Tasted in double-blind fashion at Vintage Wines, Ltd., with the bottle being brought by Ken Johnson. Ken stated that he had bought the wine upon release and cellared it himself. As has been the case with other wines from Ken's cellar, this wine appears significantly older than one would expect at this point. Specifically, the fruit is lacking and the tannins have all but melted away. I guessed the wine to be a 1976 left bank Bordeaux, as it was completely lacking the "stuffing" that a well-cellared '88 (especially Lynch Bages) should be showing at this point.
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Stored at 55-57 degrees since purchase on release in 1991. Fill within an inch of the cork, which comes out in excellent condition. Some tartrate crystals on the inside end of the cork. Nice opening, nose of mature fruit, iron, some veggies. Good fruit on palate right after opening, nice iron/metallic notes and some veggies add complexity initially. Iron and veggies come to fore over next 30-45 minutes, to the wine's detriment, but then the fruit softens a bit and comes forward, and some ripe soft-cheese notes chime in. Further mellowing over the next hour, the veggies and iron fade to the background to meld nicely wit the fruit as it comes more to the fore. Holding its own and sipping very nicely after dinner, then the bottle is gone with us wanting just a little bit more. Medium body, good balance, medium finish with some tannins lingering at the end. In analytic mode, I would prefer a bit more fruit concentration and ripeness. In hedonistic mode, a "classic" Bordeaux for drinking , meant in a positive way, not as a cover-up for thin, weedy plonk. Very enjoyable. This should go another 5-10 years at least before the fruit starts a slow decline. A very good $24 wine, even by 1991 standards. By no means a financial investment, but an excellent investment in enjoyment. You want points? OK, this makes the grade as a 90-92 pointer. Then again, I may be influenced by setting...
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Dinner at Jeff and Marya Samuelson's: Tasted beside the 1982 and 1985. The nose shows dark fruit and lead pencil similar to the 82, except that fruit is a little more dominate and is almost overripe. In the mouth this is very similar to the other two -- if anything, slightly less intense. A very nice wine, but my least favorite of these three vintages.
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Every now and then you come across an incredible bottle of wine. This was one. With BBQ rack of lamb. Deep bright red colour with just a hint of brown at the rim. Wonderful Bordeaux nose - "plums" as my daughter described it. Long and lovely in the mouth - so smooth - this is one of those bottles you wished you would never finish. If 89 / 90 are the big two of the 88 / 89 / 90 vintage - the 1988 Lynch Bages is a star of 1988. For those of you who score - 92+ - and based on our experience some years of life ahead.
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Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Barnyard nose dominates with some roast meat and dried herbs. Flavors of black cherries, plum and black currants. Good wine. Drink over the short term.
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from memory of a few days ago. very nice wine. typical bordeaux in almost every way. a touch on the lean side with the fruit, but i really enjoyed it. ready to go right now. B+
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Very dark red, no brown in the rim,. almost black Strong nose, lots of perfume, fruit, even 1 meter from the glas Strong, black current, soft tannines, long after taste Years to go
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Great deep color. A little musty Bordeaux styled nose upon opening which diffused over the course of an hour and a half. On the palate this was a very good wine. My initial impression was that this possibly could have shown a little better. However, by the time an hour had passed it was into its own. A wonderful, well rounded LB.
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Part of our Thanksgiving vertical, which included 85, 88, 98 and 99. Medium cherry red to the faint hint of brick at the edge. Celery and spice evolving to cedary, dusty aromas. Moderate body, soft and balanced overall. Red fruit, soft tannins, acid backbone. Aroma comes through nicely into the aftertaste. Long finish. Excelllent.
LOOKING BACK ON THESE REVIEWS, I REALIZE THIS WAS FOR THE 1985...SORRY!
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Part of our Thanksgiving vertical, which included 85, 88,98 and 99. This was the deepest, opaque red. Initially a woodiness overpowers the fruit. Softens in the middle with nice balance of flavors. Medium body and finish. Overwhelmed by the 85. VG to E
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Clear, bright ermine-tinged ruby, with hint of bricking at rim. Rich, meaty, leathery nose, with powerful cassis, sandalwood and tobacco leaf, and a hint of something fungal. Soon developed a smokey, dusty, mineral character (nicer than it sounds!). Mouthfilling and juicy, with sweet black fruits balanced by a nice cranberry tartness and a lead pencil backbone. Hint of caramel. Long, lingering, sensual finish. Very exuberant; very fine.
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Tasting of 80's Bordeaux at Seattle Wine Storage (Seattle, WA): Vitamin and mineral on the nose with some mint and tomato leaf. This is very tannic, and the fruit seems to be losing the battle here. Cherry, tart, lean, with a bit of horse. This doesn't seem to have a ton to offer, so I would just uncork with a steak and enjoy it for what it is.
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Very agressive tannins and a little hot. I got a bit of tobacco and leather on the nose but not much else. There seems to be some fruit under all those tannins but I wonder if it will ever come out.
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Drunk over sunday lunch with a good friend along with some beef in hoi sin sauce. Wine was decanted around 2 hours before drinking. Masses of graphite/lead pencil somewhat overwhelmed the fruit in my opinion. First few tastes had quite a tight finish with some medium-strong tannins still present. However, these faded pretty quickly to leave a nicely balanced wine but one that clearly has plenty of life left in it yet. Confirmed my general impression of the 88s - "classical clarets" of good balance and relatively good QPR but without much power or sweet fruit to make them very memorable.
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Lynch Bage vs Pichon Lalande 1986, 1988, 1989, 1995 plus 3 Ringers: Group rated this as 10 of 11 wines, I had it 7th. Nose: Earthy black berrywith a toasty smoky mineral quaility, lead pencil Palate: Lean dry cherry with cedar, spice and some leather. While generally well balanced fruit seemed muddled.
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Lynch Bages v. Pichon Lalande Shootout - Group #10, My #8 - Full red. Forward aroma of black fruit, earth and a hint of acidity. Fairly rich round blcak fruit with plenty of pencil/coffee and round tanning. Will improve with time. 4/05
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Pre-Birthday Lynch Bages Warm-up (Bouchon (Yountville)): Last had this two years ago (see last note); that tasting followed the 85 Lynch Bages and the 88 never seemd to have opened up. The present experience was much more impressive; fabulous fruits have developed..black cherry, currant, cassis. The wine was decanted, which helped and it simply jumped out of the glass...wonderful!!
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Birthday event March 5, 2003 at Highland Bar and Grill, followed the 1985. Fabulous dense colors, complex fruits, but major tannins needed more time after being decanted.
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Massive nose dominated initially by herbal notes, later opening up to reveal more black fruit and smoked meat. I can only describe the taste as luscious with tremendous length. Tasting beautifully now, but I would guess it would last another 5-10 years. Made a perfect accompaniment to coq au vin.
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1988 Lynch Bages, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France (not blind, from memory): Black purple, dense tears. Very dense dark nose, lead, lead pencil. Plump body, dense dark fruit, very well integrated acidity and tannins. Long finish, persistent tannins, very fine. Score: 50 + 5 for optic + 13 for bouquet + 18 for taste + 8 for overall = total score of 94. Very interesting wine, needs another 5-10 or more years to mature.
Tasted Aug 2004.
Magnum. Decanted 7 hours before drinking. Riedel Syrah glasses
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Consumed at Regions restaurant with John and Royce Campbell, primarily with the pork tenderloin course. Bottle taken from my personal cellar. Similar impression to 12/12/03. Absolutely beautiful!
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Tasted unblinded at Vintage Wines, Ltd. Bottle taken from my personal cellar. Bright disc. Deep garnet robe with brick rim. Clean nose, opening over 90 minutes to show moderately intense aromas of kirsch, damp earth, tar, licorice and dust. Full-bodied on the palate, with medium acidity and ample sweet tannins. The flavors mirror the nose. Long, smooth finish. My notes on this wine have remained very consistent. It should continue to drink well for several more years.
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Tasting three vintages of Chateau Lynch-Bages blind, second place. Lots of glycerine coating the glass, nose of cassis, cedar and leather, more of the same on the palate, saddle leather and cassis dominate the taste, lots of very soft tannins on the finish, needs seven to ten years. A lovely surprise.
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Dallas Blur Tasting 2003: Pinon, cedar, sandalwood, bell pepper. Medium-bodied red fruit. I was pleasantly surprised by the palate based on the green edge in the nose. "Cab-ish"
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Dark red. Pudding, cassis, oak bouquet. Strong and concentrated. Marvellous chocolatey capucino like flavours that cascade over the palate. And first and foremost, great long aftertase. Excellent.
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Bright disc. Deep ruby/red with orange/red rim. Clean nose, showing intense black cherry, licorice, earth, coffee and spice. Full-bodied on the palate, with ample but well-integrated tannins. Similar flavors as nose. Long, fairly smooth finish. Drinking well now. Has the stuffing to drink well for several more years.
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Wine tasting. Tobacco and leather on nose, with much less fruit than I expected on either nose or palate. Easy to enjoy, but slightly too coarse and rustic on finish.
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($100) The Mann's '88 Blowout: Darker at the rim than its companions. Coffee, funk, cigar box, mint, marjoram? Floral, menthol dust. Complex nose. Ripe palate with dusty, peppery fruit. Pepper finish is tight. Interesting nose and a nice ripe palate.
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opens a bit harsh after decanting, but mellows out after 1 hour, nice funky nose, excellent depth of fruit, just beginning complexities, smooth medium-long finish
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Very hard nose. Charmless. But oaky in a positive sense. Cinnamon and cloves. Dense mid-palate. Plenty of cassis. Tannic yet surprisingly drinkable for the vintage.
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Opaque mulberry with red rim. Intense currants, black cherry and tar. Plenty of supple tannins, with same flavors as nose. Excellent balance. Long, tannic finish. Needs time.
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Chateau Lynch Bages (Lafayette, Ca.): Very ripe fruit and mushroom nose, with hints of wood, very red color in the glass, lots of wood and fruit in the mouth, tannic, nice woody overtones on the finish.
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3/22/2024 - ankitmehra wrote: 92 Points
1988 Bordeaux Horizontal (Hawksmoor NYC): Having recently enjoyed the 1986 Château Lynch-Bages in a four decades of Bordeaux vertical, I was excited to dive into another example from the 1980s with the 1988 Château Lynch-Bages. This was absolutely drinking younger than I was anticipating, but lacked a 'wow' factor. The nose had a mossy quality to it, made better by hints of blackberries and light baking spices. The palate, though, showed off the youthfulness of this bottle as redcurrants and blackcurrants were omnipresent in the upfront prior to notes of leather, oak and white pepper providing a backbone in the mid-palate. The finish was dominated by sous bois, licorice and herbs, boasting tannins that had yet to settle down. I have one bottle left of 1988 Château Lynch-Bages and I think I'd give it 2-3 years before I revisit it.
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1/24/2024 - Tao wrote: 92 Points
Black, opaque colour! Strong black fruits, peppery notes, rather monolithic, austere on the palate! The seriousness is phenomenal, bothering to the status of the super clinical! Is it another version of vintage nineteen seventy-five? I think it still needs a few more years of cellaring!
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12/10/2023 - oldwines Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted and tasted over 3 hours. Best were the last drops. This was a shockingly youthful bright garnet color with no bricking. Nose was classic Bordeaux with slightly musty, earthy notes and mostly red berry fruit like cranberry, red cherry and pomegranate with some florals. Palate evolved slowly after an initial burst. At the end it was a brightly acid driven and even still a bit closed. It was expressive and long on the finish. It did go great with both grilled Cajun rubber pork chops and NY Strip steaks.
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12/10/2023 - steko78 wrote: 94 Points
Nez discret mais profond, fruit, tabac froid, mine de crayon, menthe. Bouche aux tanins magnifiques, très fine mais avec de l'énergie, beaucoup de fruit, c'est très agréable.
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12/8/2023 - Garozzo66 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Cherry red colour. Nose of cherry, red pepper and cedar wood. Medium body and well blended tannins. Medium length on the palate. Drink now.
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11/25/2023 - mrkoors Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dark color with the edges still a solid red, wonderful black currant and dark cherry nose, tannins are softening leading to a long finish with hints of cedar.
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8/24/2023 - Bacchanalen Likes this wine: 93 Points
What a great wine, considering the age. Supreme fill level. Still some red fruit to discover, grippy tannines, beautiful glass. Amazing experience.
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8/15/2023 - RockinCabs wrote: 93 Points
This is another hit in the lineup of 80s Lynch Bages. Great pencil, blackberry, cassis and leather notes. Well balanced, excellent aromatics and a nice beam of fine tannin holding it all together.
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7/30/2023 - Aptosc6 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Another magnum tonight for a friend's 85th birthday. Fill up near cork.
Dark red color, garnet rim.
