Popped and poured. This is a medium-red wine—the color and texture feel totally age appropriate for a 21-year-old Bordeaux—with some mild sediment cake throughout the bottle. On the rather serious nose, I get damp soil, stones, pencil shavings, and saddle leather. In the mouth, the wine is midweight and focused, showing light red fruit and leaving a lingering, chewy finish. Overall, this is classic Pauillac down the line; I didn’t notice any heat or other issues from the 2003 vintage. I found this wine open and enjoyable today, but it should easily continue to fly for another 10+ years. 92 points.
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Very barnyardish on opening. I actually thought the wine had gone off, but that blew off in less than a minute. I’d call this classic Bordeaux. Some red fruit, leather, a little tanic. A great companion to the T-Bone steaks off the BBQ, roasted potatoes and roasted veggies and goat cheese. The wine was very good, which was great because I over cooked the steaks…Sadley, my last bottle.
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This wine was at its peak... drank with 05 Lynch and 05 Leoville Poyferre, so I was expecting a relative poor showing due to hot vintage. Obviously it did lack power and fruit of 05s, but they both needed more time in my opinion (LP is a beast), and the 03 was hitting on all cylinders. It was elegant, but still backbone and complexity. Dark fruits still present, a little leather, a nice floral element... paired perfectly with bone marrow glazed prime rib for Christmas dinner. Opened two hours prior, but did not require decanter until time to serve. It opened up much faster than 05s.
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Ripe, sumptuous, spicy dark fruits, with the proper size and scale, the bottle is trying to give you what they've got, a crowd pleaser, looks so easy to drink, but I guess there must be lots of calculations and techniques behind it in order to look that easy. I say, Bravo to the team, you just delivered my ideal Lynch Bages!
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PnP. Another terrific wine in a fantastic lineup. Delicious aromas of warm currant jam, redwood forest. Palate was surprisingly soft and fruit forward but not spirity. Balanced. Voluptuous. No hard edges for a Lynch Bages this young. Perhaps not surprising from a hot vintage. Does it have the structure for another ten years? WOTN #2.
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Initially started quite thin and dried out but really bloomed with 60-90 minutes in the decanter.
Darker fruits - dark cherry, blackcurrant, blackberries. Graphite and iron with touch of spice. A certain ash or smokiness on the finish culminating in lovely tobacco leaf and cedar.
Nice mature claret drinking at its peak. Very glad we gave this time as it turned out to be the strongest of the bottles I have tasted yet.
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En Primeur campaign for the 2022 vintage Day Four (Bordeaux): From Double Magnum. Baked black fruits with a meaty underpin, sweet spice, a little leather. Medium plus intensity acidity (adjusted?) baked and concentrated black fruits; currants and berries, plenty of chalky drying tannins. Woof.
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Tasted a bit tired to me and showing some of the heat effects of the vintage. I might've thought it was a poorly stored bottle but we drank it at the Chateau so perfect provenance.
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Had double blind, managed to call Pauillac, so a lot of classic terroir with good length. Drinking wonderfully with both some power and a lot of finesse. No hurry to drink up but it's hard to see it getting better from here.
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Private dinner (Lynch-Bages 85, 90 and 03): Aged 15 months in French oak barrels (70% new wood). Blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, 13% vol.
Decanted an hour before dinner. We could not agree in the group whether the wine had a hint of TCA or not, so I do not rate it but it was still very good though not at the level of the other wines we had this evening.
On the nose a bit restrained with tobacco, blackcurrant and a hint of stewed stone fruit, on the palate full bodied but with still a certain elegance, smooth tannin and long finish.
Still quite primary and has still at least a decade ahead.
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Really enjoyed this wine. More plush and soft than the chiseled ‘05 had last fall. Classic nose of cassis, cherry, chocolate and cedar. A soft feel in the mouth and an elegant, soft finish that lingers, prefect balance and acidity. More fruit driven, reminded me of a California cab, but not overpowering. Really enjoyed.
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Vertical of Lynch-Bages from 1989 to 2018: not one of the better wines on the night and suffered in comparison to the better vintages though it improved in the glass but lacked freshness.
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Since first tasted in ‘19 this has mellowed further and softened, but remains a well-balanced and classic, if a bit understated. Remains vibrant. Lots of years left, but drinking beautifully.
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Rich black plum and currant with faint liqueur and nearly sweet spice, this retains the hedonism of the vintage but easily keeps its balance. Not the most depth or nuanced vintage for Lynch Bages. I think this is likely my first time tasting the wine since en Primeur in 2004.
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Opened only a half hour before tasting; brownish on the edges and still vibrant red at the core, slight eucalyptus, balsam, and woodsy nose, lighter- to medium-bodied, very dry and smooooooth. Wow. A finish that travels on and on. We tasted this next to a 2005 Morgenster (which was damned good) and the Lynch-Bages just sailed on by. Of course, having a 2+ inch ribeye that we grilled didn’t hurt matters! Knowing that we have a few more bottles to enjoy is very reassuring.
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4th of 13, opened 30 minutes, perfect cork and level, really come on since January bottle, attractive big, nicely layered if slightly soft centred, claret, fruit forward (mainly cassis but with nice minerality), hint of unresolved tannin on exit (a good thing), some upside, 10+ years. f+ (18).
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PNP and this opened up straight away with a beautiful, stunning bouquet of blackcurrants and leather. Milk chocolate, black berries with a long lingering finish that lasted a couple of minutes or more. Surprisingly rich, lush and opulent (vintage?), medium+ bodied, juicy finish, lovely balance. This still has a long life ahead of it. Beautiful. Day 2 and and this has improved even more. More pronounced tannins balanced with soft, luscious blueberries coming to the fore. Lovely wine.
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My first time popping open a Lynch... and I've been waiting since it was delivered on futures back in '06. I have 2000, 2014-2018 waiting in the cellar, and 2019-2021 waiting for delivery. Obviously I liked it. I was surprised by the hint of fruit still showing through in a 2 decade old wine from a good - but not spectacular - vintage. Overall, I'd say the perfect balance, good length, and superfine tannins made this wine well worth the wait. I can't image this vintage improving any with more age, and it's likely at the very end of its fruitful youth, but still will drink quite well for many more years. Served with a prime grade filet oscar and crabcakes: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gfv9ZxDrakzU6HyEA
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Don’t open this yet! Tastes like a 10 year old Haut Medoc. Blackcurrant fruit is still good. Wood is there. Tannins still a bit rustic, with acid and a touch of dirt. Extracted for a Bordeaux, but that’s because 2003 was the hot year of the decade. Not sure how it will show at its prime, but it needs another 5 years if not longer. This was a PnP at a charity event, so decanting might helped some, but really it’s still too young.
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10th bottle from a case bought en primeur. This is the most confounding wine. I've never had a wine that merited such diverse scores. It started out mean spirited and unbalanced before coming to maturity quickly at 12 years old. Then a couple of superb bottles before flip flopping between excellent and somewhat light yet complex and charming. This time a repeat of the time before last. The complexity is still there and the wine is still lovely - it's just less substantial. Blackcurrant and cedar nose with graphite, hot tiles and tobacco on the palate. Yet all from the same case.
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Second bottle of this. Rich, ruby colour. Ripe red and black fruits. A certain sweetness of dried fruits and some liquorish on finish. Subtle earthiness but rather fruit dominant, this bottle. Nice structure but not so complex. Still a nice drink but doesn't show off in the way other clarets of a similar age can, which I suspect is thanks to the very hot vintage!
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3rd of 13, decanted 90 minutes, perfect cork and level, less jammy than last bottle in June 20 and less funky with cleaner flavours, but still at a relatively early stage in its development, should start to drink well in a couple of years, upside, good for 15+ years. F (17.5).
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Deep red/purple color. Primarily cassis bouquet with some minerality. Big, rich dark fruit flavor. Still a little tannic and astringent. Needs 4-5 more years to fully mature. So much youthful rich fruit concentration here. This 2003 turned out very well.
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Dark ruby colour. Decanted for 1.5-2hrs. On nose initially some "earthy funk" which soon cleared way to red fruit and tobacco/cedar notes. On palate this was nicely balanced with well integrated tanins. Black and red fruits with a layer of tobacco and almost meaty base notes. Complexity of structure and decent finish. Clearly not a young claret but also has a long way to go. Enjoyable.
Damn... this was good. In a perfect spot, decanted for 90 minutes. Plum, currants, leather. well integrated tannin and fruit. This has many more years on it but is in a really good window now. this bottle went down very fast
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dark ruby in the glass and after one hour decaning it still is stron on the nose. unfortunately the cork was so wet, that I had trouble getting it out and had to use several tools to uncork this bottle. the wine itself is smooth and has lots of currant and dries cherries, round body and no strong alcoholic taste. a great wine!
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Opened up over a couple of hours after a tight start. Drinking well if you don’t hate fruit, and should continue to drink well for years.
Complex and balanced. Purple/black fruit, herbaceous notes (borderline eucalyptus?), and a pleasant earthy funk. Tannins nicely integrated. An acidic backbone makes gives it energy. Overall a solid middle-aged Bordeaux.
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Slightly corked, not enough to stop us from drinking the wine, but enough to impede full appreciation (though the corkedness faded over the course of the evening). Behind the flaw, the wine was robust, though without the flavor profile (cedar and mint) that I would normally associate with Lynch-Bages. Instead, we found nuttiness, black pepper, and caramel. More acidity and red fruit notes emerged with air. Unflawed bottles probably still have quite a way to go.
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Crimson in color. 13% ABV. Brooding nose of red fruits, smoke, leather and graphite. Medium to full bodied with perfect acidity. Rich, incredibly polished and concentrated. Black cherry, cassis, currants and tobacco on the palate. Tremendous length on the finish with warm, silky tannins. Gorgeous Bordeaux that is aging brilliantly in spite of the exceptionally hot vintage. This will drink well for another decade.
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Do you need to open and enjoy the 2003 Lynch-Bages now? No.
Can you? YES, absolutely.
If you are impatient you can start to uncork your 2003 LB stocking today. Three years after the last one the wine has matured for the better. Tannins and acidity are perfectly matched but it has still the potential to improve. Primary notes on the shy side still, but again, a typical and solid if not very good Pauillac coming into its best years. The challenge for Lynch-Bages is that there are too many great wineries in town producing great wine. For the patient owners, I suggest giving the wine another 5-10 years of maturity so that the tertiary notes mingle with the secondary and primaries. No decanting needed - open the bottle 1-2h before enjoyment - Cheers.
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Wrong pairing - souris d'agneau with tajine spices. Amateur mistake for which I take the blame. So sad for a bottle that was probably excellent. Hence NR.
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Slow ox for one hour. The nose has lots of black fruit with light accents of tobacco and lead pencil. The wine is lush, ripe and reasonably concentrated but it lacks focus and details are being obscured by the oak. I feel this is starting to age poorly after having a few bottles of this earlier which tasted better or maybe this bottle was slightly off somehow
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Drank side by side with 89’ Margaux, and while we all preferred the Margaux as you might expect, the 03’ Lynch Bages held up for sure. Still on the young side, but at the beginning of its prime drinking window, fruit is vibrant and fresh, better with an hour or two of air. Very nice.
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Creamy nose with sweetness (showing a little bit of wood). The palette had faded fruits and tasted a little tired. The tannin was not fully resolved yet. Overall the wine was a little awkward. I expect more from a 17-year-old Paulliac, especially a Lynch-Bages.
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Perfectly matured, archetypical Left bank. In a very hot year this Pauillac is extremely well balanced and complex, offering generous leather, toffee, cedar, sweetness, nicely contrasted by pencil, roast and mentholic notes providing depth and complexity. Wonderful.
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75% Cabernet Sauvignon 15% Merlot 8% Cabernet Franc 2% Petit Verdot from 90 ha of Garonne gravel soil. Manual harvest and sorting. Aged 15 months in French oak barrels (70% new) 13% Abv. 35,000 cases Proprietor: Jean-Michel Cazes
A(ccuracy)=2: Med garnet/ruby. Focused, understated claret nose. B(alance)=3: Close-knit components in harmony. C(omplexity)=2: Cassis, cigar box, tobacco, pepper. D(epth)=1: Firm mouthfeel. Average length and finish.
Wine Tally Score [2,3,2,1] = 8/10
Compact classism.
For story-telling label graphics, see: [https://www.facebook.com/WineTally/] [https://www.instagram.com/WineTally2020/] For a unique multimedia resource, see [https://winetally.wixsite.com/vingnette2020]
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A very hot vintage. The fruits should be bold, big and fresh. Surprisingly fresh, black fruits, medium+ tannin and acidity. Can be cellar > 10 years yet drinkable now.
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Regular dinner group (@ PZ): Beautiful, mature and complex bouquet with pleasant barnyard, licorice, dark berries and lead pencil. Same on the palate. Also some red berries, beautiful acidity and tannin. Really beautiful and great wine.
2nd of 13, decanted 90 minutes, perfect cork and level, more red fruit than March 19 bottle with touch of bramble and cedar, spoiled by slight jamminess though better with food, sense of entering a muddy dumb period, low acid but underlying tannic backbone, hint of playing to RP. Just F (17.5).
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My last bottle. Still some nice dark fruits as were evident in my first bottle seven years ago, but now has some secondary aspects and an earthiness (in a good sense). This has mellowed and is not bold but more elegant. Probably doesn't go a whole lot further from here, but should last at this level for a few more years.
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This bottle was also lovely, last of 4. Still lots of dark red fruit and a beautiful tobacco and cigar box overlay. Decanted. This has softened nicely with time.
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(conf) Mûr, sans être "trop" solaire, complexe, typiquement bordelais et médocain, avec du cassis, du tabac, du cèdre et une pointe graphite, je m'attendais toutefois à plus de vigueur, là où il se montre sur un plateau, avec des tanins polis, une certaine élégance dans le grain typique du boisé L-B. C'est véritablement en mangeant qu'il prenait sa dimension: il était terrible sur la souris d'agneau aux épices douces... A boire dans les 2 ans au vu de cette bouteille.
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9th bottle from a case bought en primeur. Thankfully this proves that last years bottle was an off one and this is much more like the year before, although noticably older. Dark, blackcurrant and bramble nose. Graphite, plums and dark fruits. Very soft, huge length of finish. Complex and beguiling. Later became smokey. It appears to be into its downhill slide so time to drink up.
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Informal gathering, no notes taken. From magnum. This is definitely open for business with a ripe dark fruit profile (but in no way too ripe), intense graphite minerality, earthy tones as well as first tertiary aromatics with truffles and wet forest floor. Nicely mellowed structure with fine tannins and a perfectly integrated acidity. Medium length. Not the most complex wine but well defined and quite harmonious. I was surprised how approachable this was despite coming from a magnum without any decanting. Long life ahead.
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Delicious. Decanted the 375 at home for about an hour, re-corked, took to restaurant and decanted another 30-45 minutes. Wine in the glass was fully opened, expressive, resolved, and balanced. Plenty of fruit, tannins fully resolved. No funkiness at all. Great pairing with beef short ribs.
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Decanted this for 45 minutes before drinking. What a difference the decanting makes. Lovely Cassis flavors combined with fresh and lively expressions of red fruit. Drinking window is in full effect and I suspect this has many more years ahead of it but completely enjoyable right now. Wish I had more of this beautiful wine.