Cherry extract with hints of cedar.
Good body. Chewy cherry fruit with hints of smoke and graphite. A really nice bottle of wine to slog down with BBQ meats.
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3/15/2023 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 92 Points
Classic claret. Blackberry and currant fruit. Sous bois, damp earth, forest floor, tobacco / cigar box, some red cedar spice. Structured and firm, tannin somewhat integrating. Chewy palate. Chocolate covered cherries, but darker. Had been having an unusual craving for Bordeaux and this was about as classic / down the middle as it gets. Very fine indeed.
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2/14/2023 - dbg wrote:
Auction purchase, fill into neck, cork intact. Opened for our 35th anniversary. Dark red core. Nice nose right on opening, blossoms further over 30-45 minutes. Cassis, moist fresh earth, tobacco, hint of green. Medium body, nice complexity, great balance, mellow tannins, medium-long finish. Excellent.
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2/7/2023 - Aptosc6 Likes this wine: 88 Points
Another bottle purchased in futures.
Garnet with ruby red rim.
Black cherry fruit with hints of cedar.
Soft tannins, edgy fruit, not enough extract. Long cherry fruit finish.
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1/14/2023 - paulst Likes this wine: 94 Points
Lean; austere; balanced; light earthy cherry; finesse; layered; nice sweet berry-cedar finish.
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1/13/2023 - crewald wrote:
Had with CA and S Dakota ribeyes in celebration of pathology results. Jacob declined then I poured him a taste just in case: "I changed my mind. I'll have some more of that, please."
Classic Bordeaux. Not a hair out of place.
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12/9/2022 - Aravind Asok wrote:
Pop and pour. This showed very pauillac yesterday with dense earth, charcoal, cedar and plenty of herbs. Notes from 24 hrs open. Still going really strong on Day 2. More herbs, charcoal, soft dried blackberry. On the palate, lovely acidity, leaning hi-toned. Tannin is but a memory. A touch thin on the mid for a Pauillac, but really a lovely example and in a fantastic place right now.
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12/6/2022 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 92 Points
Wine Group December 2022 Tasting (Yan's China Bistro, Walnut Creek, Ca.): Nose of black berry, saddle leather, cedar and saddle leather, has a touch of bret, more of the same on the palate, tasty, mouth filling fruit, slightly past peak tasting but holding well, best from start to finish at being fruit forward, and a medium/long finish, uploaded photo.
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9/9/2022 - Hanover Likes this wine: 93 Points
A spontaneous selection, but no preparation was needed. Very pleasant - bright color - solid nose. Familiarly herbaceous, blackberry flavor with good acidity and balanced tannins. Should last a while yet.
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9/9/2022 - brh_wine Likes this wine: 95 Points
Great wine, still great after all these years. No time for more comments.
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9/7/2022 - hprphf wrote: 92 Points
There is something very Lynch about this wine. Pencil case, cadar wood, light. 92
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4/19/2022 - Michael Hung wrote: 84 Points
4/19/22 Vinum55 Phoenix BYOB Tasting (Vinum55 Phoenix): [Decanted for sediment]
Med intensity of leather, game, green bell pepper, slightly spicy nose. Light body, low acid, low tannin. Not much structure or body left and the fruit was basically completely gone, left with the essence of bell pepper and smokey meats in tomato juice base. Perhaps some dried plum, but just overshadowed by the more intense vegetal note. Most also thought it was way over the hill, left with structureless tomato juice. Nonetheless, you can taste the history and age here. While there was the lack of structure, there were very prominent tertiary notes and remnants of green bell pepper. I would say drink this now as it is already quite past the hill.
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4/3/2022 - W&FS Cellar Chair Likes this wine: 93 Points
Surprising amount of fruit for a Bordeaux of this age. But maybe not, since fruit has been a hallmark of Lynch Bages compared to other Pauillacs. Double decanted and consumed about an hour later with cheddar cheese. Delicious, with a great deal of complexity and a long finish. Clearly, at its peak and time to drink up over the next couple of years. It will not get better than it is now.
This wine was upon release labeled a "Classic" especially compared to the wonderful 1989 and 1990. What they really meant was that it was tannic and closed by comparison. Fortunately, that meant the price was lower and those who bought the '88 should be congratulating themselves.
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3/22/2022 - Cailles wrote: 84 Points
20 Vintages of Lynch Bages (1986-2017): All wines tasted blind. Not decanted. A few conclusions: 1) The overall quality of the wines surpassed my (and the groups) expectations slightly. There were good wines in all decades. 2) The style is very Cabernet, very Pauillac, quite classic, with a good grip, pleasantly high acidity and a good, not too ripe fruit core. 3) Most vintages don‘t have the depth of its neighbours and, until more recently, there are some quite angular tannins. 4) Lynch these days doesn’t reach the same elegance and complexity as both Pichons but plays in the same league as Pontet Canet, which, is less classically built. 5) Highest rating of 95 pts for 3 crowd favorites: of course for the 1990 and 2016, but rather surprising also for the 2017.
TN: Medium intense nose with slightly liquory fruit, slightly dried out fruit, hints of tobacco and earth and oxidative notes. On the palate this is all about broth, soy sauce, oxidation notes and dark dried fruit. The structure would have been fine but this bottle was clearly past its peak.
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3/14/2022 - sirpat00 wrote: 80 Points
Lynch Bages vertical (1986-2017): Lynch Bages vertical spanning 20 vintage (1986-2017) hosted by a private collector. My key observations were: 1/ The “twin peaks” of 1989 and 1990 continue to perform well, 3/ among the younger vintages 2017 and 2016 stood out, 3/ mid- to late-90ies were unimpressive as a group, rustic with harsh tannins, 4/ 2000-2008 showed extracted fruit profiles, but with juicier palates, 5/ After 2009 the fruit turned brighter and more red in nature, less extracted and fruit-forward palates. Note the wines were not decanted and served blind in flights of 4.
Tasting note:
Beef juicy aromatics here, looks past its prime. This masks aging notes and the fruit. Palate was barely intact.
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3/10/2022 - mrkoors Likes this wine: 93 Points
Cork in excellent shape. Decanted, still holding a nice ruby color. Showing some age but nose still has dark fruit with some tobacco. Medium body with nice tannins leading to a touch of cedar on a medium to long finish. Still excellent.
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2/13/2022 - WinoRick Likes this wine: 91 Points
Purchased on release for $21.67. Color medium garnet without browning and not much sediment. Musty, Bordeaux nose with typical Lynch Bages fruit. Just not up to the '86, '89 or '90. Some 88's have blossomed, and I think my prior bottles of this wine had. I think Parker's analysis of all these wines years ago was spot on.
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12/4/2021 - hkbob Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nearing the end of its drinking window, this wine still provides considerable pleasure with its lovely cedar-infused nose, meat, pencil lead, and forest floor. Cashmere texture with fully resolved tannins. Not a blockbuster but a lovely, medium-bodied claret from a modest vintage. If you've got some in the cellar, you may wish to drink them sooner than later as I don't see any upside from here. Wonderful.
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11/15/2021 - andtheodor wrote: 93 Points
This is all dark fruit, flowers, cedar, and rolling tobacco from the minute it's opened. There's a green, minty top note that plays well with roasted meats and despite having a severity to it, this feel like it's at apogee. A reward for fans of old school Bordeaux. Narrowly edged out by the '90 Sammarco tonight.
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11/13/2021 - dbg wrote:
Auction purchase 2020. Fill into neck. Cork soaked half-way up. Dark red core. Opens over 45 minutes to show captivating nose of cassis, moist fresh earth, tobacco, hint of green. Medium body, nice complexity, great balance, medium-long finish. Excellent.
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10/27/2021 - hprphf wrote: 93 Points
Lovely acidity that cuts through the woodiness. Classic Lynch. 93
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10/23/2021 - curtr Likes this wine: 92 Points
Opened up nicely over 1.5 hours, good character and intensity and no signs of fading. This should continue to drink well through 2023 or 2024 for well stored bottles.
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9/17/2021 - mclanew wrote: 90 Points
Slow ox for two and a half hours. Not as good as I remember it. Lots of lead pencil, tobacco on the nose. The palate shows black currant, blackberry, more pencil and smoke. The wine is fully mature and perhaps in decline. Quite four square without much elegance stylistically. Old fashioned bordeaux all the way but not a great one.
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8/6/2021 - iainlo@gmail.com Likes this wine: 90 Points
Slightly muted nose (unlike the 85), medium body on the palate. Lots of dense fruit mid palate and a lingering finish, with hints of mint. Tannins well integrated and good balance. More depth than I expected. Opens up after an hour in bottle (I didnt decanter), very enjoyable with food. Probably drank this too fast!
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6/15/2021 - yinha Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drinking beautifully - can enjoy now but also no rush, plenty of life ahead and room for more tertiary evolution
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4/23/2021 - paulst Likes this wine: 95 Points
Layered; light nose; smooth and long with lean sweet blackberry; balanced and long.
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3/4/2021 - paulst Likes this wine: 93 Points
Light cedar nose; initially reserved with tannin; softened later and plummy; long sweet blackberry finish.
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2/14/2021 - dbg wrote:
Auction purchase 2020. Opened on our 33rd anniversary. Fill into neck, cork soaked 1/8 way up, came out easily. Dark red core, hint of bricking at rim. Unlike the last bottle from this lot that had an immediately beautiful nose, this shows a bit of VA or band-aidy Brett on opening. That blows off over an hour or two, after which a richly complex nose of cassis, plum, iron, leather, clean moist earth, and a bit of a green streak to add interest comes to the fore. Medium body, beautifully balanced, great mix of crisp and complex fruit, a bit of green, umami, still enough tannin to go another decade, medium finish. Drinking beautifully and should continue to do so for another decade or more, great old school Bordeaux. Matched beautifully to a reverse-sear ribeye finished on the grill. Excellent.
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1/29/2021 - Bordeaux 2013 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Needs some air, but don‘t decant too long.
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1/22/2021 - dbg wrote:
Auction purchase 2020. Fill into neck, cork soaked 1/5 way up, came out easily. Dark red core, hint of bricking at rim. Immediately beautiful forward nose with cassis, plum, iron, leather, clean moist earth, just enough of a green streak to add interest. Medium body, beautifully balanced, great mix of crisp and complex fruit, a bit of green, umami, still enough tannin to go another decade, medium finish. Drinking beautifully and would expect it to continue to do so for at least another decade, great old school Bordeaux. Excellent.
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1/5/2021 - Thoughtful Likes this wine: 93 Points
Stored in a cold cellar since release. High fill. Deep colour. Lovely cedar wood bouquet. Perfect balance. Stately. Every thing in place. Seems to have years in hand but drinking so well seems no reason to keep.
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10/16/2020 - Decanting Queen Likes this wine: 92 Points
Lovely perfectly aged classic Bordeaux. Showing better than I expected for the vintage and in the mid to late drinking window right now. Cork fully saturated. Color is youthful and intense nose of classic bordeaux aromas—tobacco, pencil lead and plums. A bit of barnyard that blows off with a few minutes of air. This was drinking best after first opening. After a few hours seemed to develop a bitter note on the finish which lowered the score a point or so. Perhaps I should have had it standing longer to let the sediment settle.
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9/2/2020 - mrkoors Likes this wine: 92 Points
Well balanced but not as much fruit as earlier. Medium blackberry and currant with some herbs on the finish.
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8/9/2020 - Nostromo99 Likes this wine: 92 Points
From a well-cellared magnum; notes after the bottle has been open for a few hours - from my final glass. Really good colour; dense, with almost no bricking. Incredibly youthful nose - could easily be a ten-year-old wine; deep and rich with aromas of graphite, cassis and other dark fruits. Some development on the nose, but it's in the background. Plenty of luscious, sweet fruit in the mouth as well. Rich and plush. Some grip on the medium-length finish. Again, there are obviously signs of development, but this could easily be mistaken for a much younger wine. Superb.
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6/8/2020 - dbg wrote:
Auction purchase 2020. Fill into neck, cork soaked 1/3 way up, came out easily. Dark red core, hint of bricking at rim. Beautiful forward nose right out of the starting gate with cassis, plum, iron, leather, clean moist earth, just enough of a green streak to add interest. A hint of iodine (Brett?) on opening disappears within 30 minutes.. Medium body, beautifully balanced, great mix of crisp and complex fruit, a bit of green, umami, still enough tannin to go another decade, medium finish. Really drinking along the top of its plateau, great old school Bordeaux. Excellent.
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3/19/2020 - Bordeaux 2013 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Good stuff
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1/1/2020 - Aravind Asok wrote:
Popped, slow-oxed for about 2 hrs. Cork soaked 3/4 of the way through, and broke apart as I opened it... Lovely aromatics: smoked cedar, charcoal, dried plum and blackberry On the palate, soft acidity, more cedar and black raspberry. Seems missing a step on the mid, maybe slightly past prime, but that's a nitpick...aging very gracefully and really lovely.