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This time from a 750ml. What a different wine than the 375ml format. Absolutely unforgiving when I popped the cork. With every sip, it took out a ruler and slapped my tongue, punishing me for my lack of patience. Brutal, drying tannins, sour cherry picked young, only the dill pickle nose and fresh cut cedar kept it less than punitive. The bouquet was oddly reminiscent of a Roc De Cambes, which I always enjoy. Fortunately this was not my first bottle of LB, so I know it is always a fight. I went back to my corner, corked the bottle and waited... Day 2, still cracking me for insolence, telling me even 2023 would be infanticide. I retreat. Day 3 After this beating the day before, I drove 3 hours to Long Island, not looking at it, talking to it, using the beach traffic to take my mind off of it. I came back at 1 am and dint even check on it. Glad I did. Day 4, Sunday morning, take the bottle out, pour the tiniest glass, the nose has changed, my heart flutters. take the tiniest sip. All is forgiven! Its dinner time now and I have a proper glass. A beautiful LB in all its glory! Much more complex than the 375 and so many fireworks in al the right places. This is going to be a very fun wine to follow through time. If you don't have a few of these in your cellar, than get some.
If you need to consume immediately, this wine should not be opened until 2025, at least. Otherwise, it needs a lengthy decant. My method is to open the bottle pour out a glass, take a sip and pour it back in. It took a full 72 hours to relax like this. You may be OK in 24 hours in a wide base decanter.
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Wonderful nose of cherry, cedar, and cassis. The palate is a touch astringent, but there’s some nice cedar and fruit. I agree with others; this is probably at its peak. It should hold for 3+ years but I doubt it will improve. 92.5 , but I’m rounding down since I have to choose.
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8th bottle from a case bought en primeur. Slightly disappointing and hollowed out after the last two bottles I rated 96 and 97. The complexity is still there and the wine is still lovely - it's just less substantial. The early bottles were variable so this could be just a case of a less good bottle. Blackcurrant and cedar nose with graphite, hot tiles and tobacco on the palate, where the tannins are out doing the fruit.
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PnP. From en primeur purchase. Cork looked brand new. Deep ruby. Totally open. Lots of cassis but also a touch of pomegranate on the nose. Powerful, tobacco and some soil notes. Very good on the attack, ripe fruit bursting through. Some ash notes at the finish which were slightly distracting. Very enjoyable now but will not be better than this is now so better keep drinking them. After an hour, slightly more muted and less flamboyant. Do not suggest any decanting as the best glass was the first one!
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On the nose rich and very expressive - sweet tobacco, dark fruit, spices, cedar wood. A bit messy on the palate. The fruit seems to be drying out, the acidity isn’t bad, just not very well integrated and the tannins are a little coarse and angular. Drink up. 89-91
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1st of 13, decanted an hour, perfect cork and level - dark, slightly dense ruby, little development; primary cassis, touch of tobacco and vanilla, quite rich, slightly baked, relatively simple if classic; medium/full, nice round flavour, decent length and persistent, generous if not particularly pure fruit covering slightly lumpy tannins, baked if not hot, early days. F (17.5)...luncheon claret with no hard edges!
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The nose is fairly classic blackberry and tobacco. The palate is flashy and a tiny bit hot. There are flavors of blackberries, casis, smoke and cedar with a nice finish. The wine has a robust dark color but appears to now be fully mature and ageing steadily so I would drink up
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Ruby red. Bright bing cherry and ripe plum fruit. Medium to full bodied, with some leather and graphite notes on the finish. Fine tannins remain. Well balanced and a joy to drink now- probably cruising into peak drinking window
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Decanted 90 minutes and consumed over ensuing 90 minutes. Very classic Bordeaux with good structure and yet soft tannins. Ready to drink now. No real rush, but then again it’s not likely to get a lot better. It’s nice to have another handful of these ready.
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Dark purple. Black current, plum. Full bodied and ripe- the sweet fruit is still front and center. Big tannins on the finish. Nice with grilled strip steaks- has gotten a bit smoother since last taste a couple of years ago.
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I found this to be very plain and closed. Hope I didn’t wait too long - JR recommended to drink it by 2013... 2003 wasn’t going to be a vintage that would last because the summer was so hot. A big disappointment.
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From a half bottle. 3 hour decant. Wow. We have a firm second place to Latour for 2003. While missing the kaleidoscope of secondary characteristics of Latour, this wine is amazingly balanced for this vintage or many others. There isn’t a whisper of baked fruit, the alcohol is completely in check. Delicious almost candy like mid palate. Vanilla, does speak of California. If the finish were longer I would score higher but the every sip in between bites of steak are well worth the trip! If you are not familiar with Lynch bages and try this one first, this is not the typical Lynch Bages! If you like this one don’t be disappointed by other recent vintages. They usually take at least 20 years to get this drinkable. Even the spectacular 1989 needs a whole day of air to loosen up.
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Beautiful bottle, but not yet at full potential. Still youthful, with fresh red fruit, herbal notes and acidity in the nose. Balanced, complex palate, cigar box, licorice, toffee, light toast aromas and tannins requiring more time. To be revisited in 3-5 years.
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My rating was really 91.6, so it rounded to 92. Let it breathe in the bottle for 1 hour, then decanted for 2 hours. This was one of the least powerful Lynch-Bages I have ever tasted (going back to 1982, not every vintage though, skipping many bad vintages), but that's not a bad thing in this case. Bouquet faded quickly, the major fault I found with this wine. The tannins were 98 % resolved and very smooth. Everything was nicely balanced, but missing some complexity. Some fruit, with plum & currant, also cassis & earth; hints of spice. Medium-full body, just-barely-less-than-long finish, with the slightest touch of vanilla. This one was at its peak, don't save it more than a year or two. Very enjoyable, but, surprisingly, with some right-bank qualities.
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Very nice bouquet. Nice forest, cedar. Nice fruit as well. slightly acidic hid behind strong and nice cedar. Of course lack of complexity compare to the 2003 Margeaux drank a few weeks ago, but very nice considering what I paid for. YJ said it feels very similar to 2003 Cosd'es trounelle during blind tasting. Nice guess.
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Racy, open for business Lynch Bages. Three hour decant. This is really enjoyable right now although you can tell it will not be a long lived Lynch Bages. Cloying nose. Black fruit, cassis, lead pencil on the palate. Fleshy, exotic body with growing complexity on the finish.
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cheers - brought to a restaurant on my birthday, so didn't have a chance to let this open up....outstanding wine, and appears to have some good years left.....glad I have a couple more.....
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Victoria’s 55th Birthday Dinner (The Black Lion): Broadly similar to previous notes, although this bottle was in a great place this time and drinking beautifully, no sign of any fading and arguably greater concentration. Medium garnet. Pronounced aromas of baked fruit (cassis, plum), dried fruit (prune), oak (clove, smoke), tertiary (earth, cedar, tobacco). Fully developed. Dry palate, medium (-) acidity, medium (+) alcohol, medium (+) body, medium (-) ripe and chalky tannins, pronounced flavours similar to the nose, medium finish. Outstanding. More fruit than previous bottles. Tannins now completely resolved and acidity is relatively low (characteristic of the vintage). Not suitable for further ageing but appears to have greater life ahead of it than I thought based on previous bottles.
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Château Lynch-Bages Vertical Dinner (San Diego, California): This opaque red wine (a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot) offers aromas and flavors of dark bramble fruits, crème de cassis, anise, underbrush and espresso. Full-bodied and with low acidity, it frames its ripe fruit with plentiful silky-textured tannins and seamless alcohol (listed as 13.0%). Layered and dense on the mid-palate, it moves on to a lengthy, smooth finish. This round, delicious Lynch-Bages will last longer than I had previously projected. Drink now-2033.
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Slight bricking at the edges now, the 2003 will not live to a ripe old age but is still very fresh, smooth and balanced. Not the greatest LB by any means, and far from the best 03, but very smooth and composed now, a very nice bottle indeed but not massively memorable.
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Prior bottle was almost exactly two years ago and this wine has held up extremely well, but didn't demonstrate any marked improvements or evolution. Cassis, leather and mixed blackfruit on the nose; perhaps not quite as pretty as prior bottle. Opened roughly two hours ahead of time and drunk over the course of four total hours. Full bodied (13% ABV) with a bit more balance overall than my prior bottles. Currant, plum and soft blackberry upfront with good depth through the middle, but not as much complexity as one usually sees from this producer. Spice notes towards the finish were much more integrated than previously. Similarly, while retaining good tannic backbone, the tannins overall were more fine grained and more integrated than previously. While this contributes positively to the improved balance shown by this wine, it does lead me to conclude that additional aging isn't going to benefit this wine tremendously. This wine should continue to show well for several more years, but given where the fruit and structure are currently, I don't see it developing much in the way of additional complexity and it's already as well integrated and balanced as it can be. Not a blockbuster, but nevertheless, a very enjoyable Bordeaux.
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You need to let the wine breath for at least 2h to enjoy this wine.
The wine looks ruby colored. The legs are medium. There is moderate sediment in the bottle. It smells like cranberry, lime, prune, mineral and chocolate. It tastes like cranberry, blackberry, lime and chocolate. The body is medium/full. The wine has smooth texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has low acidity.
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PnP. At cellar temperature this was slightly muted on the nose, but the black cherry that emerged was gorgeous. Not as much fruit on the attack as most other 03's and in terms of balance it erred just a little on the acidic side, enhanced at the finish. A classy wine for sure but far from the best 03 and further from the best LB. The rest of the bottle we had with beef tenderloin, and if I had not had a glass first on it's own I would have rated this higher (but I am scoring the wine, not the food-wine experience). I am keeping half the bottle for tomorrow to see if it improves, although I am pretty certain it will not. Day2: The bottle showed no further improvement, and decanting for 2h also made no difference.
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Medium garnet. Medium (+) aromas of baked fruit (cassis, plum), dried fruit (prune), oak (clove, smoke), tertiary (earth, cedar, tobacco). Fully developed. Dry palate, medium (-) acidity, medium (+) alcohol, medium (+) body, medium (-) ripe and chalky tannins, medium (+) flavours similar to the nose, medium finish. Very good but not outstanding. Lacks freshness and fruit is starting to fade. Tannins now completely resolved and acidity is relatively low (characteristic of the vintage). Drink this year and next, not suitable for further ageing. Lacks the concentration of fruit and the structure to allow further development, and flavour profile is in any case fully developed. Likely to start to fade.
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Tasted via Coravin in the Blizzard of 2017 vs. a 2003 Pontet-Canet and did it blind for my wife Paula and it was very, very difficult to tell the two wines apart. I am really enjoying using the Coravin because with just the two of us it would be wasteful to open 2 well aged Paulliac's that I had in my cellar since 2006. I pulled 6 oz. out of each bottle and we each got 3 oz. pours and went back and forth while the wind and snow howled outside. A bit of cheese and crackers accompanied the initial tasting. What I've been doing in these Coravin "taste-offs" is sample both and pick a winner and send the loser back to the cellar. Well tonight both wines were so incredibly close to each other it was like splitting hairs. I let both sit in a Reidel glass for 1 1/2 hours to breathe before tasting. Both had classic nose of aged Claret and I won't bore you with details as most of us know what it means. The LB was a bit more masculine and stronger so we decide to send it to the cellar not because it "lost" but because a few more years in the dark would do it some good. The PC was opened and enjoyed over the evening with and after dinner.
Tasted together with the 05 and 88, this is much more classic LB in nose profile. Very powerful, cassis and tobacco profile along with cedar box. Alcohol is just about contained within the fruit. On the palate it has an impactful attack, giving you the trademark LB power but it drops off very quickly and doesn't have the length or freshness or balance of the 05. Fully ready to drink and don't see this getting significantly better over time.
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Brief note: some ripe black currant and cinnamon on the nose. Palate has that 03 heat but tannic. I think this has just entered it drinking window if you like young bordeaux.
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From magnum this was all black fruits and scorched earth. Acidity is low and there’s waves of creamy fruits lapping around the gums. It has a spine of graphite and finishes with plenty of chew.
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Bu lors d'un dîner chez des amis. Bouteille ouverte durant 2 heures avant passage en carafe, ce qui fût une bonne décision. Joli nez sur les fruits rouges, une touche de fumée, belle bouche complexe qui s'est vraiment livrée après 30 minutes et jusqu'à la fin de la dégustation. Vin qui s'améliore depuis quelques années et je regrette de ne plus en avoir. 93-94
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With Christmas lunch and the 1982 and 1975. Tropical and exotic nose typical of the vintage mellowed to more dark fruit and creamy cocoa complemented by soft tannin and undertones of smoke and fennel. Medium long finish. Very fun to drink alongside the older vintages.
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Non carafé. Bu juste après Ridge Monte Bello 1997. Couleur carmin avec reflets grenat, moins soutenue que le californien. Au nez, moins expressif, plus lent à s'ouvrir. En bouche en revanche, il me semble plus costaud, moins dans la dentelle, plus droit. La finale est aussi clairement plus longue. À boire dans les 10 ans, s'est amélioré ces dernières années.
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N'a pas la complexité d'autres bouteilles provenant d'autres millésimes. Primaire avec quelques notes d'évolution mais semble encore très jeune, sur les notes chocolatées. Un millésime de chaleur donc je ne sais pas à quel point ça évoluera...
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Tried alongside much more expensive wines of similar maturity from Paullaic and this was the best. Good fruit and lovely complexity. Tried a year ago as well and it has remained excellent.
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Wow lots of white chocolate oak and coffee, luxurious, fruit is a bit muddled underneath, obviously ripe, structured like Bordeaux, green pepper on the finish which should have told me LB but I called '06 Batailley in Pauillac; I think this should be better with more time, how long I don't know on a vintage like '03.
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DRC Tasting Group: Bordeaux Night (Seattle, WA): Tasted blind. Meaty, savory, dense and rich, with a touch of funk. Fruit forward, this is soft, silky, and dense. Juicy, even. Fine tannins and a persistent finish with a touch of wood spice.
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Did not give the bottle nearly enough time by popping and pouring. It started to really improve after being open but this needed more air. Bad choice on my part.
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Dark ruby redy. Classic paulliac nose. Rocks,minerals and some barnyard. Very structured on the palate. Not a ton of fruit or tannin but still fully coating the palate. Hints of violet with a long finish. Good not great.
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Very dark, big sweet barnyard nose. Graphite, plums and dark fruits. Very soft, huge length and with bittersweet finish. Complex and beguiling. Later became smokey. This wine confounded me by being backward until last year and has improved yet more. I disliked it so much 2 years ago I nearly sold the half case I had left, and now I'm so glad I kept it. Wines don't normally improve so quickly after 12 years (Bonneau du Martrays 1996 Corton Charlemagne is another example). It appears to be at its peak, time will tell, it could surprise me again.
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Showing real signs of evolution in colour. Nose has taken on secondary characteriatics with dried fruit. Slight alcoholic scent. Enjoyable with lamb rump but this is one to drink up and enjoy sooner than later.
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Tiens tiens on dirait, sur la base de cette bouteille, que ce vin se met lentement en place! Carafé durant 30 min. Belle couleur pourpre assez brillante. Nez sur les arômes de cassis, de cèdre, de pain d'épices, de coco. En bouche, le vin est bien articulé autour de sa colonne vertébrale avec de la droiture, de la charpente, sans lourdeur. L'acidité est bien sûr faible mais tout de même présente. Le défaut majeur est le manque de complexité et une longueur plutôt moyenne. Bien mieux que bouteilles précédentes.
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ohhhh Lynch Bages......never had a bad bottle. This one may had been a bit young but opened up beautifully after a 3 hour decant. Notes of underripe cherry, leather, mushroom, and all other things Bordeaux. This would be one to hold for another 3 years before popping in my opinion.