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11/9/2019 - Zinlady Likes this wine: 93 Points
Lovely old wine. So different than its youth. Went wonderful with cheese. Will be good for long term but great now.
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10/19/2019 - Doctor Koulodare Likes this wine: 95 Points
Beautifully aged but still a huge wine. Chocolate, smoked meat, and blackberries. Medium tannins, plum and blackberry fruit, tobacco, earthy. Great finish.
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6/22/2019 - JS1056 wrote: 95 Points
This wine checks every box.
Nose of leather, spice, tobacco and finally dark cherry.
There was a little fruit still present, mostly red cherry initially then quickly there is forest floor, pine, mushroom, spice, cedar, and currant. The finish was very long. The tannins were silky and everything was in wonderful complex balance.
31 years old and in a wonderful place. I would guess that it will continue on for a few more years but there is no point in waiting. I don’t see it getting any better. All of the risk would be to the downside. So drink up and enjoy.
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5/17/2019 - Mancha Likes this wine: 88 Points
Nota 8 estava muito bom
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4/22/2019 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasted blind, lots body, smells young, thought it was a 10yo Bordeaux, unbelievably an 88! A great Lynch, sexy, interesting with years left
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4/21/2019 - Jamie Manley wrote: 95 Points
I will be in the minority here, the 88 LB is the best currently drinking LB right now. I had the 89 a month ago and once again it was too young. 90 still needs time. This 88 is stonking. Perfectly stored and cork saturated half way up, bottom neck fill. This wine is ready to go right from the start. Classic nose leaps from the bottle and glass. I mean, it literally fills the room. Plum, cassis, wet mulch, earth, iron, forest floor, tobacco, and pencil. I was struck by how this "average" year could deliver so profoundly. Palate backs up the promise and it was layer after layer of complexity. I love 85 LB, but some are starting to fade. This 88 is sublime. 95 Pts
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2/22/2019 - wineappellation Likes this wine: 93 Points
Deep garnet with lots of sediments. Mature nose of tobacco, leather, black truffle, blackberry and some sweet spices and cocoa bean. Smooth and velvet with some additional roasted gamey notes. Quite intense palate.
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11/18/2018 - popopdrops Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dekantert 1 time. Vidunderlig fra første glass, og utviklet seg positivet til siste. Alt integrert, seder, vanilje moreller, mørke bær og blomster.
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11/16/2018 - Lype wrote: 92 Points
Light and easy to approach, very nice.
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10/21/2018 - cadamson Likes this wine: 94 Points
Surprised at this one. Very good wine, that got better and better with 60-90 minutes in the glass. Black and red fruits, a bit of tobacco and herbs. Very good structure still in place. Was a ringer bottle in a 1970's/1980's cali cab tasting, and for me was tied for #1 (with a 1984 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill).
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10/20/2018 - djlevin Likes this wine: 94 Points
Blind Tasting of Aged Napa Cabs (Residence): This was smokey, with medium+ acidity and medium tannin. This was another example of an aged Bordeaux showng balance after extended aging. The flavor profile included an earthiness, that when you taste enough Cru Bordeaux, you come to recognize. Still with fresh fruit (blackberry) and stewed currants, the fruit was forward on the palate. I am not a huge fan of Pauillac wines. I prefer the St. Estephe and Margaux regions in Bordeaux, but this was drinking nicely at 30 years and was a strong representative of aged Left Bank Bordeaux. An easy tell within a blind tasting of Napa Cabs.
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10/20/2018 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Wine Spectator newbies; 10/18/2018-10/20/2018 (Marriott Marquis): Lovely aged Bordeaux. After a weekend of drinking wines that were mostly on the young side it's nice to see something that's right in window. There's the balance of the leather and the fruit and everything well integrated. Feels like it would do a touch better with food, but overall, very tasty. Many thanks to the folks who shared.
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10/20/2018 - Ralph_ wrote: 94 Points
Semesterprobe Bordeaux 1988; 10/19/2018-10/21/2018 (Lamm Hebsack Remshalden): Magnum
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9/29/2018 - oldwines Likes this wine: 92 Points
The 6th Quinquennial Wine and Food Extravaganza (New Jersey, USA): In my cellar in the OWC since release and opened for this occasion. We double decanted 8 bottles about 3pm and served them at about 9pm. On opening they was dominated by "brett" on the nose but later in the evening this had dissipated significantly. There was little significant bottle variation. The color was medium to dark garnet with little to no sign of bricking. The nose had little fruit even later in the evening but did develop some leather and cedar. The palate was fairly dense but mostly lacking much fruit which was pretty much just some cassis, but the secondary flavors were out in force like earthy leather and cedar. Very "old school" and from a difficult vintage, this was good but not great. It did complement the duck dish very nicely however.
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8/25/2018 - salil wrote: 90 Points
This is absolutely packed with tannin. Thankfully there's plenty of black fruit to balance it out, plus the other mature Bordeaux earthiness/graphite/tobacco notes are there in spades, but this just feels really structured right now and still years from maturity.
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7/1/2018 - Nutty08 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Almost 7yrs from my last bottle. This has softened considerably. Tannins mostly resolved. Terrific nose. Fruit mostly tertiary and leans on the darker side as Lynch tends to. Less mint than last bottle, side saddle leather and cedar spice character. I don't see this getting any better and maybe mildly tired for me, it's still a terrific Pauillac.
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6/30/2018 - texaswinelover wrote:
Really enjoyed this tonight. Was open for business from the get go, Got a fair amount of mint (which wasn’t appreciated by everyone), tobacco, well developed character and minimal tannin. Caught this wine in a great place. Holding and not declining imo as I retasted over 2+ hours. Wasn’t the equal of the ‘89 Lalande but not sure how many wines would’ve been tonight. My last bottle but so glad I got to share with friends.
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6/30/2018 - cos65 Likes this wine:
The 1988s are absolutely arriving.
After years of toughness, these are drinking fabulously finally and the LB is no exception.
Tons of smoky, gamey LB notes like on release, but tannins totally smoothed out. Very impressive in an LB sort of way and absolutely worth a try
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3/3/2018 - booksmiths wrote:
dinner with Lazars at Bistrot Julian
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2/11/2018 - mclanew wrote: 92 Points
A very correct Bordeaux in prime drinking window. Light bricking. Classic nose, medium bodied. Black and red fruit, cedar, tobacco leaf, tea. The tannins are well integrated and there is good balance . A really good wine that doesn’t quite deliver the knockout punch.
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1/24/2018 - KenK Likes this wine: 92 Points
Initially, big hit of green pepper aromas then dark earthy black fruits. This wine really unwound nicely in the glass with time gaining weight and depth. When served blind to my tasting group most settled on 1995 as the vintage. A very good showing from a pristine bottle. No real rush to drink up.
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12/15/2017 - Sameerm Likes this wine: 93 Points
At its peak for sure. Nice finish, good fruit
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12/6/2017 - La Cave d'Argent Likes this wine: 91 Points
Château Lynch-Bages Vertical Dinner (San Diego, California): While not sourced from my own cellar, this particular bottle delivered a well-preserved, deep garnet specimen. Plum, mulling spice, cigar box, cedar and bay leaf aromas precede a full-bodied, freshly acidic, seamlessly alcoholic (12.5%) palate. The flavors mirror the nose and the middle is solid. The lengthy finish carries some tannic grip. Comparably cellared bottles should provide pleasure for several more years. Drink now-2025.
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11/13/2017 - krrat@me.com Likes this wine: 89 Points
Essentially at its peak in Nov 2017. Could go another year or two.
Good classic Bourdeux, not great like the 1989. Earthy.
We enjoyed with beef. It held up very well. If you have some consider drinking in 2018-19.
Go slow and delicately w cork removal; it broke apart but none made it into the wine.
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10/28/2017 - no leashes wrote: 91 Points
Delicious fully mature Pauillac. A hint of game and grilled meat to go with the red fruit and tobacco and dried herbs. Smooth and elegant, drinking beautifully.
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9/22/2017 - europat55 wrote: 93 Points
Nose: A/A- Palate: A-
Part of 6 decades of Lynch Bages vertical tasting
My #2, Group's #1 (52 pts). Tastes blind
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8/31/2017 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Chicago Wine Flock...Don Serving So Many Great Blind Wines/Flights (Park Ridge, IL): Tasted double blind in what turned out to be a Lynch-Bages/ Togni flight. Very similar to the 1986 in the previous glass, so clearly the start of a vertical (in my mind). Just slightly richer and more persistent, less structured. I thought this was the 4th or 5th best wine of the flight, and the group ranked it #4. Much better than another bottle from last year.
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6/23/2017 - yinha Likes this wine: 92 Points
Cork on decent condition though soft, so remove with care. Decanted approx 1 hour. Aromatics were classic though not as pronounced as some other 88 Bordeaux. On the palate, classic aged Pauillac, austere and civilized / refined, and still decent amount of fruit. Drink up!
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6/19/2017 - FransS wrote: 89 Points
Ripe nose, ripe middle deep colour, a bit sturdy, but also a bit fatigue, so besides the power a bit unbalanced; however, no punishment to taste this wine.
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4/30/2017 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 93 Points
16 different vintages of Lynch bages (Bend's place): Tasting 16 different vintages of LB, not blind, all of them decanted from Gabriel glas
in this flight 85,86 and 88 the less evolved and most awkward wine, a lot of cassis and some green pepper, Needs some time, some compared him with the Young 88 Mouton, 93+
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4/23/2017 - Hanover Likes this wine: 90 Points
Cork crumbled, but was not wet. Good nose, soft an even in mouth, with a pleasant lingering finish.
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4/23/2017 - Ianthemac wrote: flawed
Gutted. Mouldy cork. Overwhelming vegetal smell. Didn't drink.
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4/1/2017 - Javachip wrote: 92 Points
Bucket List 3.0 (Sbicca Restaurant, Del Mar, California): Decanted. Clear dark garnet color. Funky bouquet of mud flats, oyster shells, mixed black fruit, black olives. Similar on the palate, medium-full body, balanced. Funkiness persisted throughout the evening. Nice old bordeaux with plenty of personality.
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3/17/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 91 Points
Old school styled Pauillac, with a combination of strict, austerity and a charming, cedar, tobacco, cigar wrapper, leaf and cassis personality, the wine is full bodied, fully mature, ending with a spicy, cassis finish. Give it an hour of air, at this stage. It will add softness and depth.
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3/4/2017 - dchain Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tasted together with the 05 and 03. I just love mature Bordeaux like this. Interestingly so does the market given the auction price is the same as the 2005! Pristine ex-chateau bottle, mid-ruby with a touch of separation, very approachable on the nose, tobacco (although with a touch of green freshness to it in a good way!) and cassis. Fully mature and delicious. The freshness of the 88 vintage keeps everything in check and in balance. Not a blockbuster and not your uber-ripe Californian style hot Bordeaux year, just pure elegance and enjoyment. Easyt to drink the entire bottle. I have been buying a lot of this whenever I can find it and it provides. Great QPR and a classic Bordeaux drinking experience. Loving the top 88s right now!
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3/2/2017 - fcxj wrote: 84 Points
Strange herb aromas, similar to cauliflower or broccoli. Ex-chateau.
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3/2/2017 - Burgnick wrote:
Brief tasting: very young on the nose with some green note, black fruit, and tobacco. Palate is tannic like many 88.
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2/19/2017 - Chuck Miller wrote:
Awesome sauce. Lush, full bodied, tons of fruit. A little brett. A slight green note on the finish adds to the overall positive impression. Tannins are in the background. Mature, but will last for another decade.
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2/15/2017 - SteelerFan wrote: 94 Points
Drinking beautifully. Deep rich smoky and complex. Everything one could want.
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1/8/2017 - jlm wrote:
Drinking quite well. This had lots of cedar/pencil shaving aromas dominating the nose, but some cool dark fruit underneath. The palate has come into nice balance, with relaxed, mature fruits buffered by some still firm tannins. Long finish reprising the aromas from the nose. Very very nice wine.
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11/26/2016 - Deepdrop Likes this wine: 93 Points
very good. the 4-5 hour decant made a big difference from last bottle i had
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10/15/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 91 Points
Really quite charming, this is one of the better 1988 Pauillac wines for sure. Close to fully developed, with a focus on its crisp, bright, red berry palate, there is plenty of wet earth damp forest, cedar wood and cigar box aromatics to please fans of mature claret. This is more stern than regal, and it is not as you would expect, as good as either of its bookend vintages, 1989 or 1990, but it makes for nice drinking today, as it slowly makes its way to its 30th birthday.
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8/13/2016 - Deepdrop Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very good. Mature. Fruit has waned and mostly secondary and more savory flavors of leather cigar box smoke barnyard. Nice long and smooth finish.