This is really drinking well at the moment. Mature Left Bank flavors of dirt, mushrooms, forest, coupled with an unmistakable elegance. This is easy to drink, it glides across the palette. Sophisticated, good purity. Tannins resolved. Best bottle yet(#3). 93+
Earthy, drinkable, but as an earlier reviewer noted, just needs a bit more of everything. Have had much good luck aging Lynch-Bages, but this vintage maybe not so much.
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Pleasant enough wine to drink, but a little flat and not living up to what this chateau often does. Lacks acidity. Tasted along side Cos d'Estournel, Ducru, and Montrose, this wine came out the clear loser. Will improve, but never be a great Lynch Bages.
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Youthful rich black cherry fruit with leather, cassis flavors, excellent structure, tannins still strong, short finish. Very nice bouquet. Lacked depth and breadth.
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More full bodied and structured than the 2003 Clerc Milon. Beautiful violet, mineral and blackfruit notes on the nose. Lots of dark fruit, currants and plum flavors through the middle along with herbs, light spices and a richness towards the finish. This wine seems to have been less impacted by the warmth of the vintage and showed more classical Bordeaux, rather than California styling. It had very good tannic structure, but fully in balance with the fruit, not drying and showed no excess alcohol heat. Overall, with two hours open ahead of time, it drinks very well at present, while retaining room for some positive future evolution.
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Bouteille et bouchon en parfaite condition. High fill. Carafé durant 30 minutes. Couleur grenat moyen. Nez sur les arômes empyreumatiques, le caramel, pas du tout typé Pauillac. En bouche, l'attaque est plutôt légère, douce, la structure paraît plutôt fine, presque féminine, manquant aussi un peu de matière. La finale s'est améliorée tout au long de la dégustation, devenant plus longue et complexe, me faisant penser que ce vin a encore besoin de quelques années pour révéler tout son potentiel. À revoir.
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At last it has come of age. For a vintage whose wines were able to be drunk early this wine has been the opposite. 6th bottle over 6 years. The first 3 the wine seemed too light. In 2013 it had gained body but was seriously out of balance. Last year improved to 92 points. Now very dark, sous bois and graphite on the nose then plums and dark fruits. Very long, bittersweet. Excellent.
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From a bottle purchased upon release and cellared in pristine fashion, this iteration of Lynch-Bages proved itself to be a worthy vintage. Opaque red and intensely aromatic after two hours in decanter, it delivers black currants, anise, underbrush and smoke on the nose and palate. Full-bodied and with low acidity, it frames its ripe fruit with substantial silky tannins. Despite the ripeness, the wine's alcohol (listed as 13.0%) shows no heat. Solid in the middle and long on the finish, this wine is pleasurable now but also has the stuffing to show nicely for at least another decade. Drink now-2025.
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Excellent. Intensity, length, almost a touch of spiciness. It stood out vs 2x 2004 Margauxs with bro's engagement (Charmant and Dauzac). This was a cracker. Happy to have in cellar, tho would rather pay less than50.
Only one bit of color of age. Lovely scent of fruit. Gentle and soft palette. From a warm year but still a cool wine. However, a bit one-dimensional. Still overall a nice effort.
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An ugly vintage, hot and dry. But I love Lynch; finding out how one of my favorites handled a freakshow vintage is worth the money (at least $120 here). So what's the result? A wine that shows both Lynch and the vintage, as it always does. I find a lot of value in that honesty. The nose gives plenty of torrefaction aromas to start - smoke, burnt earth that might almost suggest Pessac until you take a deep drag and get the deep cassis and mint out of it. Mineral and mushroom rounds out the palate which, for such a hot year, is well balanced. The alcohol is not out of check here. A big wine but not flabby. Still, this (like most 2003s) is tiring when you try to work your way through a whole bottle. This showed well out of the gate, shut down, and then re-emerged at about 2 hours into the decant. By hour 4, it was more typically LB with some violet and mineral drive.
As far as 03s go, I think Lynch has done well. But buying wine from this vintage is generally a matter of intellectual interest and curiosity rather than pleasure. I do not think that there are any real redeeming qualities of the 2003 vintage and am skeptical those who doled out high scores all round...
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Popped and slow ox'd for about 3 hours. Dark garnet color with a bit of fine sediment. Great nose right out of the gate with earthy, forest notes mixed with dark berry and currant fruit along with some cedar cigar box and charred oak. Ripe but not overdone on the palate with similar flavors of black currant, earthy fresh soil and really nice oak treatment. Medium acid, low to medium tannins with a silky mouthfeel and finish. There is no indication of heat or over ripeness in the wine at this point and this showed infinitely better than the bottle I had over 2 years ago. For me, this is drinking beautifully right now with a little air. Consensus WOTN among those tasting it.
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Lush and smooth. This was a very nice wine. The nose was muted, and never really fully opened up over a two hour plus dinner of prime rib. It was excellent with the meal. The most striking thing was the power of the fruit and nice balance, even though tannins were hardly to be found. The finish is long. Strong blackberry, currant with underlying flavor of spice and a hint of tobacco. Drinking great now, not sure it will evolve much more.
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Garent in colour. Leather, cherry, rose petal on the nose. Dark cherry, blueberry, hints of liquorice with well balance acidity. I did not feel the heat of the vintage. Nice smooth structure with medium-long finish. I think it is at its peak now. Very enjoyable.
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Nice, dark rose-red, with a nose that was just like smelling a whole bunch of primroses. There was also a flow of minerals, and hints of buttered toast in the background. Great promise. It is close to drinking a bunch of sweet primroses too, but with bags of supporting alcohol. Tannin is there and will keep it alive for a good few years. I can’t see it lasting beyond 2020, though. On the pernickety downside, I just can’t find anything subtle, and there’s a bit of a hole opens up in the length; it’s gone after 20-25 seconds. But it’s fine wine.
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Decanted for several hours before dinner. This was not quite up to my expectations, with all the flavors of a good Pauillac there but somewhat muted. Same experience on day 2.
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Grenat tuilé, brillant, assez lourd. Joli nez de sous-bois, de fruits rouges et de cassis et de pruneau. Fruits plutôt compotés. Belle minéralité. Attaque racée sur des saveurs de fruits rouges compotés (fraises), les pruneaux et le tabac. Beau boisé bien exprimé. Finale puissante avec de joli tanins bien intégrés. Belle matière. Vin avec beaucoup de concentration, mais très harmonieux. Un Pauillac très typique.
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Incredible Wines at Private Wine Dinner at Collyer Catering (Westport, CT): Opened this at 7:30 AM, decanted at 3PM and served approximately at 8 PM. Tried some about 4:30 and it was really tight still. Was worried it would not come around it time but it ended up being ok. Got some blackberry, pencil, iron and flowers on the nose. The palate revealed some nice blackberry, iron, currant and mineral notes. Certainly a nice wine but definitely outclassed by the two other Bordeaux wines.
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Today is the last day home before taking our one and only child off to university. It’s a bittersweet time of change, challenge, angst and adjustment, but overall, it’s an exciting, happy, energy-filled time of high expectations and anticipation for both the scion and her parents. For her “final decent meal” she elected to stay in for homecooking - “beef, grilled and lots of it. Who knows when I’ll have another good meal,” was her explanation. And for the first time every, the wine selection was hers. She went for the jugular: my 30 year vertical of Lynch Bages. “Damn, baby, that’s cold!” was my initial thought, but quickly pushed aside by, “Why not?! We agreed not to pull any ”one bottle vintage representatives“ in the vertical in order to avoid breaking the vertical. At that point, this ‘03 became an easy choice: hot year, presumably earlier drinking (I never bought into this being the wine of the century palaver).
The color is deep, but not purple; more blood red than anything else. The color is young the bouquet still tight. The initial pour - just a half ounce to wake up the bottle a bit - immediately captured the senses. Two and a half hours later, the bouquet is a seamless potpourri of cedar, graphite, cassis, and tobo box. Across the dinner, the nose continued to expand, but it was never explosive. The mouthfeel is tight and a bit lean, but nevertheless very approachable just now. Loads of rich cassis, tobo wrapper, graphite and mineral. While not necessarily showing much laying now, and still somewhat linear, it will come. Just now the tannins are big and clunky, but the finish is long. Barely a grain of sediment in the final pour and nothing clinging to the bottle. 13% alc. With grilled monster beef ribeyes and mushroom sauce. Highly Recommended.
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Gorgeous, full nose of sweet soil (earth), mushrooms and spice. The palate is also terroir driven, and medium to full in body. There's a good amount of ripe fruit as well as emerging secondary characteristics. Found this in a great spot from a 375 so would suggest waiting at least a few years with standard bottles. This classic Paulliac should deliver for the next 10-15 years easily.
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Like a lot of 2003 Bordeauxs, they are developing more like a California Cabernet and Merlot, due to being a hot, overripe vintage. After just 1 hr of decanting, it revealed all. Still that mineral, pencil lead Pauillac aroma. and not too plumby. Some trace aldehydes that indicates it's not going to get much better. Still, nice core of blackberry to currant fruits and some concentration. Finishes fairly soft; with its ripe style tannins still hanging in there. I am glad I drank my last bottle now; sharing with friends
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Lunch at Angele in Napa. Great lunch claret. In a great place now, but will hold for 5+ more years. Half pony of brett but does not detract from the enjoyment. Nice leather, tar and earth on the nose and palate. Good firm but silky tannins.
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burnt orange, red, in the color. dark fruit, plum, currants, cherry, earth, soil, pepper, new leather, timber, cedar, on the nose. high acid, high tannins, on the finish.
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K&L Bordeaux Tasting (K&L, San Francisco): Deep purple color; nice nose with chalk, slight red pepper, nice core of fruit, but still somewhat reticent and maybe closed; palate has some early black fruits but fades in the midpalate; medium finish. This is very primary and hard to evaluate, but is certainly not drinking as well as it should right now. Would not recommend to buy at this time given its price, and I will wait until at least 2020 on my only bottle in the hopes that it will improve. 89
This is quite nice. Does not show OTT. No alcohol visible, no roasted character. I opened but did not decant, four hours before dinner. Would actually suggest maybe 8 hour decant at this point. But all is in line, nothing awkward or out of place, and this should drink quite well in 5-10 years.
Forest floor, cedar wood, fennel, smoke and cherry liqueur scents start off the concentration of flavor, supple, round tannins and a sweet, finish filled with ripe cherries and crème de cassis. This has certainly improved over the past few years.
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Great 2003 Bordeaux (Wine Road Tel-Aviv): nose: ripe fruity aromas and chocolate notes palate: med-bodied, earthy, some green & herbal flavours, bit below expectations...
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17th Annual Lyon 10 Year Retrospective (The Lyon's Tree House): Back to full throttle Bordeaux, open for business. Cigar box, cassis, plum, black cherry, tar and licorice all vie for attention. Framework is muscular and deep. Blind, I liked it at least as much as a bottle a month ago. 93 on days 2 and 3.
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Amazing - the bottle I had has years to go. Vibrant, fresh, and very traditional. Nothing over ripe doing here, which, considering the vintage, was a very pleasant surprise.
This was a huge disappointment. Decanted for 4 hours. Perfumed nose of violets and rose petals. The palate was short devoid of fruit. Opened at a wine party we threw and Nobody liked it.
Occasional dinner group; Bordeaux 2003 plus some extras.: Pnp. Classical bouquet with cassis, cedar and smoke. On the palate cassis, blackberries and firm acidity. The tannin is not really friendly and refined. This wine is still too young. With some more airtime also green bell peppers appeared. Overall a luxurious bouquet, but on the palate a bit disappointing. I scored it 91 for the moment, but I am almost certain that around 2018 the balance will be better and the wine will score a few points higher.
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PHMG WAG: Tour de France 2013 (Chez Lyon in Eugene, OR): Once again this wine did for us what it was supposed to, given the vintage and its age. Minimal garnet at the edge, it o/w has a deep ruby color. The nose is classic left bank stuff: dark berries, cassis, plum, cedar, pencil shavings, stone, tobacco, and the hint of tar. Palate is similar with moderate intensity and depth. Texture is smooth and the finish is bedroom quality. If you're comparing it to LB's best then you might be tempted to score it less. That's not how I roll; this is a great wine.
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Opened for hour and a half in bottle. Nice nose. Had earthiness to it. Smooth tannins. Brick color. Have had better Lynch Bages vintages, but this went down nicely. Will save other bottle for a couple of years to see how it progresses.
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We really enjoyed this wine, a nice change from the Cali fruit bombs. Seamless and very food friendly, but plenty of 'pop'. Had with Filet Mignon in a green peppercorn sauce.
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You can tell that this wine is well made - but I think the vintage dampened the experience. It tasted too cedary for a Lynch bages, meaning I don't think the oak integrated well causing the entire experience to be "disjointed". Still, the fruit was there - underneath- and the mouth feel was good. It was NOT thin. So my opinion is that like many bordeaux makers, the fruitier/warmer vintages caused less fluidity in the wines - I'd expect more from a house with such a reputation as Lynch Bages - but I get it and think the wine was good, not great.
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A bit underwhelming and outclassed by the Flaccianello drank before this. Still a pretty nice wine though just nothing special. Not bad for what I paid but wouldn't pay the auction price for this. No signs of being overripe just a bit muted on the nose and palate is dark fruit with a bit of an iron element.
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Decanted for 1.5 hours. What a bummer this was. I thought for sure I was going to be a fan of this, but didn't work out that way. Just not my cup of tea. Floral, red licorice, and cola on the nose. A hell of a lot of heat as well. Tiny hint of chocolate, but really overpowered by the cola component. Has sort of a bubbly mouth feel that is not appealing to me at all. There is a possibility the bottle was tainted or re fermented, but the overall balance of the wine was off. Had kind of a tree or dirt like taste to the wine. Should try another vintage sometime. Not a great showing though.
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Dark cherries, some over ripe plums, fragrant nose which was nice, but a bit uneventful on the palate. Medium+ body, more dark cherry, licorice, a few layers of fruit in there, but wasn't a huge fan of the texture of this wine. Felt a bit too much cola-like, and not so well balanced. As another poster commented, I think this is an exception to the hot 03' vintage full of expressive ripe fruit. Not very memorable.
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Sweet nose and tannins. Imbalanced. Not really very nice and certainly not up to usual CLB standards. A good example, though, of what went wrong in '03. A lot of people seem to think hot = rich or overconcentrated. The bigger problem was that some vines shut down in the heat and some of the fruit can actually be underdeveloped.
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2003 Bordeaux Horizontal (San Antonio, TX): I really liked this, although the group was split on LB. Unique, very smoky and spicy nose. Lots of black cherries, cedar, graphite on rich palate. Spicy long finish. In my top three for the night.
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2003 Bordeaux Tasting with Friends (Chez Moi, Paris): Clear but very dark purple, slightly fading to the rim. Clean nose, blackcurrant, cedar, quite sweet, almost caramel. Medium-full palate, lots of sweet fruit, low acid, medium-long finish. Quite a modern style but should continue to develop well over the next 5+ years. 24 hours later: Nose has become more complex and classic - spices, cedar, blackberry, bilberry, still quite sweet. Palate has become rather light, still very soft. Finish is rather shot and dry. Didn't last well overnight, perhaps because it was in a decanter rather than a stoppered bottle.
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Surprisingly nice bottle. Took about an hour in a decanter for the nose to fully bloom, but it eventually did. Light bodied, silky smooth, wonderful fresh fruity nose. Didn't seem like typical LB, but a great bottle of wine. Definiutely ready now, or seems that it could last many more years.
The 5/18 note from another reviewer is spot on, for me. This is a good wine, but it just isn't in the same league with their great vintages, including the '89 and '00.
Surprisingly not as rich as I expected from 2003 but still quite dense. Nice black berries, especially blackcurrant. Quite tannic still with reasonable longevity potential but interestingly ready to drink now.