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8/2/2016 - otto60 wrote: 93 Points
Four weeks ago without taking notes.
A bottel of satisfactory provenience kept in a winefridge the last 2 yrs.
Good dense colour with maturity.
Tertiary notes disappeared with air, licorice and red blue berryfruit dominated later.
Tannins were present and fine grained with interesting "sanding (or powdering?)out" in thequite long and homogenous finish.
Very good to excellent.
This is my second positive encouter with this wine after a demi 9years ago.
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6/10/2016 - Burgundy Al wrote: 88 Points
Chicago Wine Flock...Gary Opens Cali Cab (Chez Weber - Chicago IL): Cigar box and mature black fruit aromas. Similar palate, just slightly more rugged finish than I'd prefer, but still tasty for now.
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5/21/2016 - redders Likes this wine: 93 Points
Not a hint of maturity. Looks like a 10 year old wine. Classic cedar, ripe fruit and becoming richer at this point in its life. Great mouthfeel , velvety, the structure becoming covered by the fruit. Lovely balance and length. Very very Good.
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4/23/2016 - d'Artagnan wrote:
Magnifique Pauillac à point, superbe équilibre, ça se boit tout seul. Très beau.
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3/2/2016 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Lynch Bages dinner at RPM Steak (Chicago, IL): The nose here is very well balanced, between the lead pencil shavings, sweet fruit, and just a bit of green. The acids are quite high here, and there are some clear secondary notes (one of the few wines of the evening to have them). The palate's also got a lot more earthiness here, which makes this standout a little bit in the context of the other wines tonight. Plenty of acid gives this a good lift as well.
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12/31/2015 - md20 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wunderbar weicher, harmonischer Pauillac. Noch besser als meine letzte Flasche. Schöner gereifter Duft, seidig, sexy, animalisch.....ein Traum. Auf dem Punkt und sehr empfehlenswert!! trinken -2025
Wonderfully soft, harmonic Pauillac. Even better than my last bottle. Beautiful mature scent, silky, sexy, animalistic ..... a dream. On the spot and highly recommended !! drink -2025
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12/29/2015 - davergny Likes this wine: 93 Points
Classic Pauillac. Black currants, graphite, black tea, solid structure, some tannin present, medium finish. As with many '88's, this was a bit lean, but very enjoyable. I don't think it's fully mature yet and may still improve.
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10/24/2015 - dbg wrote:
Cellared since release. Perfect cork and fill to within 1/2" of cork. Decanted off sediment and enjoyed over 2 1/2 hours. Dark red core, lighter at rim. Immediately forward complex nose of mature black fruits, cassis, cedar and leather. Medium body, nice balance, tannins present but well integrated, mature fruits carry forward to palate with some mineral undertones and sweet complexity. Medium to long mellow impish maintaining balance and complexity throughout. In no danger of going over the hill. Outstanding.
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10/5/2015 - BRR Likes this wine: 93 Points
Excellent provenance. High shoulder fill. Completely saturated cork. Next to a 1989 La Dominique, the color on this '88 was far darker. Blind, I guessed a much younger wine. No detailed notes, but it was fantastic. This is why we let Bordeaux age!
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9/29/2015 - f22nickell Likes this wine: 93 Points
Seattle Wine Group - Sep 2015 Tasting - Theme: BDX - 2009 vs. Pre-2000 (Amaroso Room - Wine Storage Bellevue): Earthy nose of pencil shavings, currants, plum, tobacco, and dark cherries. Palate was full bodied with red currant, plum, black cherry, spice, tobacco. Nice long finish with plenty of grip.
Bottle B:
My Ranking 2nd (of 9)
Group Ranking 3rd (of 9)
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7/29/2015 - d'Artagnan wrote: 94 Points
Le nez s'exprime d'abord discrètement avec des notes de poivron au début, avec pour la suite de la viande crue, du cassis, de la fumée.
La bouche est d'un équilibre spectaculaire, fraiche et presque veloutée, c'est magnifique. Un superbe Pauillac abouti, à maturité. 94 pts
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5/30/2015 - Brad T Likes this wine: 96 Points
All you need to know about why one ages good Bordeaux is in this bottle. Medium light color with moderate bricking on the edge and without much sediment, this Lynch-Bages initially smelled surprisingly like dried cranberry with light dried floral notes, opening up into robust "old wine cellar" with a few minutes of decanting. The initial impression on the palate offers forest floor, old leather and red currant preserves. With time, it woke up and gained a slightly toasted, almost black tea essence on the finish. The wine remains fresh. Boasting a light body and silky texture, the balance is near perfect. So deft and so elegant for a Lynch Bages that seemed tight and burly when young. While at its peak, this wine could last for years. There is no suggestion of dryness or stewed fruit here that points to any decline.
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5/14/2015 - md20 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Süsser Cabernetduft. Schön gereifter, feiner, klassischer Pauillac mit den typischen animalischen LB-Noten. Im Jahr 1988 wurden im Bordeaux langlebige, aber dafür vielfach kantige Weine erzeugt. Dieser Wein ist jedoch ohne zu dekantieren sehr zugänglich. Ich bin beindruckt und freue mich auf die nächste Flasche! 94/100
Nach Lafite war dies der beste 88er. Dahinter kommen Gruaud, Pontet Canet und Montrose......
Sweet Cabernetnose. Beautifully mature, fine, classic Pauillac with the typical animal LB notes. In 1988 were in Bordeaux durable, but often produces edged wines. However, this wine is without decant very accessible. I am impressed and look forward to the next bottle! 94/100
After Lafite this was the best from 88. Behind come Gruaud, Pontet Canet and Montrose ......
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5/10/2015 - dchain Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still so young looking, deep ruby. Wonderfully open from the get go, classic Paulliac nose of cassis and tobacco and cedar. Love the freshness that these higher acidity years bring after suitable bottle age. Now it is all is great harmony. Mid weight for a Lynch Bages but in a good way meaning you can enjoy it and drink it with pleasure and it just leaves you wanting more. Worth looking out for given that it is a third the price of the 89/90.
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4/19/2015 - mwanasheria wrote: 94 Points
Nose of black fruit, cassis, chocolate, mint. On the palate elegant tannins, silky texture, elegant not heavy. Great.
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4/5/2015 - redders Likes this wine: 92 Points
Some maturity. Lovely developed nose, graphite mineral and broad softer fruit. Lovely warmth on the palate, surprisingly rich and velvet mouthfeel. Goofd length. Just edged the Leoville Barton 88 paired with it.
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3/25/2015 - Ex-Ray Likes this wine: 95 Points
Parker describes this as "old", so I didn't expect much. However, it was almost as good as the '89 Pichon Lalande from last night. This was also dark and opaque, with slight brick at the edges. Pronounced complex aroma of cedar, cassis, black fruits, leather, very similar to Pichon. Perfectly balanced flavors, maybe not quite as concentrated and intense as Pichon, with little tannin left but extremely enjoyable. Won't get any better, so it's time to drink and enjoy!
Ric
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2/18/2015 - conviction buy Does not like this wine: 87 Points
Decanted an hour, deep red with nose pf pencil shaving, cedar but no fruit. Soft tannin but there is no freshness, just wood and some leather.
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12/30/2014 - paulst Likes this wine: 92 Points
Austere and light with some earthy light blackberry; herbaceous; nice finish.
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12/25/2014 - TexasBob Likes this wine: 90 Points
Light red with a bit of sediment. Red fruits with Cigarette smoke deep into the nose. Rendolent with smoke, slightly sour raspberries, with a medium body. The smoke (which really surprised me) lasts a very long time into a very long finish.
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11/22/2014 - englishman's claret wrote:
Bought from retail. Cork slightly sunken, fill into the shoulder. Not totally dead - still some pencil and dark fruit but this seemed off. Where should this really sit in the otherwise fantastic line-up of the 85, 86, 89, and 90?
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10/25/2014 - bon vivant wrote:
Wow hard to believe it's been over 8 years since i had this wine, and looking at my former notes it appears that this time it did not show as well. Simply put the tannins are starting to take over and while they are round and smooth it appears that they are now the most prominent component of this wine. Of course it's hard to make conclusions based on one bottle but my gut feeling is that this is not going to improve much from here. A bottle of the 1985 tonight, while overall more advanced, was also much more balanced and enjoyable to me.
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10/25/2014 - Tim Heaton wrote:
Tasted after the 1985 Lynch-Bages, and again, the same latent lactic aroma on the nose. No age (color-wise) to speak of on this very well cared for/stored bottle (cork in perfect condition); aromas are out of the gate, but slowly out of the gate; rising, over the course of half an hour to medium intensity. Bell pepper, graphite, soil, repeat. On the second night, more fruit than place, having added some weight, though only slightly. Medium-bodied, elegant, and in a good place now and for the next 3-4 years. Finished on night 3, by which time it was subtle and faded, though still somewhat enjoyable. recommended
PnP, served non-blind.
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6/27/2014 - La Cave d'Argent Likes this wine: 94 Points
From a bottle personally purchased upon release and cellared in pristine fashion, this wine was double-decanted and presented to our tasting group in double-blind fashion. Deep garnet and throwing a heavy sediment, it has a nose which is intensely expressive within 30 minutes. Kirsch, plums, allspice, leather and cedar aromas precede a full-bodied, moderately tannic palate with medium acidity, nicely integrated alcohol (12.5%) and flavors which mirror the nose. Building on the mid-palate, it concludes with a lengthy finish which shows some tannic grip. Beautifully balanced and delightfully drinkable at this point, there is no doubt that well-cellared bottles of this wine will provide pleasure for another decade or more. Drink now-2025.
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6/7/2014 - Wine_lvr wrote: flawed
Bordeaux 1988 Horizontal Tasting: Tasting note to follow
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4/22/2014 - markellen.foodies@gmail.com wrote: 92 Points
Brown Bag Wine Dinner at Two Chefs - Double Blind: Garnet color with medium forming legs, and aromas of eucalyotus, black currant, violet, and cedar. It's balanced and has flavors of black currant and licorice anise with a medium body Satin-like texture with a medium finish. David's wine, fooled us.
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4/4/2014 - Wein Auslesen wrote: 88 Points
88 Degu 3.5h offen in der Karaffe und immer noch verschlossen. Ein Langstreckenläufer dem kein Alter angemerkt wird. Wenn dieser Wein offen ist, dann geht die Post ab.....
Super Nase. Leichte Fruchttöne, mineralisch, Zedernholz, leider im Gaumen am Ende abgeschnitten.
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3/21/2014 - TexasBob Likes this wine: 92 Points
Good deep crimson red under the light with just the slightest hint of brown pigment at the edge. Light cigar smoke on the nose along with a mixture of mulled red and black fruits. Very light, almost fatty, presence on the tongue, yet the tannins are quite firm. Lovely raspberries, white pepper, and a bit of blackberry at the mid-palate.
A bit of tobacco throughout with Cigar on the finish mixed with red fruits. The finish lingers quite a while. Overall, quite nice, but not the greatest QPR.
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2/16/2014 - rcg62 wrote: 90 Points
Rich nose, but maybe too much plum, almost prune. Drinking okay and the color is excellent. Didnt love this one but it improved as must wore off -- thought maybe it was flawed but decanting helps!
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1/23/2014 - UTPK wrote:
Very classy nose, fully mature but with good tension and lift. Palate was however a bit hollow and rode on the acidity instead of fruit. Perfect provenence.
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12/24/2013 - Life is good wrote: 94 Points
Outstanding bottle of wine. Had saved it for special occasion and it did not disappoint.
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12/15/2013 - paulst Likes this wine: 94 Points
Rubber; chocolate and licorice; textured; integrated; balanced but a bit tannic on the back so I would give it time.
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12/10/2013 - unrelenting wrote: 95 Points
Awesome finish. Just peaking now
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11/19/2013 - Papies wrote: 94 Points
1988 Red Bordeaux, with Richard Brazier (Handford Wines, London): Finally a 1988 to get excited about and by far the best of the line up along with the Pichon Lalande. Extremely dark colour.. is this a 2005? Spicy, light earthy (the first of the 88s to show an earthy side tonight). Young still but with good weight of fruit, vibrant and complex! Great balanced across good fruit on the mid palate, light leather tones. Tannin is there on the finish but in general this is a very good wine. Lots of life ahead and more ageing will only but help! 93-94+
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11/19/2013 - rossi.wine wrote: 92 Points
Dark and glowing in colour. Complex nose with sweet fruit, tobacco, spices. Powerful on the palate, nice red and black fruit, round and balanced, fresh, but pretty tannic towards the long and persistent finish.
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11/12/2013 - JamesTye Likes this wine: 94 Points
From 750ml. Level was IN, cork was perfect, only soaked 1mm. Decanted and served an hour later at Pied a Terre in London. Colour was a deep, port-like colour. Youthful but not glossy, almost a little cloudy but no brown edges. The nose was a big hit of black fruits, followed by some leather, cigar box and liquorice. The palate was immediately involvling. Lots of tempting ripe fruits, plenty of of acidity, a touch of cedar. Extremely well balanced with completely integrated tannins and a long finish.
This was a real surpise from LB. I am a fan of '88 vintage on the left bank but this really was a very good example. This is a wine that sung in the glass and didn't exhibit a single hard edge. The rich fruit and tannin were in perfect harmony too. Maybe a lucky bottle (this was a better outing than the last bottle I had in 2012) but this was Lynch Bages on top form. Well worth the wait and one to absolutely enjoy now.
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9/10/2013 - Winepop7 wrote: 92 Points
Extremely dark, with massive Pauillac characteristics. Almost overbearing tar flavor that squashed out everything else. Medium to long finish.
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7/27/2013 - juffer Likes this wine: 93 Points
surprisingly youthful. Blackberry, tar, graphite nose. Soy and plum in the mid palate and lots of tar on the well structured finish.
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6/23/2013 - Start@Pitray Likes this wine:
Leather notes, ample with some tanins left
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6/2/2013 - GEDC Likes this wine: 92 Points
Consistent with my previous notes on 4/7/2013 - 5/5/2013. Lovely aged bordeaux!!!!
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5/5/2013 - GEDC Likes this wine: 92 Points
Consistent with my notes on 4/7/2013. Lovely aged bordeaux!!!!
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4/18/2013 - fdub Likes this wine: 92 Points
The color is starting to show red bricking on the edge but still a nice purple in the glass. Showing great aromatics of cedar, tilled earth, and savory note to accompany the red fruit. The palate shows nice life with secondary and teriary flavors. Nice enjoyable aged Bordeaux.
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4/8/2013 - godx wrote: 88 Points
La Commanderie de Bordeaux à Vancouver - 1988 Horizontal (Boneta): a slightly riper nose here with dark red fruits, cedar and some creamy/toasty/vanilla notes that seemed to blow off after 30min in the glass (thankfully). And while there is still the hint of green, it’s even less obviously than the Palmer. This LB has the most weight of this flight but the palate is a bit tart and simple with quite a bit of structure left. A brawnier wine. Very good.
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4/8/2013 - MattTM wrote:
La Commanderie de Bordeaux: 1988 Horizontal (Boneta Restaurant - Vancouver, BC): Less sweetness on the nose with more tar evident than the Palmer tasted along side. Lots of black pepper and asphalt aromas, along with black cherry, strawberry, graphite, cedar, and menthol. plenty of rich black cherry upfront on the palate, followed by spicy black pepper, cedar, leather, tar, and red currants. Firm acidity, with a medium length finish ending on notes of red currants and black pepper. Lots of tar and spice on both the palate and nose here, but the palate came up short after the promise of the nose. It just didn't have much oomph in the mouth, was a bit astringent and chalky and ended on a tart/bitter red currant note. Still youthful and seems like this could use more time in the cellar. Very good.
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4/7/2013 - GEDC Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted for sediment in a small decanter for 1 hour. Nice dark color. Had a little wet dog at the begging but after 30 minutes it was gone. Wine feels a bit rustic in style classic old brodeaux. In my humble opinion this wine it's ready to go, It will not get any better but it will hold for a few more years. Damp earth, mushrooms, and sour apples, nice smooth long silky finish. I have a lot of respect for a wine that can last 25 years and still offer an excellent drinking experience.
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3/30/2013 - pkatz wrote: 92 Points
Typical tarry Lynch. Still quite youthful, but may be at its peak.
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3/18/2013 - redders Likes this wine: 92 Points
decanted 1 1/2 hours.Vigorous deep red, very little maturity. Nose immediately black fruit but then expanded with cedar , tobacco and fresh leaf. Restraint of vintage but fabulous with slow cooked lamb. delicious wine. will keep for years yet
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2/23/2013 - vinole wrote: 93 Points
S FL WS Group tastes 1988 Bordeaux (and others) (Jupiter, FL): Another magnificently balanced wine that featured a slightly redder fruit profile that comes across as high toned that I often get from this wine. Medium plus body and medium acidity with a lovely 40 sec finish.
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2/16/2013 - boreddoughboy wrote: 91 Points
Great show. This has had a resurgence and is now showing a second life. 2 more bottles left. Showed very well against stiff competition at the 1 beardsley lane tasting
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1/20/2013 - Hejahif wrote: 96 Points
On the top and very soon south
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12/30/2012 - Mark Likes this wine: 92 Points
Fantastic, this is wine is fully mature and wonderfully balanced. Fruit, tannins, a long finish, with cedar, tobacco and some spice. Great bottle, wish I had more. Purchased on release.
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12/21/2012 - FPNova Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted for 2 hours and consumed over the course of several hours with other mature wines; this Lynch-Bages seemed to transform itself into a different wine every 30-40 minutes each time we returned to it. Color was deep and rich with no hint of oxidation. The first visit was disappointing with herbal green peppers dominating both the aroma and taste. After 30 minutes more the green pepper was completely gone and it was a completely different wine; aroma and taste were all about layer after layer of rich mature red fruit. Another 30 to 40 minutes and it evolved further; all about earthiness with some leather and cedar. By the final visit in another 30-40 minute it was yet a different wine, all about earthy, charcoal smokiness. Quite a lot going on in this bottle and a very wild ride over the course of several hours - more so than I have ever before experienced in one bottle of wine.
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12/14/2012 - Zweder wrote: 91 Points
Battle between Pichon Baron, Pichon Comtesse and Lynch Bages. 11 TOP Vintages from 1982 - 2009 (@ Bottles; Sas van Gent, Netherlands): Still an extremely dark color for a vintage of this age. Still a lot of dark fruits in the bouquet as well as on the palate. A bit dusty. Graphite. Also a bit dusty. Some smoke and tobacco. Firm bitterness. A complex and straight forward wine with less elegance than Pichon Comtesse.
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12/2/2012 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 90 Points
Opened with the typical bordeaux nose of cedar, herbs,earth, and boysenberries, deep red color, cork 95% stained red, slightly better base neck fill when opened; more of the same on the palate, nose grew more intense as time went on, delicious wine but not as complex as 5 years ago; medium/long finish. Time to drink up.
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11/5/2012 - redders wrote: 93 Points
Decanted one hour then consumed over a further two hours.The colour is astonishing. Still deep dark with hints of purple. Showing very young. Nose cassis cedar, with some secondary development. A very frim structure, typical pauillac but with the richness of LB. A taut elegance perhaps shows the vintage but this is by no means lean. Burst of fruit well managed by the tannins . A softening after aeration but the deloicious firmness and freshness stayed. Delicious with pork tenderloin wrapped in prosciutto.
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10/19/2012 - jpb2007 wrote: 93 Points
Sur une poêlée de cèpes et un magret de canard.
Superbe nez de cèdre et de sous-bois, bouche suave, grande longueur.
Un régal de bordeaux à maturité.
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10/6/2012 - no leashes wrote: 92 Points
Dark fruit, smoke, tobacco, dried herbs, smoke, grilled meat and leather flavors. Medium-bodied, very well balanced and delicious!
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9/25/2012 - snxmxn wrote: 95 Points
well balanced, earthy slightly floral nose w/leather, light tannins, blackberry,smooth finish
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9/2/2012 - paha wrote: 88 Points
Time to drink up. Nose was still beautiful, cedar, menthol and barnyard, but in the mouth there was not much left, except dryness.
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7/15/2012 - Chris Davies wrote: 85 Points
Good, classic flavours with a nice fleshiness but I was hoping for more.
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6/8/2012 - Blair Curtis wrote: 87 Points
Cedar nose, hint of menthol and tobacco, lean and linear on palate but adequate fruit still, finishes a bit short and dilute
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6/3/2012 - M DU VIN wrote: 89 Points
This wine did not measure up to other recent tastings of the '88 Lynch Bages. Time to drink up?
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6/2/2012 - TheDarkPrince Likes this wine: 97 Points
Words are not enough to describe this wine. Open for some friends tonight. This wine has pedigree. I bought it from British Airways when they decommissioned Concorde. Direct from the cellar, no less.
I have had 3 bottles from the case and they are all extremely aligned in terms of nose texture and taste. Still very youthful. Absolutely no signs of ageing. Dark plums and currants dominate the palette. Overall, the wine is deftly balanced and just sails on. Remarkable. All loved it!
Scoop it up if you can find it... :0)
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5/28/2012 - godx wrote: 87 Points
La Commanderie de Bordeaux à Vancouver - 1988, 1989, 1990 Red Bordeaux (CinCin Restaurant): Medium red, some bricking. This had a classic Lynch-Bages with mature red fruits, menthol and cedar. On the palate this wasn’t as impressive as it was light in the mouth with cool flavours of mature red fruits and pencil shavings. Fades quickly on the finish. Pencil shavings, mature red fruits. A few at the table thought this was elegant on the palate, but I was thinking more along the lines of thin and dilute. The nose was actually quite nice…too bad the palate didn’t live up to it. Drink now. Good.
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4/29/2012 - JamesTye wrote: 91 Points
From 750ml. Bottle in pristine condition with level well into the neck and cork only soaked 2mm at most. Decanted 1 hour, drunk over 2 hours. Colour is solid brick red, bright with purplish hue in the centre of the glass. Looks relatively young for its age. On the nose this remained fairly closed, but plenty of cassis, some leather and a hint of earthiness. On the palate the wines comes to life. Elegant, balanced with very well integrated but noticeable tannins. Moderate amount of fruit are held together with a warm mid-palate and a long finish of nicely integrated tannins. Very fresh, in a Pauillac way, for a wine of this age. Earth, cedar, black fruits and a little bit of tar make up the palate. There is a touch of bitterness on the end which hints at an uncertain future. Will do better served with food, especially foods that will balance the tannins e.g red meat.
A lovely example of the 1988 vintage. More balanced than most but lacking the forward fruit to make it truly great. Certainly punching well above its 5th growth ranking but now that Lynch Bages is becoming highly fashionable and highly priced to boot, it might be easy to get carried away in scoring this wine. It pales into comparison to the Latour in the same vintage and I actually think the Leoville-Barton is better by a margin too. Very, very good wine from a vintage that I rate very highly, but it is not truly great and probably not worth the price the market would pay for it. This bottle was perfect drinking now and it will hold but I don't think it will improve further. Enjoy perfectly aged and classic Claret now if you are lucky enough to own a bottle or two.
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1/29/2012 - samkwan wrote: 78 Points
She was very old and was past the prime time to drink. Have some mint smell when she had opened already. Decanted for 3 hours, many red fruits smell but no change continued.
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1/16/2012 - johnh1001 wrote: 93 Points
Deep dark purple with slight browning on the edges. Opened, decanted and drank over 1 hour. A somewhat reserved minty nose of wet stone and dark fruits. A little violet, red fruit and some sweetness on the palate. A medium slightly tannic finish. Overall a very nice wine that has reached maturity and will stay here for some time. Enjoyable with food.
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12/31/2011 - chevalblanc1959 wrote: 94 Points
Excellent level, well into the neck. Great lively ruby colour with hints of brick. On the nose earthy with tobacco and some fruit. Masculine, mouthfilling, tannins well integrated, silky, smooth, the essence of a great 20+ year old bordeaux.
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11/17/2011 - boreddoughboy wrote: 88 Points
She's an old lady now. Shes still very proper and pauillac but definately past prime.
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11/13/2011 - mxpbuy wrote: 93 Points
Sampled 11/12/11. Fill was into neck. Color is still that of a young wine. No sediment. Decanted for an hour and poured back into the bottle before heading to the restaurant. The nose is classic Bordeaux left bank but with more red fruits. On the palate too this wine had many more strawberry and raspberry notes than I expected. Plenty of graphite, cassis, minerals and hints of dried peat. The wine did no change at all during dinner and is clearly ready to stay in the bottle up to another 10 years in fine form. In short I thought the wine was a 92+ and gave it a little extra for its ageability and therefore agree with RP. Not sure what WS was tasting then they gave it a 97.