Pleasant surprise as I found this by the glass (@ Loft Five in Zurich)
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Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux Tasting in Bordeaux (Bordeaux, France): Very dark wine, but starting to show some age on the rim. The nose is medium+ in intensity, lots of dark fruit and some prunes. On the palate it is medium+ bodied with medium acidity and soft tannins. It is quite earthy. This is a very good wine. It is mature, but has some time to go. For me to rate it higher it would need a bit more of everything, especially fruit and acidity on the palate. 2/3 = Good to Very Good
Pop and pour and served with food (grilled leg of lamb). Good color, showing dark maroon. Nose of cedar and some lead pencil. Fair amount of fruit, graphite and cigar box notes. Followed over 8 hours, with food and after dinner. Good but nothing that impresses. Understanding 2003 was a hot summer, I did not find this over-ripe or sweet.
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Dégustation GEEU (Patio): Bouteille et bouchon en parfaite condition. Non décanté. Couleur bordeaux, pas trop brillante. Nez sur le les petits fruits, le caramel, la vanille. En bouche, un peu mou, brûlant, finit assez court. Un peu décevant, mais peut-être en phase de repli, moins agréable qu'il y a 12 mois.
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Dark purple color. Blast of cassis on the nose along with dark berry and charred oak notes. More of the same on the palate with an oaky, dark fruit laden profile. Full bodied wine with medium acid and tannins. Finished short though. Overall I liked this wine but was expecting more.
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This is still an infant - despite decanting 30-40 minutes before serving. Went well with a grilled steak, but will hold the other bottle for at least 4-5 years.
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Very subdued. Some faint Bordeaux perfume but overall quite dull. There was fruit there and decent mouthfeel but seemed closed. May also just be typical of 2003 vintage. Tired. Definitely not worth the price, even it was bought for what is a bargain price of €60 these days! NB: there could have been poor storage problems here - I suspect it was sitting on a shop shelf for 3+ years.
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Magnum. Dark garnet. Overripe dark fruits and high alcohol in the nose but still characteristic inky paulliac nose. Jammy finish overpowers the other elements such as leather and mushroom. Went quite well with an overlooked but tender ribeye with red wine sauce.
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extremely aromatic. Leather, earth, and blackberry fruit flavors. This got much better~ 2 hours after decanting. Medium bodied with enough fruit to make a Cali Cab fan happy, enough structure, acidity and tannin to appease a Bordeaux lover. The finesse of this belies its 2003 vintage.
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Drank in Dublin We had three bottles as it was drinking so well.
Classic claret notes of cassis, earth, tobacco and vanilla. Smooth complex deep and rich mouth with a long length. This is drinking now and is wonderful
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Open into the decanter for 1 hour. On first smell this has some underlying brett happening but it adds a nice earthy/gamey element. Lead pencil and dark fruit along with earth and game on the nose. Over the hour of drinking this really fleshes out and becomes much more expansive on the nose and palate with the brett blending in more. The mouth feel and structure is classic Bordeaux with great fine grained tannins and good acidity. Nice medium finish. As others have said this is ready to go right now. 91-92
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Like many of the '03 Bordeaux's, this is starting to enter into its prime drinking window. The first of two bottles that have been siting in my cellar for a number of years. Decanted for 2 hours before sampling. Typical Left Bank style, it opens with classic aromas of perfumed flowers, sweet dark berries, creamy vanilla, and some spicy currant, underscored with the clear, recognizable Bordeaux funky earthiness and cigar box aromas.
Creamy and structured, displaying a full mouthfeel; extremely complex, and dry, but with dark sweet berries, spicy currants, vanilla, tobacco, and leather flavors. Smooth and balanced tannins that provide the basis of a long lasting mocha laced finish. Excellent wine; I'm looking forward to drinking my last bottle in another 3-5 years. This will drink well for another 7-10 years easily.
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extra fruity, lots of sweetness, very subtle oak, this is all about the fruit. wonderfully balanced and smooth. no harsh tannins here. this is ready to drink and will be amazing in the next 5 years. enjoy !!!
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After 1,5hr on the decanter notes of menthol, vanilla and figs jumped out of the cup. Potent, but with soft tannins. Menthol, figs and earthy notes in the mouth. Could still age for a long time.
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Intense nose you can smell with the glass just sat on the counter! Quite dense core with a noticeable fade starting to develop; intense heady cassis perfume. Graphite and anise. Black currant jam; good body, some unresolved tannins, good fruit- a definite style of fruit not for classicists. Creamy and good density. A very good 2003.
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All of the traditional flavors and aromas of a classic Bordeaux. Some plum, cigar box, a touch of earth, pencil lead, with smooth integrated tannins. So balanced and elegant...a wine with finesse for sure, a complete and still very young wine. Glad I opened it at this stage.
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After a 1 hour decant through the vinturi: WOW! The nose screams Bordeaux w/ dark fruit, pencil, cigar box, and a touch of tar. The texture, balance, and finish are all in that "excellent/outstanding" category. Agree it's not the best LB, but their bar is pretty high! Next in 2 years.
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Decanted 4 hours. Lots of dark berries (currants) and earth tones on the nose with a pretty good amount of oak still present as well. Still young and rich on the palate but with the decant it was very enjoyable and I have no regrets about opening this one with just under 8 years of age on it. Still has a pretty good backbone of tannins but they are soft enough to keep everything enjoyable right through to the long finish. Not the best Lynch-Bages I've have but pretty good considering I only paid $50 for it 5 years ago.
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Patrick Gauthier Visiting 2-Star Michelin Chef & Watsons Wine Dinner (Oyster & Wine Bar, Sheraton Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong): Dense black-red almost opaque but lightening to near transparence away from the core. Nose is immediately very bloody raw meat, ripe red currants, fresh-sawn planks but not very intrusive. Palate is fresh, initially very acidic in a refreshing way then a blast of sweet red and black fruits, rounded...but then very dry sawn plank wood finish that totally dries out the mouth. Slight length but good resonance that promises well for 10 years' time. Very young, unevolved and somewhat disjointed. Got better with extended time in the glass.
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Blockbuster. loads of fresh plum and blackberries in a very structured and intense package. As others noted, huge finish. It seems every 2003 claret i drink i better than the last.
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Appearance: Clear, opaque ruby with paler rims and legs Nose: Clean, showing medium plus intensity and developing aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry, black cherry, liquorice, chocolate, smoke, leather and savory notes. Palate: Dry with medium acidity, with medium plus tannin showing ripe and fine-grained texture. Medium alcohol level with medium plus body, showing medium plus intensity flavors of blackberry, black cherry, liquorice, smoke, forest floor and sweet spice. Medium plus length, with a lively acidity though a bit too high affecting the balance. The ripeness of the fruit is a bit weak but still elegant and expressive. Conclusion: Good quality with a good intensity, complexity and length making this wine particularly enjoyable, though the ripeness of the grapes is not satisfactory which is a surprise given that Chateau Lynch-Bages should put a lot of effort on that perspective. It should be ready to drink within the next 3-5 years.
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Beautiful expression of Bordeaux. I can't even say it was 'well made'. It tasted like it was 'well crafted'. Gorgeous balance of earth, leather, anise. The finish just lasted forever. I was afraid it was too young, but it was drinking great.
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Seemed a bit restrained and less expressive than when tasted a couple times in '08...even on the 2nd night..maybe this one is going back to sleep for awhile.
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Tasted like the first one we opened a week ago. Normal table wine with high acidity. Nothing special. Possibly poorly stored or a fake. I will buy no more 2003s in Singapore.
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Dark ruby color. Cassis, tobacco, and cedar nose – still quite closed. Medium-bodied palate: dark berries, chocolate, spice, and oak. Lots of tannins. Medium-long finish. Starting to pick up a bit of steam since tasting this earlier in the year, but in reality this wine is still far too young to touch. Will this be a classic Lynch-Bages vintage? No, but given some more age it should be drinking beautifully.
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4 hour decant and it was the hit of my 40th. Beautiful nose, classic bordeaux. I am glad i have more of this and I won't open another for 3 years. this is really a nice effort.
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Left in the bottle for 9 hours before drinking. The 2003 Lynch Bages had a dark ruby core with no lighting at the rim. On the nose, there were black fruits, plums, tobacco, cigar box, minerals and it was smoky. On the palate, it was medium bodied with sweet tannins...A medium finish.....Drink now - 2020....
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Bordeaux, Italy and a Burg in Minneapolis: Pencil lead, dark cherry, tobacco, coffee and plum. Dark wine and concentrated. Great finish and showing well now but advise to cellar five plus years. Should improve a few points.
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Ruby-purple color. Initially quite closed, the nose gradually opened into cassis, tobacco, cedar and spice notes. Young, closed, medium-bodied palate of dark cherry, chocolate, oak, vanilla, and spice flavors. Good tannic structure. Medium-long finish. Still young and very closed – this really needs a couple of hours to open up. Will develop nicely over the next decade, for the time being this definitely needs time to breathe.
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Clear ruby wine with a garnet rim. Clean intense, typically claret nose. Pronounced blackcurrant, cassis and some development occurring with a touch of cedar.
Dry med+ acidity with light tannins and med+ alcohol. Medium bodied with medium intensity black fruit. Blackcurrant, blackberries and plums. Slight hint of leather on the finish. The palate is slightly disappointing after the intense nose but the finish is long. (Cathay Pacific 1st)
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Somewhere in Lynch Bages style...maybe LB is very closed in its yought maybe it has to rest for at least 10 years...the most remarkable thing about this wine is that most wines of 2003 have a very big californian style but this wine doesn’t have this taste...strange...seems like LB is always on the light side in its yought...www.everyoneweb.com/chateaujochen
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This bottle was opened and then consumed over the course of 5 hours. Nose was very tight at first, not giving off much. Lead pencil shavings, tar, smoke and tobacco. Palate seemed to open up before the nose came around. Nice medium body traditional claret with glycerin fruit, red berries, toasty oak and spice. Cool balance with integrated tannins. once the nose opened up, this bottle got better. Sweet round red fruits, vanilla and fresh cream mixed with road tar and tobacco. nice bottle that got better with air time but probably needs another 5+ years.
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Deep red. Classic nose of currants and other dark berries. Some oak on the nose as well. Big in the mouth with loads of dark fruit. A good tannic bite tells me that this wine is probably too young. Medium finish. Very nice.
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I know this was opened too early but given how good the 2003 Lagrange was we decided to pop and pour. Classic burnt rubber and lead pencil on the noise, good concentration and just a bloody great wine. Looking forward to enjoying the rest over the years.
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Potent nose of cigar box, tar, blackberries and charred oak. Quite tannic, of course, but full-bodied with a lovely thick, viscous texture. Intense flavors of black fruits and tobacco with slate and smoke. Finishes with gritty tannins but a nice smoky complexity for a wine so young. Tastes like the '82 tasted young but a little more terroir-driven and potent. Time will tell but I really like this for its authentic character even though the fruit is clearly from a hot vintage.
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Dinner to celebrate the arrival of my wines in HK (Crown Wine Cellars): Decanted for nearly 5 hours. Picked up the violets quite early, then a big berry fruit nose, then pepper, then burn. Palate is a bit disjointed, some smoky tannin. this was very volatile and changed a lot throughout the evening.
By the end of the night it was shot through.
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Ordered the 2000 at a very high end LA restaurant and got instead the 2003 which I returned after tasting and realizing the year was not what I had ordered. Didn't have time to properly breathe, but was very ordinary lacking complexity and nose. At $160, would have been a hell of a deal for a 2000.
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Decanted for 2 hours, needed every minute of it to open. Went from uninspiring to WOTN candidate. With time, coffee and palate weight emerged making this well worth the time & effort. Hold or drink w/ long decant.
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Kitchen Tasting Group does Lynch Bages: Dark red color. The nose gives an exhuberent expression of red fruit, mocha, brown sugar, tobacco and lilac/flower. Extremely ripe but very nice. Equally big in the mouth, showing big, soft red fruit, cocoa, coffee and oak. Opulent texture. Decent length on the finish. This should develop nicely with additional bottle age, as there seems to be enough structure to balance out the fruit.
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Tasting Group Dinner - Lynch Bages (JP's American Bistro, Minneapolis): Single decanted for approximately 6 hours. Super-ripe and California-like on the nose. On the palate, this shows creamy, jammy dark fruit, mocha, and dark chocolate. Hard to identify as Lynch-Bages at this point in its development, although the herb/tobacco/leafy flavor signature is there if you hunt for it.
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Bordeaux at Per Gørans house (Stamerbakken, Bergen, Norway): Almost black colour. Delicious nose. Fruity, barnyard, stable. Really good. On the palate it is fruity and with good consentration. But too sweet and there could be more tannins. Quite acidic though. It improved somewhat with air, but overall I am not very impressed with 03 Bordeaux.
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K&L: Blueberry, blkberry (frt driven) w/soft vanilla;grt blueberry tartness w/creamy pie filling; frt focus, rounder, lacks a bit of character, even though a nice wine.
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Served as part of a tasting at K&L. Quick notes: beautiful nose of dark fruit and earth; seems a little primary right now (watery) with a tight finish. I think in 5 years this will be Very Good.
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Opened at my friend Costas home, yesterday evening. A dinner without our spouses. A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Ruby color with almost black core. Classic bordeaux nose, with scents of cassis, cedar, tar and tobacco leaf. Medium-bodied (perhaps it is a problem) with round but still firm tannins. Flavours of sour cherry, chocolate, oaky vanilla, truffle and spices (cinnamon and pepper). The finish is intense and aromatic (perhaps a hint of clove) Good, but I expected more...
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Slightly disappointing, introvert wine. Not as great as 1995 and 96. Notes of berry, citrus, bit of cigar, and wood spice. Young, slight tannic to palate. Lacking good structure, fading at the end. Finish with slight acid and sour aftertaste. What happens?
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good classic Bordeaux ruby color. Light and semi see-through. Nose: nice soft floral, berries, and cherry. Taste: very smooth with cherry, cassis, and blackberry. A very well made wine
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TB: Opened by a friend as part of a Bordeaux tasting. Not decanted, opened 2 hours prior to tasting. Somewhat clear wine showing color similar to black cherry. Earthy nose showing some violet, but clearly tight and not as expressive as it will be. Sour cherry on the palate, but tight once again. Long finish, but this wine obviously needs serious decanting and bottle time.
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Winestreet Does 2003 Bordeaux (Kozlak's, North Oaks, MN): This was initially very closed; two hours after we first tasted it, it had started to open up nicely. Dark maroon color. Pencil lead, cedar, mild spice, and red fruits. Nice balance and acidity. There is a herbal/vegetal streak to this wine, not entirely unpleasant, that reminds me of the 1995 Lynch-Bages.
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2003 Bordeaux (Mouton, Haut Brion, Cos, Ducru, Trotanoy, Lynch, many others): Dark red color. The nose is fairly closed giving subdued red fruit and tobacco. This is much bigger in the mouth, however, showing big, soft red fruit. Much more fruit than structure. Decent length. Note that I retasted this approximately two hours later and it was much more impressive. The nose had blossomed, and more structure had emerged. You definitely want to decant this wine for a few hours before serving it.
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Refer to jdunnuck's review below--spot on. Good but not a block-buster; a bit dissapointing overall, but did improve greatly with food. Just an average QPR IMO.
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Concentrated. Good tannic structure well balanced with acidity. Reticent nose, but very elegant. Long finish. Nice complexity. Fruit somewhat hidden behind structure, but opened out to a very silky mouth after an hour.