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11/11/2011 - Nutty08 wrote: 94 Points
San Antonio Wine Geeks do Bordeaux for Veterans Day (Home of Mike and Sandra O.): Popped and poured. Initially, not very interesting with typical mature elements—some tobacco, leather, and reds fruits. Developed beautify over the next few hours. Very aromatic nose, with flint, leather, spice, and pipe tobacco. Palate was a little austere, but carried great depth and complexity, with mint, red fruits through on a lengthy gravel driven finish. Certainly on par with the Haut-Brion, well proportioned and balanced. In the discussion for WOTN. Fantastic mature Pauillac that won’t fade any time soon. 92-95
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11/11/2011 - texaswinelover wrote: 93 Points
I liked this wine alot. It took 1-2hr to open up but was otherwise everything I expected from mature bdx. Earthy, smooth, with plenty of residual tannin. It really shined with the roasted meats. Acidity to spare. Night 2 - able to concentrate on this and the Dominus from last night without the other 12 btls distraction. The lunch has a wonderful eucalyptus, herbaceousness along with tobacco notes. Certainly lacks the fruit of new world wines but the balance between earthiness and red fruit is excellent. Tannins are slightly coarse compared to the '92 Dominus.
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10/31/2011 - RayOB wrote: 92 Points
A lovely lunch
Excellent fruit of cassis and red berries with earthy overtones.
Is still a little tannic and will last a lot longer - amazing
Started to drink with some Beef and all of a sudden you could understand why this works so well with food.
A classic Paulliac that stands the test of time still deep rich and complex.
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10/21/2011 - Wine_lvr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Clear dark red. Nose of tobacco, leather and ripe Cabernet. Nice sweetness with good balance. Superb old school claret. Drink now over the next decade
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10/14/2011 - VHJV wrote: 90 Points
Initially quite closed. Taste is a bit strange. Like a very much dimmed version of the 1985 it was drank together with. Gets better with time in the glass, but doesn't compete in the same league with the better vintages.
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10/5/2011 - markellen.foodies@gmail.com wrote: 91 Points
Brown Bag Wine Dinner at Two Chefs; 10/4/2011-10/5/2011 (TWO CHEFS, MIAMI, FL): - Garnet color with medium forming legs and aromas of eucalyptus, black currant, violet and cedar. It's balanced and has flavours of black currant and licorice anise with a medium body. Satin-Like texture with a medium finish - Al's wine.
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8/29/2011 - Moutoniac wrote: 93 Points
Last of three bottles we purchased last year. Since we decanted the other two bottles on earlier occasions and felt that the wine
was almost a bit over the hill, we decided not to decant this time and just open the bottle 3 hours prior to drinking.
WOW, What a fantastic bottle of Pauillac this was. All the elements that make a nice, ripe Lynch Bages so appealing were present. Not over the hill at all !
It's not as brilliant as the 1990 ( The 1990 Chateau Lynch Bages being one of the best wines I have ever tasted ), but it's close.
Loads of dark fruits and lead pencil in this very rich, fantastic smelling wine.
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6/2/2011 - IAMVLAD wrote: 92 Points
excellent. holding its fruit
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5/20/2011 - St Paul wrote: 93 Points
The nose was just lovely with all the Pauillac attributes. Unfortunately it does not deliver the same experience in the mouth. Very nice a fresch wine but without that extra dimension
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5/14/2011 - punter wrote: 94 Points
Bottom 1/3 of cork pulled away, and had to work it out - top 2/3 spoungey, but 'clean' - only the bottom 1/3 had any liquid. Tell tale scents of LB waffed up, telling me the bottle would be stellar: good news. 3 hr decant. deep, dark ruby color throughout. Nose of cassis, tobacco and traces of mint, tar, blackberry jam and barnyard. Black cherry, currants, traces of chocolate, walnut, black truffel front to back, left to right were rich and long. tannis are toned down but not quite resolved. Terrific concentration; a delicious bottle. I think the '88 may well be "sleeper of the vintage" in 5-6 years. 94 with upside.
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5/4/2011 - Flavito wrote: 93 Points
Great mature claret.
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4/11/2011 - IAMVLAD wrote: 93 Points
others have described it well. i will simply say: delicious.
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4/7/2011 - vine20 wrote: 92 Points
Deep ruby with light mahogany edge. Nose of sweet red cherries, raspberries and earth. Above shoulder fill, cork looked new with 1/2 inch saturated. Filtered through paper, which produced pinpoints of tannin and a tiny slurry of fine paste. This is a mature and elegant wine with smooth integrated cherries, raspberries and blueberries no longer assertive, but still prominent. Also showing tobacco, green herbs, and a flinty earth with subdued tannins. This is a lovely wine having traded its brash fruit with competing flavors for an elegant, mature whole.
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3/18/2011 - soyhead wrote: 90 Points
nose - sauerkraut per doug, heme per brian, earthy, sour cherry, brown sugar, tobacco
mouth - complex, earthy, wet hay, tobacco, some herbality intermixed with fruit, and rather solid tannins. an interested aged bordeaux, not for fruit bomb lovers.
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3/17/2011 - Mike Oxlong wrote: 89 Points
Tobacco and sauerkraut on the nose initially, although the funk dissipated over 30 to 45 minutes, revealing more subtle notes. This was a very nice wine, that changed pretty significantly over the time the three of us finished the bottle.
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3/5/2011 - boreddoughboy wrote: 92 Points
Had this at bobby vans for a 43rd birthday party. Cedar box, leather, soft tannins and waning life. Really one of my favorite wines, it is tough to see it go. Drink up its fading away all too fast.
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2/19/2011 - John McCabe wrote: 93 Points
I fear that this wine is starting to wane a little. This one was a little dusty seems to be going slightly over the hill. Still a lovely, silky delicate wine that shows a lot of elegance and sophistocation and has some lovely fruit which will please even those unfamiliar with Bordeaux. I recommend drinking now though.
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1/29/2011 - Fooze wrote: 91 Points
dark ruby color. Classic nose of leather, tobacco and some barnyard. Very elegant and balanced with plums shining through. Paired greatly with lamb loin with herbs.
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1/22/2011 - dgerst wrote: 93 Points
Dark ruby color. Classic Pauillac nose of lead pencil, leather, tar. Very elegant with sweet resolving tannins, none of the astringency I have found in a lot of 88s. Beautiful blackberry, plum, and grilled steak flavors with a long vibrant finish. I was very pleasantly surprised by how this performed. I'll be looking for this at future auctions.
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1/20/2011 - blanquito wrote:
Impressions on some 2008 Bordeaux (and some '98s and '88s): Excellent. My WOTN, with a rich, smokey bouquet and a textbook Pauillac profile. Won't make you forget the '89 or '90, but still excellent and drinking great right now.
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12/31/2010 - 1800kidney wrote: 92 Points
New Years 2011 at Pickberry (Pickberry Vineyard): Elegant Lynch Bages...really has come forward from previous notes. Tannins rounded, and flavors alive and vibrant...long finish. Fairly heavy sediment, 2 bottles were double decanted about 2 hrs before serving. Long finish, with some persisting stemminess. Cork intact and not stained but definitely funky up front so decanting was helpful
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12/26/2010 - martinmerc wrote: 92 Points
Lovely fully mature wine. Nice long mineral fruity finish.
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12/25/2010 - RedLoverJim Likes this wine: 92 Points
I'm glad I opened this now as I don't think it'll get any better, but it was very good once some initial funk blew off after about 30 minutes.
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12/22/2010 - beachbum wrote: 93 Points
beautiful nose, full palate, slighlty metallic hints on the finish, 1988, but this is no slouch.
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12/10/2010 - guido23 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Cork in bad condition. Dark black with a brownish-red tinge around the perimeter.
light, woody nose but it belies what's underneath. There's some subtle fruit in there bursting to get out.
1st sip-loads of currant and a thick tannic structure. Bone dry, no hint of sweetness. Fiery finish goes on and on.
Open for 1.5 hrs and mellowing to be more balanced - a little tart but still nice round tannins and great finish
2.5 hours open and approaching sublime status - very balanced, much more fruit than earlier, tannins round out the finish
3.5 hours in it's going strong. 92 points but the finish makes it a 93
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11/19/2010 - Wrighty wrote: 92 Points
My 40th dinner celebrations (Crown Wine Cellars (Hong Kong)): Refined. Both Lynch Bages were more muscular than I anticipated. As before, 88's showed well against the 90's. Some stink on opening but went.
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10/17/2010 - M DU VIN wrote: 91 Points
Fullly mature, elegant wine, but still has life in it after 22 years. Has flavors of black cherries and a hint of tar.
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10/9/2010 - John McCabe wrote: 95 Points
refined, subtle and elegant, as usual. Doesn't really need decanting.
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10/8/2010 - stiang wrote: 88 Points
Possibly not perfect bottle. Coffee, char, smoke, oak. Not very elegant. Sweet but tannic at the same time.
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9/9/2010 - John McCabe wrote: 96 Points
Really elegant and refind, as usual. Wuite smokey. A bit of tar or red brick in the taste. Not really a food wine - better by itself.
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8/21/2010 - boreddoughboy wrote: 94 Points
Antiqued nose with spices and typical strong Pauillac nose. This is one of my favorites. It is starting to fade slightly.
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8/15/2010 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 95 Points
This wine was served at a private walk-around wine and food party. The bottle (750 cc) was taken from my personal cellar, decanted into a magnum-sized ship's decanter and allowed to aerate for approximately three hours. Deep garnet in color, the wine shows a very intense nose of kirsch, plums, tar, leather and earth. Full-bodied on the palate, with medium acidity, medium supple residual tannins and flavors mirroring the nose. The middle palate is full and the finish is long and smooth. This wine is drinking beautifully now and was a delicious match with grilled steak. It should continue to provide enjoyment for many more years. Drink now-12/25.
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6/19/2010 - no leashes wrote: 93 Points
Drinking beautifully, with dark cherry, smoke, leather, mineral, earth and some grilled meat flavors. Wonderful balance and texture. Decanted for one hour, perfect!
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6/17/2010 - John McCabe wrote: 97 Points
Just wonderful. I didn't decant, but it was better after a couple of hours of opening. Beginning to show some tiredness - likely worth drinking sooner rather than later. In it's prime.
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4/24/2010 - vinolovers wrote: 94 Points
Served in the first flight of our "Remember the 80's" tasting. Very dark coloring with notes of black fruit, sweet oak and some leather and graphite. Remains a big brooding wine that will last much longer.
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4/13/2010 - dbg wrote:
Great fill to within 1/2" of cork, almost pristine cork. Opened but not decanted 2 hours before drinking. Dark red core, lighter at rim. Nice complex nose of mature black fruits, cassis, cedar, iron and leather. Medium body, nice balance, tannins present but mostly resolved, mature fruits carry forward to palate with some irony/minerally undertones and some nice sweet complexity. Tannins well covered on the finish until 2 more hours in, then the fruit starts giving way to the tannins on the back palate. Outstanding.
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4/7/2010 - pkatz wrote: 91 Points
Mature but still has some life. Quite smooth and possessing those tarry flavors typical of this chateau.
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3/13/2010 - John McCabe wrote: 92 Points
This one seemed a little off, though not corked; a bit dark and astringent, but still delicate.
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2/15/2010 - JulienGraves wrote: 93 Points
Garnet color without bricking; soft, full, refined and complex palette; nose of currants with a hint of blackberry. Long lingering finish. Delightful.
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12/31/2009 - BIlgen wrote: 95 Points
Very dark red, lifly
Cassis, dark fruit, soft vanilla
Very nice, fruit, vanilla, wood, soft tannins, round, great wine
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12/29/2009 - JulienGraves wrote: 93 Points
Marvelous; decanted for only 10 minutes before first pour. Lovely garnet color. Warm, soft, full palette with with multiple notes, clean finish. Hint of the tanins that once formed the backbone, but not at all forward. Very very enjoyable wine. Drank with 88 Branaire which was also excellent with not as soft or full on the palette. Drink in the next few years. It's not likely to improve; my last bottle was much less impressive -- so perhaps we are getting to the end of its life where some bottles make it and others don't.
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12/18/2009 - DAN BAILEY wrote:
Served at christmas lunch alongside 99 leoville barton. Performed beautifully. A point. Slightly soft red colour with a wonderful nose and palate of lead pencil. Perfect, smooth balance on the palate.
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12/18/2009 - JulienGraves wrote: 82 Points
Good color, OK nose flat muddy pallete; drinkable but not impressive
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11/28/2009 - ubercuvee wrote:
Firm, structured Pauillac with the depth Pauillac aromatics of the best Lynch-es, but without the power or muscle of the 82/89/90. On the night showed well but was outclassed by the more expressive, fleshy Mouton '85
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11/24/2009 - vine20 wrote: 92 Points
Dark ruby though no longer opaque with mahogany on its edge. Not decanted. Aroma dominated by barnyard and leather with flinty metal. Delicious subtle, elegant dark red cherries and raspberries with complex earth, cedar and tannins in very good balance. Fruit is diminishing and will last another 3-5 years. Long finish.
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11/22/2009 - Ricky99 wrote: 91 Points
Drank with 86, 89, 90 and 91. This was most feminine and prettiest of the bunch
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10/3/2009 - petitblanc wrote: flawed
Looked good, tasted green and unpleasant.
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9/30/2009 - dbkitc wrote: 93 Points
This was terrific. Could not be anything other than Lynch Bages – plump Pauillac at its best. Drinking well now, the bottle was round but had great energy. Long and fine. (93)
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9/28/2009 - AtoZ wrote: 93 Points
Drinking really well. Soft but not too soft. Classic Lynch Bages. Ready to drink and does not need a long decant.
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6/5/2009 - wineismylife wrote: 93 Points
WIML93. No formal notes. Showing really well.
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5/31/2009 - John McCabe wrote: 96 Points
Elegant, refined. A bit wone dimensional, but really classic stuff. Long finish, highly evolved and still evolving.
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5/29/2009 - SteelerFan wrote: 95 Points
Outstanding. Drank immediately after decanting. Exactly what you expect from a mature Lynch. A somewhat restrained peat and tobacco nose, but bursting with lush, ripe fruit and cassis, berry and earth taste. Just incredibly rich and fruity for a 20 year old wine. Soft tannins, but not fading at all. Drinking beautifully now, and should continue for at leat 6-8 more years.
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5/19/2009 - John McCabe wrote: 94 Points
Great backbone to this wine, with subtelty and elegance in spades. It still seems youthful and benefited from some decanting.
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5/9/2009 - dbg wrote:
Still dark red core, lightening at rim. Very nice nose of mature black fruits, cassis, bit of cedar and herbal/veggie notes and leather add complexity. Medium body, nice balance, tannins present but mostly resolved, mature fruits carry forward to palate with some irony/minerally undertones and just a hint of herbal complexity, medium-long finish, this is showing more mature complexity than the last bottle in 2006, drinking really well now and should hold for 5 years if well-stored. Excellent to outstanding.
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4/5/2009 - lightning wrote: flawed
This bottle was heading downhill, but was interesting behind the acidity.
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3/26/2009 - markellen.foodies@gmail.com wrote: 90 Points
French Bakery BYO GLOBAL Bordeaux Blend Dinner - "The JUDGEMENT of Bay Harbor Islands"; 3/25/2009-3/26/2009 (The French Bakery 1023 Kane Concourse in Bay Harbor Islands): David's wine. 5 1sts of 10, avg 89.8.1sts from Nick, Jason, Carlos, Brett and Mark(me). Nick, BLIND correctly IDed it as Lynch Bages(BRAVO), said signature graphite on nose. From its Vegetal notes I mistook it for my Mount Mary(which was the middle wine in the flight).Carlos deep color; leather; alcoholic, young, light fruit. Brett- old French, got better after opening.
Charly - Good structure; a bit closed; firm tannins; too acidic.Jerry- Vegetal. David - closed.
Inidividual scores Jason-88, Me-91, Carlos-90, Craig favorite, unrated, Charly-90, Jerry-89David-91.
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2/6/2009 - schwartzman wrote: 91 Points
Took about 90 mins to open up n the glass. On the heavy side of medium. Intense dark fruit and spicy on the tounge, but very smooth. Nice nose and finish. Excellent with chocolate. Left 1/3 bottle overnight with cork in but not pumped and it had lost a lot of intensity the next day.
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1/18/2009 - Manjari wrote:
Probably one of the best Bordeaux`s I have tasted. Lynch-Bages 88 is at a perfect state. Full bodied, lovely red fruit, complex aromas of leather, earth, licorice, berries, perfectly integrated french oak and smooth tannins. It just lingers, and lingers. and lingers. This is why these wines are among the most expensive in the world. And this is "only" Cinquièmes Crus (Fifth Growth). Wow.
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1/17/2009 - dsimmons wrote: 92 Points
Lynch Bages Tasting (Don's House): This bottle was opened but not decanted about two hours before it was tasted. I was apprehensive because my two previous bottles of this wine were spoiled. This bottle was fine. The color was in line with what you would expect from a twenty year old bottle. Flavors were nicely balanced with plenty for fruit and spice remaining. Although this was my least favorite of the wines it was the first to disappear.
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12/14/2008 - DAN BAILEY wrote: 89 Points
Audouzed for 6 hours before serving alongside the 61 and an 88 Pape Clement. Quite a young, unevolved showing for this wine compared to previous efforts. Dark fruited but lacking some of the previous nuances such as lead pencil etc etc.
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12/8/2008 - Claudio161 wrote: 92 Points
Lynch Bages Vertical Focused on Parker 91+ Point Reds (Sweets and Savories. Fullerton near Ashland. Chicago. IL): Sight: Dark ruby and purple. No signs of aging.
Nose: Conveys the image of dark and brooding. Torched bush fruits and plenty of black currants. Earthiness and toasted oak vanillins are present as well. Perfume components less than others tonight - more of a leather/smoke component and some dried herbal teas.
Palate: Great taste and very good from attack through finish. Medium-full bodied with rich character. Cedar components seem to come through more on the palate along with the rich profile of dark bush fruits.
Overall: A great wine that impresses. 92-93 points.
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12/8/2008 - jordanj wrote: 91 Points
Lynch Bages Vertical (Sweet and Savories): Jamie nailed it when he described this as classic. A hint of mustiness in the nose that eventually took on a cheese/horseradish scent with a detailed aroma and taste of cigar box. Very smooth in the mouth.
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12/8/2008 - KeithAkers wrote: 93 Points
Lynch Bages Vertical 1961-2005 (Sweets and Savories, Chicago IL): nose: wide open on the nose with a good helping of cedar as the backdrop along with tones of smoke, black fruits, black cherries, cassis, and some earthen inflections. Very interesting as there is more of a blackness to this nose as opposed to the previous vintages and it provides a very interesting contrast to the other vintages
taste: great black fruit core with cedar, smoke, black cherries, and cassis. Good medium/full feel that gives off the power of lynch, but there is a smooth texture at the same time
overall: a very interesting and different lynch from the previous vintages. The black fruits provide a good amount of intrigue and a contrast from the dark red cherries that had been a lynch staple. This is in a perfect place right now and was a stellar bottle
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12/7/2008 - SteveHoch wrote: 95 Points
I love this wine and it provided all the pleasure of an excellent classic bordeaux. Still a very youthful color with deep purple tones.
Great balance of fruit and tannins. nice cedar, and minierality and dark cherry and blackberu. Tremendous mouthfeel and long clean finnish.
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10/3/2008 - timmyc wrote: 89 Points
A little bit disappointing in the end - the wine was tight and a little bit medicinal not for me at all.
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6/13/2008 - plhew wrote: 92 Points
wonderful nose upon opening. Very smooth and balanced. No discernable tannins. Just a bit short on the finish
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5/25/2008 - Venice Al wrote: 91 Points
Not decanted but open 2 hours before tasted. Given the vintage, remarkably dark for 20 years. Only slight bricking on the rim. Nose was a pleasant mix of fresh cut tobacco, smoke, herbs, red cherry and currant. Palate was consistent w/ no austere edges and well integrated tannins. As the night wore on the nose evolved to show more smoke/ cigar tobacco and less of the herbal fresh cut smell. Mid palate was slightly lacking in depth, but a very nice first experience with this wine.
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4/28/2008 - DiveAlaska wrote: 92 Points
Two hour decant. Nice wine. Suffered horribly from following a 82 Pichon Lalande consumed the previous day. Still somewhat primary, with not too much in the way of complexity/ secondary flavors. Still and all a "correct" Pauillac profile and quite enjoyable. Last bottle, wish I had a couple more to track it over the next few years.............
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4/22/2008 - no leashes wrote: 91 Points
Dark fruit, currant, smoke flavors, medium bodied, finely integrated tannins, nice finish. Drank with my Met fan friend after my Cubbies swept the Metropolitans out of Chicago -- a great celebratory bottle!
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3/5/2008 - 1800kidney wrote: 90 Points
not up to previous tastings; this one came from auction so provenance perhaps iffy. Nose was subdued, fruits came out after decanting and in glass for 20 min, earthy nuance too. Mouthfeel was tight, leather and cedar with definiite green stemminess. Tannins have softened
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2/16/2008 - wineismylife wrote: 92 Points
KSC02 does Dallas, Part 2 (Daniele Osteria, Dallas, TX): WIML92. Dark purple color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of dried herbs, a hint of coffee and mixed dark fruits. Flavors of berries, cherries and plums. Medium acidity, medium tannins, medium to full body. Drink or hold.
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12/4/2007 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 90 Points
Kitchen Tasting Group does Lynch Bages: Dark red color. The nose gives sweet black fruit, tobacco and floral notes. Slightly roasted fruit. The palate impression is more subdued than the previous wines. Stern black fruit. Tannic. Nice, but not up to the level of the other wines tasted.
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12/4/2007 - Siggy wrote: 89 Points
Tasting Group Dinner - Lynch Bages (JP's American Bistro, Minneapolis): Great expressive nose of dark fruit and mushrooms. On the palate this shows coffee/espresso, green herbs, and some black fruit. Still quite tannic. The palate is not very expressive, bordering on stern and hard-edged, but the nose is interesting enough to make this a fun bottle.
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11/25/2007 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 94 Points
Lovely dark fruit with hints of green pepper on the fully mature nose, more of the same on the palate. lovely rich wine to taste, medium/long finish, slightly tart on the finish. First out of five Lynch Bages blind.
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8/19/2007 - petitblanc wrote: 93 Points
Considerable seepage and saturated cork, so this bottle certainly did not show the best. But still very nice. Tobacco, fruit, leather. Fairly short. Still plenty of sweet tannins, but a bit soft in acidity with some warmth. I'll drink the next one within a couple years.
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4/30/2007 - bdenuyl wrote: 88 Points
This could be a bad bottle. It was very rough even after decanting for 2 hours and was musty. The second day it had mellowed a little but remained musty. Try the other bottle.
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4/22/2007 - schwartzman wrote: 91 Points
Very nice - had over two nights with steak - tart cherry and spicy...was better the second night, bite on the tounge mellowed out and flavors got deeper and smoother...
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4/8/2007 - dsimmons wrote:
Don't have much experience with older bordeaux but assume this bottle to be flawed. The nose was nise but the taste seemed cooked.
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4/1/2007 - sajjy wrote: 91 Points
had 3 bottles last night at a dinner party all bottles pretty consistent, enjoyable wine that didn't evolve as much as i would have hoped.Not nearly as good as the 82 (97pts)
but more approachable than the '90(92+).it was great with the steak but not memorable,seemed like it still had 5+ years in it.
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3/2/2007 - win wrote: 94 Points
Had at the brasserie next to Lynch Bages, so the wine did not have to travel far. Decanted at lunch -- amazing, very fresh and lively wine with nice, smooth tannins and amazing fruit aromas. Showing extremely well, yet not overwhelming. Thanks Jean-Charles!
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3/1/2007 - no leashes wrote: 92 Points
Delicious after decanting for an hour or so. Beautiful black curant, dark fruit, some tobacco and even a hint of eucalyptus. Velvety tannins.
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2/14/2007 - boreddoughboy wrote: 94 Points
Deep garnet, nose with tobacco, leather, minerality. Well developed tannins with plenty of legnth. Beat a 97 Petrus in blind tasting.
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1/17/2007 - bsherwin wrote: flawed
Very moldy and thoroughly soaked cork. Tasted ancient. Very disappointed.
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12/9/2006 - ml wrote:
Decent, but nothing special. Fairly typical for the late 80's lower-end Bordeaux that I've had. Very tannic, but with only the darker fruits showing - somewhat earthy and austere. Was poorly matched with the food (mostly seafood), so most of it was drunk between courses. I suspect this one won't get better, given the amount of fruit that seems left.
Double-decanted before leaving home (and an hour before beginning consumption). This helped a lot, as it had a fair bit of barnyard funk when opened, and this was all but gone by the time we started drinking.
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12/6/2006 - mattiasjansson wrote: 90 Points
Backstreet - Best of Cellar (Backstreet Wine Salon, Phoenix): Oaky. Good initially but a little hollow on the mid palate.
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12/6/2006 - kstoddard wrote: 90 Points
Phoenix eRP Offline - Best of Cellar (Backstreet Wine Salon, Phoenix): Dark ruby in color and not showing its age. Bright blackcurrant with hot chilli peppers. Very vibrant and alive. Great acidity. A little barnyard. Not complex but nice. Fading a bit in the glass as the night went on. Brought by Jan.