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TN: 2003 Red Bordeaux (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux Tasting); 1/26/2006-1/27/2006 (Drake Hotel, Chicago, Illinois): One of the top wines from Pauillac at this tasting. Not as good as the classic 2000 but far better than the 1999. I would put this on the level of the 1989 and 1990 which is quite a compliment in my opinion. Sweet tannins and very approachable now. This wine had a soft and supple texture. Very elegant with tobacco, kirsh and red fruit notes. Moderate bite on the finish. 93-95+ points.
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Has opened up since its rather inexpressive from the barrel tasting. Cassis notes, a tad too much oak derived notes for my taste, but finely grained tannins and a full body. Fine finish as well. Needs time in bottle.
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Inky black-purple very dark and opaque. Nose of dusty herbs. Palate showed medium body, and marked dark chocolate which seemed roasted or smoky -- perhaps some licorice. Low acidity, but enough to balance out the fruit and structure. Good finish with moderate tannins. As you might expect, very plush for a Bordeaux. This will be an early drinker, but not this early. Give it a year or two before trying again.
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Ch. Braniare-Ducru:Some tart berry; full, smooth, nice mouth, tart a’s, big integrated t’s; cigar box, forest in mth, long fin.***Good w/tartness & classic notes.
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4/27/2024 - whitmanlholt Likes this wine: 92 Points
Popped and poured. This is a medium-red wine—the color and texture feel totally age appropriate for a 21-year-old Bordeaux—with some mild sediment cake throughout the bottle. On the rather serious nose, I get damp soil, stones, pencil shavings, and saddle leather. In the mouth, the wine is midweight and focused, showing light red fruit and leaving a lingering, chewy finish. Overall, this is classic Pauillac down the line; I didn’t notice any heat or other issues from the 2003 vintage. I found this wine open and enjoyable today, but it should easily continue to fly for another 10+ years. 92 points.
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4/27/2024 - Turtlerider Likes this wine:
Very barnyardish on opening. I actually thought the wine had gone off, but that blew off in less than a minute. I’d call this classic Bordeaux. Some red fruit, leather, a little tanic. A great companion to the T-Bone steaks off the BBQ, roasted potatoes and roasted veggies and goat cheese. The wine was very good, which was great because I over cooked the steaks…Sadley, my last bottle.
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2/10/2024 - CatCreptIntoCrypt wrote: 93 Points
Fantastic, fully mature Bordeaux. Well-rounded, soft, smooth and sexy.
You cannot go wrong with this!
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12/25/2023 - Kevdog wrote: 94 Points
This wine was at its peak... drank with 05 Lynch and 05 Leoville Poyferre, so I was expecting a relative poor showing due to hot vintage. Obviously it did lack power and fruit of 05s, but they both needed more time in my opinion (LP is a beast), and the 03 was hitting on all cylinders. It was elegant, but still backbone and complexity. Dark fruits still present, a little leather, a nice floral element... paired perfectly with bone marrow glazed prime rib for Christmas dinner. Opened two hours prior, but did not require decanter until time to serve. It opened up much faster than 05s.
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11/22/2023 - NebHeadLA Likes this wine: 94 Points
The wine showed beautifully after a 45 minute decant. My guests were thrilled with the wine as was I.
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9/2/2023 - hitechnomad Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drinking very well. Still has a few years left
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8/26/2023 - billcow wrote: 89 Points
Somewhat indistinct.
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8/10/2023 - Tao wrote: 95 Points
Ripe, sumptuous, spicy dark fruits, with the proper size and scale, the bottle is trying to give you what they've got, a crowd pleaser, looks so easy to drink, but I guess there must be lots of calculations and techniques behind it in order to look that easy. I say, Bravo to the team, you just delivered my ideal Lynch Bages!
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8/5/2023 - DoubleD1969 wrote:
PnP. Another terrific wine in a fantastic lineup. Delicious aromas of warm currant jam, redwood forest. Palate was surprisingly soft and fruit forward but not spirity. Balanced. Voluptuous. No hard edges for a Lynch Bages this young. Perhaps not surprising from a hot vintage. Does it have the structure for another ten years? WOTN #2.
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7/30/2023 - liber wrote: flawed
CORKED.........undrinkable...........grrrrh!
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6/19/2023 - speedywine wrote: 92 Points
Again a fantastic 03 Bordeaux. Opened and decanted 2 hours before.
Even better than the 2003 Leoville from the day, before because of its tasty body !
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6/9/2023 - remyworldpeace Likes this wine: 94 Points
Initially started quite thin and dried out but really bloomed with 60-90 minutes in the decanter.
Darker fruits - dark cherry, blackcurrant, blackberries. Graphite and iron with touch of spice. A certain ash or smokiness on the finish culminating in lovely tobacco leaf and cedar.
Nice mature claret drinking at its peak. Very glad we gave this time as it turned out to be the strongest of the bottles I have tasted yet.
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6/5/2023 - ThompsonandFrench Likes this wine: 90 Points
Some weeks after tasting (with no notes): was slightly disappointed, but on the back of elevated expectations.
Decanted thru rabbit, 2hrs previously. Ok, but nothing spectacular. Towards end of bottle some more interesting characteristics began to emerge.
No hurry for next bottle, and give it at least 3 hours in decanter as and when.
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4/25/2023 - chatters wrote:
En Primeur campaign for the 2022 vintage Day Four (Bordeaux): From Double Magnum. Baked black fruits with a meaty underpin, sweet spice, a little leather. Medium plus intensity acidity (adjusted?) baked and concentrated black fruits; currants and berries, plenty of chalky drying tannins. Woof.
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4/15/2023 - dream wrote: 88 Points
Tasted a bit tired to me and showing some of the heat effects of the vintage. I might've thought it was a poorly stored bottle but we drank it at the Chateau so perfect provenance.
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3/12/2023 - steveiiiiii Likes this wine: 92 Points
Had double blind, managed to call Pauillac, so a lot of classic terroir with good length. Drinking wonderfully with both some power and a lot of finesse. No hurry to drink up but it's hard to see it getting better from here.
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3/5/2023 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 92 Points
Académie des Cinquante Tasting and Dinner with the Académie du Vin de Bordeaux (Restaurant Entrepot, Amsterdam, NL): Walkaround tasting, brief note. Hint of currants, the warmth is noticeable, firm tannins are a bit dry.
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2/3/2023 - amateur62 wrote:
Private dinner (Lynch-Bages 85, 90 and 03): Aged 15 months in French oak barrels (70% new wood). Blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, 13% vol.
Decanted an hour before dinner. We could not agree in the group whether the wine had a hint of TCA or not, so I do not rate it but it was still very good though not at the level of the other wines we had this evening.
On the nose a bit restrained with tobacco, blackcurrant and a hint of stewed stone fruit, on the palate full bodied but with still a certain elegance, smooth tannin and long finish.
Still quite primary and has still at least a decade ahead.
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1/30/2023 - nwebstar Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very stylish and elegant. Presented as a classic vintage bordeaux - no 2003 heat.
Quite chiselled and still fresh - perhaps a little closed. Got better in the glass and a great complement to the food.
Decanted for over 1hr. Deep and youthful look in the glass. Classic darker structured berries and drying earthy tones. Still fresh acidity.
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1/28/2023 - FabesMTL Likes this wine: 94 Points
Really enjoyed this wine. More plush and soft than the chiseled ‘05 had last fall. Classic nose of cassis, cherry, chocolate and cedar. A soft feel in the mouth and an elegant, soft finish that lingers, prefect balance and acidity. More fruit driven, reminded me of a California cab, but not overpowering. Really enjoyed.
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1/18/2023 - burlingtonm Likes this wine: 90 Points
Vertical of Lynch-Bages from 1989 to 2018: not one of the better wines on the night and suffered in comparison to the better vintages though it improved in the glass but lacked freshness.
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1/13/2023 - BlackStar Likes this wine: 91 Points
Enjoyed with RC, paired with braised beef and winter roots.
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1/9/2023 - asgerG wrote: 94 Points
D3h. Dark red, red-yellowed tinged, 5.5. Generous elegant bouquet, ripe dark fruits, pencil, spicy, jasmin, complex. Harmonious palate, mT, m-B, m+A, again ripe fruit, elegant, long finish. Drink now-2035
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12/4/2022 - mwellington wrote: 93 Points
Since first tasted in ‘19 this has mellowed further and softened, but remains a well-balanced and classic, if a bit understated. Remains vibrant. Lots of years left, but drinking beautifully.
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10/3/2022 - Burgundy Al wrote: 90 Points
Rich black plum and currant with faint liqueur and nearly sweet spice, this retains the hedonism of the vintage but easily keeps its balance. Not the most depth or nuanced vintage for Lynch Bages. I think this is likely my first time tasting the wine since en Primeur in 2004.
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9/24/2022 - Twowinechicks Likes this wine: 93 Points
Opened only a half hour before tasting; brownish on the edges and still vibrant red at the core, slight eucalyptus, balsam, and woodsy nose, lighter- to medium-bodied, very dry and smooooooth. Wow. A finish that travels on and on. We tasted this next to a 2005 Morgenster (which was damned good) and the Lynch-Bages just sailed on by. Of course, having a 2+ inch ribeye that we grilled didn’t hurt matters! Knowing that we have a few more bottles to enjoy is very reassuring.
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7/17/2022 - liber Likes this wine: 93 Points
4th of 13, opened 30 minutes, perfect cork and level, really come on since January bottle, attractive big, nicely layered if slightly soft centred, claret, fruit forward (mainly cassis but with nice minerality), hint of unresolved tannin on exit (a good thing), some upside, 10+ years. f+ (18).
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6/2/2022 - Ianjaig Likes this wine: 93 Points
PNP and this opened up straight away with a beautiful, stunning bouquet of blackcurrants and leather. Milk chocolate, black berries with a long lingering finish that lasted a couple of minutes or more. Surprisingly rich, lush and opulent (vintage?), medium+ bodied, juicy finish, lovely balance. This still has a long life ahead of it. Beautiful.
Day 2 and and this has improved even more. More pronounced tannins balanced with soft, luscious blueberries coming to the fore. Lovely wine.
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5/7/2022 - fresso Likes this wine: 94 Points
My first time popping open a Lynch... and I've been waiting since it was delivered on futures back in '06. I have 2000, 2014-2018 waiting in the cellar, and 2019-2021 waiting for delivery. Obviously I liked it. I was surprised by the hint of fruit still showing through in a 2 decade old wine from a good - but not spectacular - vintage. Overall, I'd say the perfect balance, good length, and superfine tannins made this wine well worth the wait. I can't image this vintage improving any with more age, and it's likely at the very end of its fruitful youth, but still will drink quite well for many more years. Served with a prime grade filet oscar and crabcakes: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gfv9ZxDrakzU6HyEA
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4/24/2022 - SWHighlander wrote: 91 Points
Don’t open this yet! Tastes like a 10 year old Haut Medoc. Blackcurrant fruit is still good. Wood is there. Tannins still a bit rustic, with acid and a touch of dirt. Extracted for a Bordeaux, but that’s because 2003 was the hot year of the decade. Not sure how it will show at its prime, but it needs another 5 years if not longer. This was a PnP at a charity event, so decanting might helped some, but really it’s still too young.
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4/8/2022 - wineforth Likes this wine: 93 Points
10th bottle from a case bought en primeur. This is the most confounding wine. I've never had a wine that merited such diverse scores. It started out mean spirited and unbalanced before coming to maturity quickly at 12 years old. Then a couple of superb bottles before flip flopping between excellent and somewhat light yet complex and charming. This time a repeat of the time before last. The complexity is still there and the wine is still lovely - it's just less substantial. Blackcurrant and cedar nose with graphite, hot tiles and tobacco on the palate. Yet all from the same case.
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3/31/2022 - remyworldpeace Likes this wine: 90 Points
Second bottle of this. Rich, ruby colour. Ripe red and black fruits. A certain sweetness of dried fruits and some liquorish on finish. Subtle earthiness but rather fruit dominant, this bottle. Nice structure but not so complex. Still a nice drink but doesn't show off in the way other clarets of a similar age can, which I suspect is thanks to the very hot vintage!
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3/6/2022 - Ricky99 Likes this wine: 92 Points
surprising how young this still appears... wow.. plenty of structure - not sure about the fruit though...
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1/24/2022 - liber Likes this wine: 91 Points
3rd of 13, decanted 90 minutes, perfect cork and level, less jammy than last bottle in June 20 and less funky with cleaner flavours, but still at a relatively early stage in its development, should start to drink well in a couple of years, upside, good for 15+ years. F (17.5).
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1/4/2022 - Sean Tay wrote: 92 Points
Medium nose intensity with notes of red and black fruits, green bell pepper, toast. Medium+ acidity and tannin. Felt that the wine had underperform.
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12/14/2021 - VinhoVerde Likes this wine: 94 Points
Deep red/purple color. Primarily cassis bouquet with some minerality. Big, rich dark fruit flavor. Still a little tannic and astringent. Needs 4-5 more years to fully mature. So much youthful rich fruit concentration here. This 2003 turned out very well.
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12/12/2021 - Frank Schneider wrote: 93 Points
Too young but very promising. Wait 3 years ! 93+
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11/26/2021 - remyworldpeace Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dark ruby colour. Decanted for 1.5-2hrs. On nose initially some "earthy funk" which soon cleared way to red fruit and tobacco/cedar notes. On palate this was nicely balanced with well integrated tanins. Black and red fruits with a layer of tobacco and almost meaty base notes. Complexity of structure and decent finish. Clearly not a young claret but also has a long way to go. Enjoyable.
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9/13/2021 - zimmy07 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Damn... this was good. In a perfect spot, decanted for 90 minutes. Plum, currants, leather. well integrated tannin and fruit. This has many more years on it but is in a really good window now. this bottle went down very fast
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9/5/2021 - michigan66 wrote: 94 Points
dark ruby in the glass and after one hour decaning it still is stron on the nose. unfortunately the cork was so wet, that I had trouble getting it out and had to use several tools to uncork this bottle.
the wine itself is smooth and has lots of currant and dries cherries, round body and no strong alcoholic taste.
a great wine!
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8/25/2021 - d'Artagnan wrote:
Texture voluptueuse, c’est savoureux et d’une belle profondeur, long. Un vin solaire mais hédoniste. Parti trop vite!
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7/14/2021 - SacramentoCharlie wrote: 94 Points
Stellar. Length, Depth and complexity. In a really good place
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6/19/2021 - jonh1 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Opened up over a couple of hours after a tight start. Drinking well if you don’t hate fruit, and should continue to drink well for years.
Complex and balanced. Purple/black fruit, herbaceous notes (borderline eucalyptus?), and a pleasant earthy funk. Tannins nicely integrated. An acidic backbone makes gives it energy. Overall a solid middle-aged Bordeaux.
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6/8/2021 - talbot61 wrote: flawed
Slightly corked, not enough to stop us from drinking the wine, but enough to impede full appreciation (though the corkedness faded over the course of the evening). Behind the flaw, the wine was robust, though without the flavor profile (cedar and mint) that I would normally associate with Lynch-Bages. Instead, we found nuttiness, black pepper, and caramel. More acidity and red fruit notes emerged with air. Unflawed bottles probably still have quite a way to go.
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5/15/2021 - morrisrb Likes this wine: 91 Points
mum liked it
pretty bold taste - did a 1hr bottle air before hand
think for the price there are slightly better bottles around
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4/27/2021 - tomlee wrote: 95 Points
Crimson in color. 13% ABV. Brooding nose of red fruits, smoke, leather and graphite. Medium to full bodied with perfect acidity. Rich, incredibly polished and concentrated. Black cherry, cassis, currants and tobacco on the palate. Tremendous length on the finish with warm, silky tannins. Gorgeous Bordeaux that is aging brilliantly in spite of the exceptionally hot vintage. This will drink well for another decade.
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4/22/2021 - luHar1423 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Do you need to open and enjoy the 2003 Lynch-Bages now? No.
Can you? YES, absolutely.
If you are impatient you can start to uncork your 2003 LB stocking today. Three years after the last one the wine has matured for the better. Tannins and acidity are perfectly matched but it has still the potential to improve. Primary notes on the shy side still, but again, a typical and solid if not very good Pauillac coming into its best years.
The challenge for Lynch-Bages is that there are too many great wineries in town producing great wine.
For the patient owners, I suggest giving the wine another 5-10 years of maturity so that the tertiary notes mingle with the secondary and primaries.
No decanting needed - open the bottle 1-2h before enjoyment - Cheers.
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3/17/2021 - robertek wrote: flawed
Corked...🙁
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2/20/2021 - CarpeDiem! wrote:
Wrong pairing - souris d'agneau with tajine spices. Amateur mistake for which I take the blame. So sad for a bottle that was probably excellent. Hence NR.
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2/19/2021 - mclanew wrote: 89 Points
Slow ox for one hour. The nose has lots of black fruit with light accents of tobacco and lead pencil. The wine is lush, ripe and reasonably concentrated but it lacks focus and details are being obscured by the oak. I feel this is starting to age poorly after having a few bottles of this earlier which tasted better or maybe this bottle was slightly off somehow
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10/16/2020 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drank side by side with 89’ Margaux, and while we all preferred the Margaux as you might expect, the 03’ Lynch Bages held up for sure. Still on the young side, but at the beginning of its prime drinking window, fruit is vibrant and fresh, better with an hour or two of air. Very nice.
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8/30/2020 - eatdrinkrepeat wrote: 89 Points
Creamy nose with sweetness (showing a little bit of wood). The palette had faded fruits and tasted a little tired. The tannin was not fully resolved yet. Overall the wine was a little awkward. I expect more from a 17-year-old Paulliac, especially a Lynch-Bages.
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7/18/2020 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 93 Points
Perfectly matured, archetypical Left bank. In a very hot year this Pauillac is extremely well balanced and complex, offering generous leather, toffee, cedar, sweetness, nicely contrasted by pencil, roast and mentholic notes providing depth and complexity. Wonderful.
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7/4/2020 - WineTally Likes this wine:
75% Cabernet Sauvignon
15% Merlot
8% Cabernet Franc
2% Petit Verdot
from 90 ha of Garonne gravel soil.
Manual harvest and sorting.
Aged 15 months in French oak barrels (70% new)
13% Abv. 35,000 cases
Proprietor: Jean-Michel Cazes
A(ccuracy)=2: Med garnet/ruby. Focused, understated claret nose.
B(alance)=3: Close-knit components in harmony.
C(omplexity)=2: Cassis, cigar box, tobacco, pepper.
D(epth)=1: Firm mouthfeel. Average length and finish.
Wine Tally Score [2,3,2,1] = 8/10
Compact classism.
For story-telling label graphics, see:
[https://www.facebook.com/WineTally/]
[https://www.instagram.com/WineTally2020/]
For a unique multimedia resource, see
[https://winetally.wixsite.com/vingnette2020]
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7/3/2020 - Sean Tay wrote:
A very hot vintage. The fruits should be bold, big and fresh. Surprisingly fresh, black fruits, medium+ tannin and acidity. Can be cellar > 10 years yet drinkable now.
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6/27/2020 - Zweder wrote: 95 Points
Regular dinner group (@ PZ): Beautiful, mature and complex bouquet with pleasant barnyard, licorice, dark berries and lead pencil. Same on the palate. Also some red berries, beautiful acidity and tannin. Really beautiful and great wine.
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6/26/2020 - liber Likes this wine: 91 Points
2nd of 13, decanted 90 minutes, perfect cork and level, more red fruit than March 19 bottle with touch of bramble and cedar, spoiled by slight jamminess though better with food, sense of entering a muddy dumb period, low acid but underlying tannic backbone, hint of playing to RP. Just F (17.5).
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6/23/2020 - gew71walsh wrote: 93 Points
My last bottle. Still some nice dark fruits as were evident in my first bottle seven years ago, but now has some secondary aspects and an earthiness (in a good sense). This has mellowed and is not bold but more elegant. Probably doesn't go a whole lot further from here, but should last at this level for a few more years.
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4/10/2020 - skifree wrote: 93 Points
This bottle was also lovely, last of 4. Still lots of dark red fruit and a beautiful tobacco and cigar box overlay. Decanted. This has softened nicely with time.
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3/29/2020 - Raage Likes this wine: 91 Points
(conf)
Mûr, sans être "trop" solaire, complexe, typiquement bordelais et médocain, avec du cassis, du tabac, du cèdre et une pointe graphite, je m'attendais toutefois à plus de vigueur, là où il se montre sur un plateau, avec des tanins polis, une certaine élégance dans le grain typique du boisé L-B.
C'est véritablement en mangeant qu'il prenait sa dimension: il était terrible sur la souris d'agneau aux épices douces...
A boire dans les 2 ans au vu de cette bouteille.
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2/29/2020 - popopdrops Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dekantert. Meningsløst deilig fra første glass!
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2/4/2020 - wineforth Likes this wine: 95 Points
9th bottle from a case bought en primeur. Thankfully this proves that last years bottle was an off one and this is much more like the year before, although noticably older. Dark, blackcurrant and bramble nose. Graphite, plums and dark fruits. Very soft, huge length of finish. Complex and beguiling. Later became smokey. It appears to be into its downhill slide so time to drink up.
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1/26/2020 - Cailles wrote: 93 Points
Informal gathering, no notes taken. From magnum. This is definitely open for business with a ripe dark fruit profile (but in no way too ripe), intense graphite minerality, earthy tones as well as first tertiary aromatics with truffles and wet forest floor. Nicely mellowed structure with fine tannins and a perfectly integrated acidity. Medium length. Not the most complex wine but well defined and quite harmonious. I was surprised how approachable this was despite coming from a magnum without any decanting. Long life ahead.
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12/25/2019 - Capybara562 wrote: 87 Points
This is showing more acidity than fruit; everyone preferred the 2001 with prime rib.
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11/12/2019 - ocwineo wrote: 92 Points
In its prime with plenty of life. Elegent and nuance this wine held up through a leisurely dinner. Wonderful wine in everyone’s opinion.
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9/17/2019 - Deryl Likes this wine: 94 Points
Delicious. Decanted the 375 at home for about an hour, re-corked, took to restaurant and decanted another 30-45 minutes. Wine in the glass was fully opened, expressive, resolved, and balanced. Plenty of fruit, tannins fully resolved. No funkiness at all. Great pairing with beef short ribs.
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8/31/2019 - TWM Cellar Likes this wine: 92 Points
Delightful. Youthful, dark red fruit. Could easily go another decade. No hint of faults.
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8/10/2019 - rwstorer wrote: 92 Points
Decanted this for 45 minutes before drinking. What a difference the decanting makes. Lovely Cassis flavors combined with fresh and lively expressions of red fruit. Drinking window is in full effect and I suspect this has many more years ahead of it but completely enjoyable right now. Wish I had more of this beautiful wine.
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7/14/2019 - Purple Grillz Likes this wine: 95 Points
This time from a 750ml. What a different wine than the 375ml format. Absolutely unforgiving when I popped the cork. With every sip, it took out a ruler and slapped my tongue, punishing me for my lack of patience. Brutal, drying tannins, sour cherry picked young, only the dill pickle nose and fresh cut cedar kept it less than punitive. The bouquet was oddly reminiscent of a Roc De Cambes, which I always enjoy.
Fortunately this was not my first bottle of LB, so I know it is always a fight. I went back to my corner, corked the bottle and waited...
Day 2, still cracking me for insolence, telling me even 2023 would be infanticide. I retreat.
Day 3 After this beating the day before, I drove 3 hours to Long Island, not looking at it, talking to it, using the beach traffic to take my mind off of it. I came back at 1 am and dint even check on it. Glad I did.
Day 4, Sunday morning, take the bottle out, pour the tiniest glass, the nose has changed, my heart flutters. take the tiniest sip. All is forgiven! Its dinner time now and I have a proper glass. A beautiful LB in all its glory! Much more complex than the 375 and so many fireworks in al the right places. This is going to be a very fun wine to follow through time. If you don't have a few of these in your cellar, than get some.
If you need to consume immediately, this wine should not be opened until 2025, at least. Otherwise, it needs a lengthy decant. My method is to open the bottle pour out a glass, take a sip and pour it back in. It took a full 72 hours to relax like this. You may be OK in 24 hours in a wide base decanter.
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7/11/2019 - skifree wrote: 93 Points
This bottle was a lovely Lynch-Bages, lots of dark fruit and a beautiful tobacco, cigar box overlay. This one exceeded my expectations.
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7/4/2019 - popopdrops wrote: 91 Points
Meget stort behag, men ikke en stor vin. Bare behag er heller ikke å forakte.
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7/1/2019 - rwstorer wrote: 91 Points
A bit different experience from the last time I drank this. Decanted for two hours.
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6/21/2019 - kkleg wrote: 92 Points
Wonderful nose of cherry, cedar, and cassis. The palate is a touch astringent, but there’s some nice cedar and fruit. I agree with others; this is probably at its peak. It should hold for 3+ years but I doubt it will improve. 92.5 , but I’m rounding down since I have to choose.
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5/16/2019 - wineforth Likes this wine: 93 Points
8th bottle from a case bought en primeur. Slightly disappointing and hollowed out after the last two bottles I rated 96 and 97. The complexity is still there and the wine is still lovely - it's just less substantial. The early bottles were variable so this could be just a case of a less good bottle. Blackcurrant and cedar nose with graphite, hot tiles and tobacco on the palate, where the tannins are out doing the fruit.
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5/15/2019 - dchain Likes this wine: 91 Points
PnP. From en primeur purchase. Cork looked brand new. Deep ruby. Totally open. Lots of cassis but also a touch of pomegranate on the nose. Powerful, tobacco and some soil notes. Very good on the attack, ripe fruit bursting through. Some ash notes at the finish which were slightly distracting. Very enjoyable now but will not be better than this is now so better keep drinking them. After an hour, slightly more muted and less flamboyant. Do not suggest any decanting as the best glass was the first one!
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4/9/2019 - rossi.wine wrote: 90 Points
On the nose rich and very expressive - sweet tobacco, dark fruit, spices, cedar wood. A bit messy on the palate. The fruit seems to be drying out, the acidity isn’t bad, just not very well integrated and the tannins are a little coarse and angular. Drink up. 89-91
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3/24/2019 - liber Likes this wine: 91 Points
1st of 13, decanted an hour, perfect cork and level - dark, slightly dense ruby, little development; primary cassis, touch of tobacco and vanilla, quite rich, slightly baked, relatively simple if classic; medium/full, nice round flavour, decent length and persistent, generous if not particularly pure fruit covering slightly lumpy tannins, baked if not hot, early days. F (17.5)...luncheon claret with no hard edges!
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3/7/2019 - mclanew Likes this wine: 92 Points
The nose is fairly classic blackberry and tobacco. The palate is flashy and a tiny bit hot. There are flavors of blackberries, casis, smoke and cedar with a nice finish. The wine has a robust dark color but appears to now be fully mature and ageing steadily so I would drink up
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2/21/2019 - mjf@ulkner wrote: 92 Points
Ruby red. Bright bing cherry and ripe plum fruit. Medium to full bodied, with some leather and graphite notes on the finish. Fine tannins remain. Well balanced and a joy to drink now- probably cruising into peak drinking window
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1/26/2019 - mwellington Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted 90 minutes and consumed over ensuing 90 minutes. Very classic Bordeaux with good structure and yet soft tannins. Ready to drink now. No real rush, but then again it’s not likely to get a lot better. It’s nice to have another handful of these ready.
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1/23/2019 - mjf@ulkner wrote: 90 Points
Dark purple. Black current, plum. Full bodied and ripe- the sweet fruit is still front and center. Big tannins on the finish. Nice with grilled strip steaks- has gotten a bit smoother since last taste a couple of years ago.
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12/27/2018 - WineDoctors wrote: flawed
Corked. purchased at K and L. Will attempt to return.
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11/16/2018 - BeiBar wrote: 85 Points
I found this to be very plain and closed. Hope I didn’t wait too long - JR recommended to drink it by 2013... 2003 wasn’t going to be a vintage that would last because the summer was so hot. A big disappointment.
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10/4/2018 - Purple Grillz Likes this wine: 95 Points
From a half bottle. 3 hour decant. Wow. We have a firm second place to Latour for 2003. While missing the kaleidoscope of secondary characteristics of Latour, this wine is amazingly balanced for this vintage or many others. There isn’t a whisper of baked fruit, the alcohol is completely in check. Delicious almost candy like mid palate. Vanilla, does speak of California. If the finish were longer I would score higher but the every sip in between bites of steak are well worth the trip! If you are not familiar with Lynch bages and try this one first, this is not the typical Lynch Bages! If you like this one don’t be disappointed by other recent vintages. They usually take at least 20 years to get this drinkable. Even the spectacular 1989 needs a whole day of air to loosen up.
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9/29/2018 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 92 Points
Beautiful bottle, but not yet at full potential. Still youthful, with fresh red fruit, herbal notes and acidity in the nose. Balanced, complex palate, cigar box, licorice, toffee, light toast aromas and tannins requiring more time. To be revisited in 3-5 years.
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9/19/2018 - coal9 Likes this wine: 92 Points
My rating was really 91.6, so it rounded to 92. Let it breathe in the bottle for 1 hour, then decanted for 2 hours. This was one of the least powerful Lynch-Bages I have ever tasted (going back to 1982, not every vintage though, skipping many bad vintages), but that's not a bad thing in this case. Bouquet faded quickly, the major fault I found with this wine. The tannins were 98 % resolved and very smooth. Everything was nicely balanced, but missing some complexity. Some fruit, with plum & currant, also cassis & earth; hints of spice. Medium-full body, just-barely-less-than-long finish, with the slightest touch of vanilla. This one was at its peak, don't save it more than a year or two. Very enjoyable, but, surprisingly, with some right-bank qualities.
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7/19/2018 - yjall wrote: 93 Points
Very nice bouquet. Nice forest, cedar.
Nice fruit as well. slightly acidic hid behind strong and nice cedar.
Of course lack of complexity compare to the 2003 Margeaux drank a few weeks ago, but very nice considering what I paid for.
YJ said it feels very similar to 2003 Cosd'es trounelle during blind tasting. Nice guess.
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7/3/2018 - mclanew Likes this wine: 94 Points
Racy, open for business Lynch Bages. Three hour decant. This is really enjoyable right now although you can tell it will not be a long lived Lynch Bages. Cloying nose. Black fruit, cassis, lead pencil on the palate. Fleshy, exotic body with growing complexity on the finish.
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6/14/2018 - franm Likes this wine: 91 Points
cheers - brought to a restaurant on my birthday, so didn't have a chance to let this open up....outstanding wine, and appears to have some good years left.....glad I have a couple more.....
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4/28/2018 - Andrewbdc wrote: 92 Points
Victoria’s 55th Birthday Dinner (The Black Lion): Broadly similar to previous notes, although this bottle was in a great place this time and drinking beautifully, no sign of any fading and arguably greater concentration.