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11/16/2006 - d'Artagnan wrote: 92 Points
dégustation au Yo Yo
Le meilleur des cinq 1988 dégustés ce soir là : Forts de Latour, Mouton, Haut Bailly + un autre bouchonné). Très bel équilibre, exotique, wow! 92 pts
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11/8/2006 - 1800kidney wrote: 96 Points
Classical Lynch Bages...dinner with Strotz' and Keysers; just simply lovely. Deep, deep depth and color. Fruits and tannins well blended, and classic Lynch Bages characteristics emerging with graphite, cedar, and coffee. This is getting better and better and has years of pleasure ahead
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10/6/2006 - La Cave d'Argent wrote:
Tasted in double-blind fashion at Vintage Wines, Ltd., with the bottle being brought by Ken Johnson. Ken stated that he had bought the wine upon release and cellared it himself. As has been the case with other wines from Ken's cellar, this wine appears significantly older than one would expect at this point. Specifically, the fruit is lacking and the tannins have all but melted away. I guessed the wine to be a 1976 left bank Bordeaux, as it was completely lacking the "stuffing" that a well-cellared '88 (especially Lynch Bages) should be showing at this point.
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8/30/2006 - ATBridge wrote: flawed
This bottle was corked. Follows a corked 1970 Lynch from a different cellar. Disappointing as I've had a very good example of this '88 bottling.
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8/14/2006 - BBaugh wrote: 98 Points
Excellent wine taste of berries and tabaco and a few traces of chocolate.
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7/29/2006 - dbg wrote:
Stored at 55-57 degrees since purchase on release in 1991. Fill within an inch of the cork, which comes out in excellent condition. Some tartrate crystals on the inside end of the cork. Nice opening, nose of mature fruit, iron, some veggies. Good fruit on palate right after opening, nice iron/metallic notes and some veggies add complexity initially. Iron and veggies come to fore over next 30-45 minutes, to the wine's detriment, but then the fruit softens a bit and comes forward, and some ripe soft-cheese notes chime in. Further mellowing over the next hour, the veggies and iron fade to the background to meld nicely wit the fruit as it comes more to the fore. Holding its own and sipping very nicely after dinner, then the bottle is gone with us wanting just a little bit more. Medium body, good balance, medium finish with some tannins lingering at the end. In analytic mode, I would prefer a bit more fruit concentration and ripeness. In hedonistic mode, a "classic" Bordeaux for drinking , meant in a positive way, not as a cover-up for thin, weedy plonk. Very enjoyable. This should go another 5-10 years at least before the fruit starts a slow decline. A very good $24 wine, even by 1991 standards. By no means a financial investment, but an excellent investment in enjoyment. You want points? OK, this makes the grade as a 90-92 pointer. Then again, I may be influenced by setting...
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7/7/2006 - Dave Dalluge wrote:
Dinner at Jeff and Marya Samuelson's: Tasted beside the 1982 and 1985. The nose shows dark fruit and lead pencil similar to the 82, except that fruit is a little more dominate and is almost overripe. In the mouth this is very similar to the other two -- if anything, slightly less intense. A very nice wine, but my least favorite of these three vintages.
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5/21/2006 - Vine wrote:
Every now and then you come across an incredible bottle of wine. This was one. With BBQ rack of lamb. Deep bright red colour with just a hint of brown at the rim. Wonderful Bordeaux nose - "plums" as my daughter described it. Long and lovely in the mouth - so smooth - this is one of those bottles you wished you would never finish. If 89 / 90 are the big two of the 88 / 89 / 90 vintage - the 1988 Lynch Bages is a star of 1988. For those of you who score - 92+ - and based on our experience some years of life ahead.
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4/29/2006 - 1800kidney wrote: 96 Points
Weekend in Boca Grande; 4/27/2006-4/29/2006 (Gasparilla Island): Fabulous Lynch Bages; deep depth and color. Fruits and tannins well blended, and classic Lynch Bages characteristics emerging with graphite, cedar, and coffee
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2/27/2006 - wineismylife wrote: 92 Points
WIML92,~WA90-92,WS97
Tasted February 27, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Barnyard nose dominates with some roast meat and dried herbs. Flavors of black cherries, plum and black currants. Good wine. Drink over the short term.
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1/28/2006 - MC wrote:
from memory of a few days ago. very nice wine. typical bordeaux in almost every way. a touch on the lean side with the fruit, but i really enjoyed it. ready to go right now. B+
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1/8/2006 - BIlgen wrote: 90 Points
Very dark red, no brown in the rim,. almost black
Strong nose, lots of perfume, fruit, even 1 meter from the glas
Strong, black current, soft tannines, long after taste
Years to go
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12/6/2005 - rhansen wrote: 94 Points
Great deep color. A little musty Bordeaux styled nose upon opening which diffused over the course of an hour and a half. On the palate this was a very good wine. My initial impression was that this possibly could have shown a little better. However, by the time an hour had passed it was into its own. A wonderful, well rounded LB.
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12/4/2005 - jpan wrote:
Part of our Thanksgiving vertical, which included 85, 88, 98 and 99.
Medium cherry red to the faint hint of brick at the edge. Celery and spice evolving to cedary, dusty aromas. Moderate body, soft and balanced overall. Red fruit, soft tannins, acid backbone. Aroma comes through nicely into the aftertaste. Long finish. Excelllent.
LOOKING BACK ON THESE REVIEWS, I REALIZE THIS WAS FOR THE 1985...SORRY!
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12/4/2005 - jpan wrote:
Part of our Thanksgiving vertical, which included 85, 88,98 and 99.
This was the deepest, opaque red. Initially a woodiness overpowers the fruit. Softens in the middle with nice balance of flavors. Medium body and finish. Overwhelmed by the 85. VG to E
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10/16/2005 - wineamateur wrote: 92 Points
Clear, bright ermine-tinged ruby, with hint of bricking at rim. Rich, meaty, leathery nose, with powerful cassis, sandalwood and tobacco leaf, and a hint of something fungal. Soon developed a smokey, dusty, mineral character (nicer than it sounds!). Mouthfilling and juicy, with sweet black fruits balanced by a nice cranberry tartness and a lead pencil backbone. Hint of caramel. Long, lingering, sensual finish. Very exuberant; very fine.
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10/9/2005 - Eric wrote: 87 Points
Tasting of 80's Bordeaux at Seattle Wine Storage (Seattle, WA): Vitamin and mineral on the nose with some mint and tomato leaf. This is very tannic, and the fruit seems to be losing the battle here. Cherry, tart, lean, with a bit of horse. This doesn't seem to have a ton to offer, so I would just uncork with a steak and enjoy it for what it is.
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10/9/2005 - kris.h wrote:
Very agressive tannins and a little hot. I got a bit of tobacco and leather on the nose but not much else. There seems to be some fruit under all those tannins but I wonder if it will ever come out.
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7/10/2005 - DAN BAILEY wrote: 90 Points
Drunk over sunday lunch with a good friend along with some beef in hoi sin sauce. Wine was decanted around 2 hours before drinking. Masses of graphite/lead pencil somewhat overwhelmed the fruit in my opinion. First few tastes had quite a tight finish with some medium-strong tannins still present. However, these faded pretty quickly to leave a nicely balanced wine but one that clearly has plenty of life left in it yet. Confirmed my general impression of the 88s - "classical clarets" of good balance and relatively good QPR but without much power or sweet fruit to make them very memorable.
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4/28/2005 - KenK wrote: 90 Points
Lynch Bage vs Pichon Lalande 1986, 1988, 1989, 1995 plus 3 Ringers: Group rated this as 10 of 11 wines, I had it 7th.
Nose: Earthy black berrywith a toasty smoky mineral quaility, lead pencil
Palate: Lean dry cherry with cedar, spice and some leather. While generally well balanced fruit seemed muddled.
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4/1/2005 - winefool wrote: 90 Points
Lynch Bages v. Pichon Lalande Shootout - Group #10, My #8 - Full red. Forward aroma of black fruit, earth and a hint of acidity. Fairly rich round blcak fruit with plenty of pencil/coffee and round tanning. Will improve with time. 4/05
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3/4/2005 - 1800kidney wrote: 96 Points
Pre-Birthday Lynch Bages Warm-up (Bouchon (Yountville)): Last had this two years ago (see last note); that tasting followed the 85 Lynch Bages and the 88 never seemd to have opened up. The present experience was much more impressive; fabulous fruits have developed..black cherry, currant, cassis. The wine was decanted, which helped and it simply jumped out of the glass...wonderful!!
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3/1/2005 - 1800kidney wrote: 94 Points
Birthday event March 5, 2003 at Highland Bar and Grill, followed the 1985. Fabulous dense colors, complex fruits, but major tannins needed more time after being decanted.
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11/13/2004 - ken wrote: 92 Points
Massive nose dominated initially by herbal notes, later opening up to reveal more black fruit and smoked meat. I can only describe the taste as luscious with tremendous length. Tasting beautifully now, but I would guess it would last another 5-10 years. Made a perfect accompaniment to coq au vin.
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11/4/2004 - Rupert wrote: 88 Points
Drunk with Matthew at the O&C. Minty and cedary; lovely flavour, but somewhat compact.
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8/10/2004 - Wilfried wrote: 94 Points
1988 Lynch Bages, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France (not blind, from memory): Black purple, dense tears. Very dense dark nose, lead, lead pencil. Plump body, dense dark fruit, very well integrated acidity and tannins. Long finish, persistent tannins, very fine. Score: 50 + 5 for optic + 13 for bouquet + 18 for taste + 8 for overall = total score of 94. Very interesting wine, needs another 5-10 or more years to mature.
Tasted Aug 2004.
Magnum. Decanted 7 hours before drinking. Riedel Syrah glasses
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6/4/2004 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 93 Points
Consumed at Regions restaurant with John and Royce Campbell, primarily with the pork tenderloin course. Bottle taken from my personal cellar. Similar impression to 12/12/03. Absolutely beautiful!
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3/12/2004 - dbg wrote:
outstanding, in top 5, behind '89 and '90, many liked it better than
'82 and '86 for drinking now
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12/12/2003 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 92 Points
Tasted unblinded at Vintage Wines, Ltd. Bottle taken from my personal cellar. Bright disc. Deep garnet robe with brick rim. Clean nose, opening over 90 minutes to show moderately intense aromas of kirsch, damp earth, tar, licorice and dust. Full-bodied on the palate, with medium acidity and ample sweet tannins. The flavors mirror the nose. Long, smooth finish. My notes on this wine have remained very consistent. It should continue to drink well for several more years.
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10/10/2003 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 91 Points
Tasting three vintages of Chateau Lynch-Bages blind, second place. Lots of glycerine coating the glass, nose of cassis, cedar and leather, more of the same on the palate, saddle leather and cassis dominate the taste, lots of very soft tannins on the finish, needs seven to ten years. A lovely surprise.
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8/3/2003 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
Dallas Blur Tasting 2003: Pinon, cedar, sandalwood, bell pepper. Medium-bodied red fruit. I was pleasantly surprised by the palate based on the green edge in the nose. "Cab-ish"
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6/7/2003 - Joe Belmaati wrote: 95 Points
Dark red. Pudding, cassis, oak bouquet. Strong and concentrated. Marvellous chocolatey capucino like flavours that cascade over the palate. And first and foremost, great long aftertase. Excellent.
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9/1/2002 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 92 Points
Bright disc. Deep ruby/red with orange/red rim. Clean nose, showing intense black cherry, licorice, earth, coffee and spice. Full-bodied on the palate, with ample but well-integrated tannins. Similar flavors as nose. Long, fairly smooth finish. Drinking well now. Has the stuffing to drink well for several more years.
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2/6/2002 - Burgundy Al wrote: 88 Points
Wine tasting. Tobacco and leather on nose, with much less fruit than I expected on either nose or palate. Easy to enjoy, but slightly too coarse and rustic on finish.
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12/1/2001 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
($100) The Mann's '88 Blowout: Darker at the rim than its companions. Coffee, funk, cigar box, mint, marjoram? Floral, menthol dust. Complex nose. Ripe palate with dusty, peppery fruit. Pepper finish is tight. Interesting nose and a nice ripe palate.
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2/14/2000 - dbg wrote:
opens a bit harsh after decanting, but mellows out after 1 hour, nice
funky nose, excellent depth of fruit, just beginning complexities,
smooth medium-long finish
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3/1/1999 - sdr Likes this wine: 88 Points
Very hard nose. Charmless. But oaky in a positive sense. Cinnamon and cloves. Dense mid-palate. Plenty of cassis. Tannic yet surprisingly drinkable for the vintage.
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9/13/1998 - dbg wrote:
deep garnet; nose of blackberry, cassis, cedar, leather, earth; rich
fruit, heavy mouth-coating tannins but not harsh or acidic, a classic
Lynch-Bages
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2/6/1993 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 92 Points
Opaque mulberry with red rim. Intense currants, black cherry and tar. Plenty of supple tannins, with same flavors as nose. Excellent balance. Long, tannic finish. Needs time.
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11/13/1991 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 93 Points
Chateau Lynch Bages (Lafayette, Ca.): Very ripe fruit and mushroom nose, with hints of wood, very red color in the glass, lots of wood and fruit in the mouth, tannic, nice woody overtones on the finish.
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