Medium garnet. Pronounced aromas of baked fruit (cassis, plum), dried fruit (prune), oak (clove, smoke), tertiary (earth, cedar, tobacco). Fully developed. Dry palate, medium (-) acidity, medium (+) alcohol, medium (+) body, medium (-) ripe and chalky tannins, pronounced flavours similar to the nose, medium finish. Outstanding. More fruit than previous bottles. Tannins now completely resolved and acidity is relatively low (characteristic of the vintage). Not suitable for further ageing but appears to have greater life ahead of it than I thought based on previous bottles.
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12/6/2017 - La Cave d'Argent Likes this wine: 92 Points
Château Lynch-Bages Vertical Dinner (San Diego, California): This opaque red wine (a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot) offers aromas and flavors of dark bramble fruits, crème de cassis, anise, underbrush and espresso. Full-bodied and with low acidity, it frames its ripe fruit with plentiful silky-textured tannins and seamless alcohol (listed as 13.0%). Layered and dense on the mid-palate, it moves on to a lengthy, smooth finish. This round, delicious Lynch-Bages will last longer than I had previously projected. Drink now-2033.
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11/24/2017 - petenich wrote: 89 Points
Not improved at all from 2015 tasting, just no stuffing. Oh well.
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9/2/2017 - MrBrege wrote: 93 Points
Slight bricking at the edges now, the 2003 will not live to a ripe old age but is still very fresh, smooth and balanced. Not the greatest LB by any means, and far from the best 03, but very smooth and composed now, a very nice bottle indeed but not massively memorable.
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8/7/2017 - lord_byron Likes this wine: 90 Points
Nothing special. Pretty flat in nose. Smooth enough not to be overly disappointed
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7/25/2017 - RGCM Gananda Likes this wine: 92 Points
Prior bottle was almost exactly two years ago and this wine has held up extremely well, but didn't demonstrate any marked improvements or evolution. Cassis, leather and mixed blackfruit on the nose; perhaps not quite as pretty as prior bottle. Opened roughly two hours ahead of time and drunk over the course of four total hours. Full bodied (13% ABV) with a bit more balance overall than my prior bottles. Currant, plum and soft blackberry upfront with good depth through the middle, but not as much complexity as one usually sees from this producer. Spice notes towards the finish were much more integrated than previously. Similarly, while retaining good tannic backbone, the tannins overall were more fine grained and more integrated than previously. While this contributes positively to the improved balance shown by this wine, it does lead me to conclude that additional aging isn't going to benefit this wine tremendously. This wine should continue to show well for several more years, but given where the fruit and structure are currently, I don't see it developing much in the way of additional complexity and it's already as well integrated and balanced as it can be. Not a blockbuster, but nevertheless, a very enjoyable Bordeaux.
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6/18/2017 - luHar1423 Likes this wine: 93 Points
You need to let the wine breath for at least 2h to enjoy this wine.
The wine looks ruby colored. The legs are medium. There is moderate sediment in the bottle. It smells like cranberry, lime, prune, mineral and chocolate. It tastes like cranberry, blackberry, lime and chocolate. The body is medium/full. The wine has smooth texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has low acidity.
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6/11/2017 - MrBrege wrote: 91 Points
PnP. At cellar temperature this was slightly muted on the nose, but the black cherry that emerged was gorgeous. Not as much fruit on the attack as most other 03's and in terms of balance it erred just a little on the acidic side, enhanced at the finish. A classy wine for sure but far from the best 03 and further from the best LB. The rest of the bottle we had with beef tenderloin, and if I had not had a glass first on it's own I would have rated this higher (but I am scoring the wine, not the food-wine experience). I am keeping half the bottle for tomorrow to see if it improves, although I am pretty certain it will not.
Day2: The bottle showed no further improvement, and decanting for 2h also made no difference.
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5/21/2017 - ThalesGaspar Likes this wine: 94 Points
Delicious. Garnet colour, intense bouquet, at a great spot, good balance between fruit and earth, soft tannins. Ready to drink.
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4/16/2017 - Andrewbdc wrote: 90 Points
Medium garnet. Medium (+) aromas of baked fruit (cassis, plum), dried fruit (prune), oak (clove, smoke), tertiary (earth, cedar, tobacco). Fully developed. Dry palate, medium (-) acidity, medium (+) alcohol, medium (+) body, medium (-) ripe and chalky tannins, medium (+) flavours similar to the nose, medium finish. Very good but not outstanding. Lacks freshness and fruit is starting to fade. Tannins now completely resolved and acidity is relatively low (characteristic of the vintage). Drink this year and next, not suitable for further ageing. Lacks the concentration of fruit and the structure to allow further development, and flavour profile is in any case fully developed. Likely to start to fade.
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3/14/2017 - Arch57 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasted via Coravin in the Blizzard of 2017 vs. a 2003 Pontet-Canet and did it blind for my wife Paula and it was very, very difficult to tell the two wines apart. I am really enjoying using the Coravin because with just the two of us it would be wasteful to open 2 well aged Paulliac's that I had in my cellar since 2006. I pulled 6 oz. out of each bottle and we each got 3 oz. pours and went back and forth while the wind and snow howled outside. A bit of cheese and crackers accompanied the initial tasting.
What I've been doing in these Coravin "taste-offs" is sample both and pick a winner and send the loser back to the cellar. Well tonight both wines were so incredibly close to each other it was like splitting hairs. I let both sit in a Reidel glass for 1 1/2 hours to breathe before tasting. Both had classic nose of aged Claret and I won't bore you with details as most of us know what it means. The LB was a bit more masculine and stronger so we decide to send it to the cellar not because it "lost" but because a few more years in the dark would do it some good. The PC was opened and enjoyed over the evening with and after dinner.
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3/12/2017 - ManhattanBeach Likes this wine: 91 Points
PnP; would have benefited from a bit more air. But very nice, all in balance, in a good place for drinking
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3/4/2017 - dchain wrote: 90 Points
Tasted together with the 05 and 88, this is much more classic LB in nose profile. Very powerful, cassis and tobacco profile along with cedar box. Alcohol is just about contained within the fruit. On the palate it has an impactful attack, giving you the trademark LB power but it drops off very quickly and doesn't have the length or freshness or balance of the 05. Fully ready to drink and don't see this getting significantly better over time.
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3/2/2017 - fcxj wrote: 86 Points
Disconcerting sweet spice aromas.
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3/2/2017 - Burgnick wrote:
Brief note: some ripe black currant and cinnamon on the nose. Palate has that 03 heat but tannic. I think this has just entered it drinking window if you like young bordeaux.
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2/11/2017 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
From magnum this was all black fruits and scorched earth. Acidity is low and there’s waves of creamy fruits lapping around the gums. It has a spine of graphite and finishes with plenty of chew.
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1/27/2017 - Ericsson wrote: 93 Points
Bu lors d'un dîner chez des amis.
Bouteille ouverte durant 2 heures avant passage en carafe, ce qui fût une bonne décision.
Joli nez sur les fruits rouges, une touche de fumée, belle bouche complexe qui s'est vraiment livrée après 30 minutes et jusqu'à la fin de la dégustation.
Vin qui s'améliore depuis quelques années et je regrette de ne plus en avoir.
93-94
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12/25/2016 - billcow Likes this wine: 92 Points
With Christmas lunch and the 1982 and 1975. Tropical and exotic nose typical of the vintage mellowed to more dark fruit and creamy cocoa complemented by soft tannin and undertones of smoke and fennel. Medium long finish. Very fun to drink alongside the older vintages.
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12/23/2016 - quagland Likes this wine:
Better showing this time around. More balanced. Wonderful nose. Nice little coffee thing going on at the end.
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11/10/2016 - larsth wrote: 92 Points
Ready to go. Good fruit, elegant and with soft tannins. Tobacco, licorice and cedar.
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10/31/2016 - rkies Likes this wine:
Delicious ready to drink
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10/30/2016 - Ericsson wrote: 92 Points
Non carafé. Bu juste après Ridge Monte Bello 1997.
Couleur carmin avec reflets grenat, moins soutenue que le californien.
Au nez, moins expressif, plus lent à s'ouvrir. En bouche en revanche, il me semble plus costaud, moins dans la dentelle, plus droit. La finale est aussi clairement plus longue.
À boire dans les 10 ans, s'est amélioré ces dernières années.
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10/5/2016 - Ricky99 wrote: 91 Points
exceptionally light at open... developed nicely in the glass and drinking fine... not the biggest wine still but soft and full of finesse
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9/21/2016 - Mazy Likes this wine: 90 Points
N'a pas la complexité d'autres bouteilles provenant d'autres millésimes. Primaire avec quelques notes d'évolution mais semble encore très jeune, sur les notes chocolatées. Un millésime de chaleur donc je ne sais pas à quel point ça évoluera...
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8/28/2016 - Sonoffalstaff wrote: 91 Points
Another very good bottle. Consistent with notes below. Didn't quite shine as well as I would have expected with grouse.
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8/7/2016 - lord_byron Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drinks perfectly. Light, no acidity whatsoever. So pleasurable. Don't think it will improve much from there but smoothness is optimal.
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7/9/2016 - Sonoffalstaff wrote: 92 Points
Tried alongside much more expensive wines of similar maturity from Paullaic and this was the best. Good fruit and lovely complexity. Tried a year ago as well and it has remained excellent.
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6/12/2016 - boreddoughboy wrote: 90 Points
Leather tobacco and spice. Typical Lynch Bages. Somewhat mellowed. Enjoying it now.
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5/17/2016 - Rezy13 wrote:
Wow lots of white chocolate oak and coffee, luxurious, fruit is a bit muddled underneath, obviously ripe, structured like Bordeaux, green pepper on the finish which should have told me LB but I called '06 Batailley in Pauillac; I think this should be better with more time, how long I don't know on a vintage like '03.
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5/2/2016 - dpolivy wrote: 92 Points
DRC Tasting Group: Bordeaux Night (Seattle, WA): Tasted blind. Meaty, savory, dense and rich, with a touch of funk. Fruit forward, this is soft, silky, and dense. Juicy, even. Fine tannins and a persistent finish with a touch of wood spice.
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4/19/2016 - moben wrote: 88 Points
Fading?
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4/9/2016 - rrNYC Likes this wine: 91 Points
Did not give the bottle nearly enough time by popping and pouring. It started to really improve after being open but this needed more air. Bad choice on my part.
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3/7/2016 - jnocera Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dark ruby redy. Classic paulliac nose. Rocks,minerals and some barnyard. Very structured on the palate. Not a ton of fruit or tannin but still fully coating the palate. Hints of violet with a long finish. Good not great.
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3/4/2016 - wineforth Likes this wine: 97 Points
Very dark, big sweet barnyard nose. Graphite, plums and dark fruits. Very soft, huge length and with bittersweet finish. Complex and beguiling. Later became smokey. This wine confounded me by being backward until last year and has improved yet more. I disliked it so much 2 years ago I nearly sold the half case I had left, and now I'm so glad I kept it. Wines don't normally improve so quickly after 12 years (Bonneau du Martrays 1996 Corton Charlemagne is another example). It appears to be at its peak, time will tell, it could surprise me again.
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2/13/2016 - HongKongPhooey Likes this wine: 90 Points
Showing real signs of evolution in colour. Nose has taken on secondary characteriatics with dried fruit. Slight alcoholic scent. Enjoyable with lamb rump but this is one to drink up and enjoy sooner than later.
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2/13/2016 - broadband013 wrote: 91 Points
Belle longueur, très agréable, assez typique. Apogée à mon avis
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1/8/2016 - Ericsson wrote: 92 Points
Tiens tiens on dirait, sur la base de cette bouteille, que ce vin se met lentement en place!
Carafé durant 30 min. Belle couleur pourpre assez brillante. Nez sur les arômes de cassis, de cèdre, de pain d'épices, de coco. En bouche, le vin est bien articulé autour de sa colonne vertébrale avec de la droiture, de la charpente, sans lourdeur. L'acidité est bien sûr faible mais tout de même présente.
Le défaut majeur est le manque de complexité et une longueur plutôt moyenne.
Bien mieux que bouteilles précédentes.
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1/3/2016 - Nekodab wrote: 94 Points
Great but not the best of lynch by any means.
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12/31/2015 - Vitisvinifera Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wet tobacco, cassis, floral on the nose. Medium length, beautifully balanced, tannins still prevalent. Very enjoyable, high quality.
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12/18/2015 - A_Fiori87 wrote: 93 Points
ohhhh Lynch Bages......never had a bad bottle. This one may had been a bit young but opened up beautifully after a 3 hour decant. Notes of underripe cherry, leather, mushroom, and all other things Bordeaux. This would be one to hold for another 3 years before popping in my opinion.
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12/16/2015 - JS199 wrote: 93 Points
This is really drinking well at the moment. Mature Left Bank flavors of dirt, mushrooms, forest, coupled with an unmistakable elegance. This is easy to drink, it glides across the palette. Sophisticated, good purity. Tannins resolved. Best bottle yet(#3). 93+
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12/2/2015 - petenich wrote: 90 Points
Earthy, drinkable, but as an earlier reviewer noted, just needs a bit more of everything. Have had much good luck aging Lynch-Bages, but this vintage maybe not so much.
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9/21/2015 - melzar wrote: 91 Points
Pleasant enough wine to drink, but a little flat and not living up to what this chateau often does. Lacks acidity. Tasted along side Cos d'Estournel, Ducru, and Montrose, this wine came out the clear loser. Will improve, but never be a great Lynch Bages.
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9/20/2015 - sunalsorises wrote: 90 Points
A bit tight at first. Opened up to show nice balance of fruit and tannins. Lacks depth on the finish. Very pleasant to drink.
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8/20/2015 - Amerique wrote: 90 Points
Youthful rich black cherry fruit with leather, cassis flavors, excellent structure, tannins still strong, short finish. Very nice bouquet. Lacked depth and breadth.
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7/28/2015 - RGCM Gananda Likes this wine: 92 Points
More full bodied and structured than the 2003 Clerc Milon. Beautiful violet, mineral and blackfruit notes on the nose. Lots of dark fruit, currants and plum flavors through the middle along with herbs, light spices and a richness towards the finish. This wine seems to have been less impacted by the warmth of the vintage and showed more classical Bordeaux, rather than California styling. It had very good tannic structure, but fully in balance with the fruit, not drying and showed no excess alcohol heat. Overall, with two hours open ahead of time, it drinks very well at present, while retaining room for some positive future evolution.
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7/25/2015 - Ericsson wrote: 90 Points
Bouteille et bouchon en parfaite condition. High fill. Carafé durant 30 minutes.
Couleur grenat moyen. Nez sur les arômes empyreumatiques, le caramel, pas du tout typé Pauillac.
En bouche, l'attaque est plutôt légère, douce, la structure paraît plutôt fine, presque féminine, manquant aussi un peu de matière.
La finale s'est améliorée tout au long de la dégustation, devenant plus longue et complexe, me faisant penser que ce vin a encore besoin de quelques années pour révéler tout son potentiel. À revoir.
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6/19/2015 - TimothyJames wrote: 92 Points
First bottle tasted. Decanted for only an hour. Textbook Pauillac. Lots of dark fruit. Has a few more years.
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5/31/2015 - wineforth Likes this wine: 96 Points
At last it has come of age. For a vintage whose wines were able to be drunk early this wine has been the opposite. 6th bottle over 6 years. The first 3 the wine seemed too light. In 2013 it had gained body but was seriously out of balance. Last year improved to 92 points. Now very dark, sous bois and graphite on the nose then plums and dark fruits. Very long, bittersweet. Excellent.
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4/30/2015 - La Cave d'Argent Likes this wine: 93 Points
From a bottle purchased upon release and cellared in pristine fashion, this iteration of Lynch-Bages proved itself to be a worthy vintage. Opaque red and intensely aromatic after two hours in decanter, it delivers black currants, anise, underbrush and smoke on the nose and palate. Full-bodied and with low acidity, it frames its ripe fruit with substantial silky tannins. Despite the ripeness, the wine's alcohol (listed as 13.0%) shows no heat. Solid in the middle and long on the finish, this wine is pleasurable now but also has the stuffing to show nicely for at least another decade. Drink now-2025.
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4/17/2015 - Too much practice. wrote: 93 Points
Excellent. Intensity, length, almost a touch of spiciness. It stood out vs 2x 2004 Margauxs with bro's engagement (Charmant and Dauzac). This was a cracker. Happy to have in cellar, tho would rather pay less than50.
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3/11/2015 - thass Likes this wine: 90 Points
Only one bit of color of age. Lovely scent of fruit. Gentle and soft palette. From a warm year but still a cool wine. However, a bit one-dimensional. Still overall a nice effort.
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3/8/2015 - englishman's claret wrote: 93 Points
An ugly vintage, hot and dry. But I love Lynch; finding out how one of my favorites handled a freakshow vintage is worth the money (at least $120 here). So what's the result? A wine that shows both Lynch and the vintage, as it always does. I find a lot of value in that honesty. The nose gives plenty of torrefaction aromas to start - smoke, burnt earth that might almost suggest Pessac until you take a deep drag and get the deep cassis and mint out of it. Mineral and mushroom rounds out the palate which, for such a hot year, is well balanced. The alcohol is not out of check here. A big wine but not flabby. Still, this (like most 2003s) is tiring when you try to work your way through a whole bottle. This showed well out of the gate, shut down, and then re-emerged at about 2 hours into the decant. By hour 4, it was more typically LB with some violet and mineral drive.
As far as 03s go, I think Lynch has done well. But buying wine from this vintage is generally a matter of intellectual interest and curiosity rather than pleasure. I do not think that there are any real redeeming qualities of the 2003 vintage and am skeptical those who doled out high scores all round...
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3/7/2015 - Rich S Likes this wine: 94 Points
Popped and slow ox'd for about 3 hours. Dark garnet color with a bit of fine sediment. Great nose right out of the gate with earthy, forest notes mixed with dark berry and currant fruit along with some cedar cigar box and charred oak. Ripe but not overdone on the palate with similar flavors of black currant, earthy fresh soil and really nice oak treatment. Medium acid, low to medium tannins with a silky mouthfeel and finish. There is no indication of heat or over ripeness in the wine at this point and this showed infinitely better than the bottle I had over 2 years ago. For me, this is drinking beautifully right now with a little air. Consensus WOTN among those tasting it.
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3/2/2015 - lhillberg Likes this wine: 94 Points
Lush and smooth. This was a very nice wine. The nose was muted, and never really fully opened up over a two hour plus dinner of prime rib. It was excellent with the meal. The most striking thing was the power of the fruit and nice balance, even though tannins were hardly to be found. The finish is long. Strong blackberry, currant with underlying flavor of spice and a hint of tobacco. Drinking great now, not sure it will evolve much more.
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2/7/2015 - R. Hung wrote: 93 Points
Garent in colour. Leather, cherry, rose petal on the nose. Dark cherry, blueberry, hints of liquorice with well balance acidity. I did not feel the heat of the vintage. Nice smooth structure with medium-long finish. I think it is at its peak now. Very enjoyable.
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2/1/2015 - JS199 wrote: 92 Points
I enjoyed this, but not a Lynch from a good year. Subtle earthy flavors that fan out over a couple hours. Very smooth, the tannins are in check.
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1/11/2015 - jhtswhiteley Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nice, dark rose-red, with a nose that was just like smelling a whole bunch of primroses. There was also a flow of minerals, and hints of buttered toast in the background. Great promise. It is close to drinking a bunch of sweet primroses too, but with bags of supporting alcohol. Tannin is there and will keep it alive for a good few years. I can’t see it lasting beyond 2020, though. On the pernickety downside, I just can’t find anything subtle, and there’s a bit of a hole opens up in the length; it’s gone after 20-25 seconds. But it’s fine wine.
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12/26/2014 - skifree wrote: 91 Points
Decanted for several hours before dinner. This was not quite up to my expectations, with all the flavors of a good Pauillac there but somewhat muted. Same experience on day 2.
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10/22/2014 - RayOB wrote: 93 Points
Drank in London
This really is drinking well. Quite complex and great length for such a hot vintage. Great stuff.
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10/15/2014 - OW_SOSPEL Likes this wine: 90 Points
Grenat tuilé, brillant, assez lourd.
Joli nez de sous-bois, de fruits rouges et de cassis et de pruneau. Fruits plutôt compotés. Belle minéralité.
Attaque racée sur des saveurs de fruits rouges compotés (fraises), les pruneaux et le tabac. Beau boisé bien exprimé.
Finale puissante avec de joli tanins bien intégrés. Belle matière.
Vin avec beaucoup de concentration, mais très harmonieux. Un Pauillac très typique.
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10/10/2014 - slywka7 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Incredible Wines at Private Wine Dinner at Collyer Catering (Westport, CT): Opened this at 7:30 AM, decanted at 3PM and served approximately at 8 PM. Tried some about 4:30 and it was really tight still. Was worried it would not come around it time but it ended up being ok. Got some blackberry, pencil, iron and flowers on the nose. The palate revealed some nice blackberry, iron, currant and mineral notes. Certainly a nice wine but definitely outclassed by the two other Bordeaux wines.
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8/21/2014 - fdub Likes this wine: 92 Points
Nice lunch claret. Opened up wonderfully over the course of the meal. Great spice, licorice, cedar and dark fruit elements. Eminently drinkable.
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8/20/2014 - timewithwine wrote:
Today is the last day home before taking our one and only child off to university. It’s a bittersweet time of change, challenge, angst and adjustment, but overall, it’s an exciting, happy, energy-filled time of high expectations and anticipation for both the scion and her parents. For her “final decent meal” she elected to stay in for homecooking - “beef, grilled and lots of it. Who knows when I’ll have another good meal,” was her explanation. And for the first time every, the wine selection was hers. She went for the jugular: my 30 year vertical of Lynch Bages. “Damn, baby, that’s cold!” was my initial thought, but quickly pushed aside by, “Why not?! We agreed not to pull any ”one bottle vintage representatives“ in the vertical in order to avoid breaking the vertical. At that point, this ‘03 became an easy choice: hot year, presumably earlier drinking (I never bought into this being the wine of the century palaver).
The color is deep, but not purple; more blood red than anything else. The color is young the bouquet still tight. The initial pour - just a half ounce to wake up the bottle a bit - immediately captured the senses. Two and a half hours later, the bouquet is a seamless potpourri of cedar, graphite, cassis, and tobo box. Across the dinner, the nose continued to expand, but it was never explosive. The mouthfeel is tight and a bit lean, but nevertheless very approachable just now. Loads of rich cassis, tobo wrapper, graphite and mineral. While not necessarily showing much laying now, and still somewhat linear, it will come. Just now the tannins are big and clunky, but the finish is long. Barely a grain of sediment in the final pour and nothing clinging to the bottle. 13% alc. With grilled monster beef ribeyes and mushroom sauce. Highly Recommended.
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7/5/2014 - Robert Pavlovich Likes this wine:
Gorgeous, full nose of sweet soil (earth), mushrooms and spice. The palate is also terroir driven, and medium to full in body. There's a good amount of ripe fruit as well as emerging secondary characteristics. Found this in a great spot from a 375 so would suggest waiting at least a few years with standard bottles. This classic Paulliac should deliver for the next 10-15 years easily.
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3/23/2014 - Winemaker51 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Like a lot of 2003 Bordeauxs, they are developing more like a California Cabernet and Merlot, due to being a hot, overripe vintage. After just 1 hr of decanting, it revealed all. Still that mineral, pencil lead Pauillac aroma. and not too plumby. Some trace aldehydes that indicates it's not going to get much better. Still, nice core of blackberry to currant fruits and some concentration. Finishes fairly soft; with its ripe style tannins still hanging in there. I am glad I drank my last bottle now; sharing with friends
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3/8/2014 - fdub Likes this wine: 92 Points
Lunch at Angele in Napa. Great lunch claret. In a great place now, but will hold for 5+ more years. Half pony of brett but does not detract from the enjoyment. Nice leather, tar and earth on the nose and palate. Good firm but silky tannins.
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2/8/2014 - affordableCollector wrote: 91 Points
burnt orange, red, in the color. dark fruit, plum, currants, cherry, earth, soil, pepper, new leather, timber, cedar, on the nose. high acid, high tannins, on the finish.
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2/8/2014 - aagrawal wrote: 89 Points
K&L Bordeaux Tasting (K&L, San Francisco): Deep purple color; nice nose with chalk, slight red pepper, nice core of fruit, but still somewhat reticent and maybe closed; palate has some early black fruits but fades in the midpalate; medium finish. This is very primary and hard to evaluate, but is certainly not drinking as well as it should right now. Would not recommend to buy at this time given its price, and I will wait until at least 2020 on my only bottle in the hopes that it will improve. 89
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1/2/2014 - sleepyhaus wrote:
This is quite nice. Does not show OTT. No alcohol visible, no roasted character. I opened but did not decant, four hours before dinner. Would actually suggest maybe 8 hour decant at this point. But all is in line, nothing awkward or out of place, and this should drink quite well in 5-10 years.
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12/18/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 93 Points
Forest floor, cedar wood, fennel, smoke and cherry liqueur scents start off the concentration of flavor, supple, round tannins and a sweet, finish filled with ripe cherries and crème de cassis. This has certainly improved over the past few years.
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11/12/2013 - Yagil wrote: 91 Points
Great 2003 Bordeaux (Wine Road Tel-Aviv): nose: ripe fruity aromas and chocolate notes
palate: med-bodied, earthy, some green & herbal flavours, bit below expectations...
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11/3/2013 - Grinner wrote: 94 Points
17th Annual Lyon 10 Year Retrospective (The Lyon's Tree House): Back to full throttle Bordeaux, open for business. Cigar box, cassis, plum, black cherry, tar and licorice all vie for attention. Framework is muscular and deep. Blind, I liked it at least as much as a bottle a month ago. 93 on days 2 and 3.
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10/27/2013 - Nacnud wrote:
Amazing - the bottle I had has years to go. Vibrant, fresh, and very traditional. Nothing over ripe doing here, which, considering the vintage, was a very pleasant surprise.
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10/22/2013 - brian przyzycki wrote: 88 Points
This was a huge disappointment. Decanted for 4 hours. Perfumed nose of violets and rose petals. The palate was short devoid of fruit. Opened at a wine party we threw and Nobody liked it.
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10/11/2013 - Strikermax wrote: 90 Points
In de geur chocolade en gebrande noten. In de mond scherp, hard, branderig. Weinig balans, veel te jong. 90+
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10/11/2013 - Zweder wrote: 91 Points
Occasional dinner group; Bordeaux 2003 plus some extras.: Pnp. Classical bouquet with cassis, cedar and smoke. On the palate cassis, blackberries and firm acidity. The tannin is not really friendly and refined. This wine is still too young. With some more airtime also green bell peppers appeared. Overall a luxurious bouquet, but on the palate a bit disappointing. I scored it 91 for the moment, but I am almost certain that around 2018 the balance will be better and the wine will score a few points higher.
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10/5/2013 - Grinner Likes this wine: 93 Points
PHMG WAG: Tour de France 2013 (Chez Lyon in Eugene, OR): Once again this wine did for us what it was supposed to, given the vintage and its age. Minimal garnet at the edge, it o/w has a deep ruby color. The nose is classic left bank stuff: dark berries, cassis, plum, cedar, pencil shavings, stone, tobacco, and the hint of tar. Palate is similar with moderate intensity and depth. Texture is smooth and the finish is bedroom quality. If you're comparing it to LB's best then you might be tempted to score it less. That's not how I roll; this is a great wine.
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9/19/2013 - gew71walsh wrote: 91 Points
Opened for hour and a half in bottle. Nice nose. Had earthiness to it. Smooth tannins. Brick color. Have had better Lynch Bages vintages, but this went down nicely. Will save other bottle for a couple of years to see how it progresses.
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9/11/2013 - JS199 wrote: 92 Points
We really enjoyed this wine, a nice change from the Cali fruit bombs. Seamless and very food friendly, but plenty of 'pop'. Had with Filet Mignon in a green peppercorn sauce.
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8/29/2013 - Whinojb wrote: 91 Points
You can tell that this wine is well made - but I think the vintage dampened the experience. It tasted too cedary for a Lynch bages, meaning I don't think the oak integrated well causing the entire experience to be "disjointed". Still, the fruit was there - underneath- and the mouth feel was good. It was NOT thin. So my opinion is that like many bordeaux makers, the fruitier/warmer vintages caused less fluidity in the wines - I'd expect more from a house with such a reputation as Lynch Bages - but I get it and think the wine was good, not great.
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8/17/2013 - CGWIND Likes this wine: 92 Points
Delicious wine with plenty of depth and tannin. Lovely fruit. Coming into its own. Decanted and it really opened up nicely.
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8/16/2013 - yeti575rider wrote: 90 Points
A bit underwhelming and outclassed by the Flaccianello drank before this. Still a pretty nice wine though just nothing special. Not bad for what I paid but wouldn't pay the auction price for this. No signs of being overripe just a bit muted on the nose and palate is dark fruit with a bit of an iron element.
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8/15/2013 - RickyT12 Does not like this wine: 89 Points
Decanted for 1.5 hours. What a bummer this was. I thought for sure I was going to be a fan of this, but didn't work out that way. Just not my cup of tea. Floral, red licorice, and cola on the nose. A hell of a lot of heat as well. Tiny hint of chocolate, but really overpowered by the cola component. Has sort of a bubbly mouth feel that is not appealing to me at all. There is a possibility the bottle was tainted or re fermented, but the overall balance of the wine was off. Had kind of a tree or dirt like taste to the wine. Should try another vintage sometime. Not a great showing though.
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8/15/2013 - SonnyChiba wrote: 89 Points
Dark cherries, some over ripe plums, fragrant nose which was nice, but a bit uneventful on the palate. Medium+ body, more dark cherry, licorice, a few layers of fruit in there, but wasn't a huge fan of the texture of this wine. Felt a bit too much cola-like, and not so well balanced. As another poster commented, I think this is an exception to the hot 03' vintage full of expressive ripe fruit. Not very memorable.
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8/9/2013 - cab blends wrote: 90 Points
S&E Wine Club - French Bordeaux Night (Our House): Drinking very well now.
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7/8/2013 - Wolfgang Likes this wine: 94 Points
Plum and subtle BBQ smoke on the nose. Tastes like it smells, balanced and integrated tannins.
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7/2/2013 - JSOL Does not like this wine: 88 Points
Sweet nose and tannins. Imbalanced. Not really very nice and certainly not up to usual CLB standards. A good example, though, of what went wrong in '03. A lot of people seem to think hot = rich or overconcentrated. The bigger problem was that some vines shut down in the heat and some of the fruit can actually be underdeveloped.
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6/30/2013 - macker100 wrote: 93 Points
2003 Bordeaux Horizontal (San Antonio, TX): I really liked this, although the group was split on LB. Unique, very smoky and spicy nose. Lots of black cherries, cedar, graphite on rich palate. Spicy long finish. In my top three for the night.
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6/21/2013 - Andrewbdc wrote: 91 Points
2003 Bordeaux Tasting with Friends (Chez Moi, Paris): Clear but very dark purple, slightly fading to the rim. Clean nose, blackcurrant, cedar, quite sweet, almost caramel. Medium-full palate, lots of sweet fruit, low acid, medium-long finish. Quite a modern style but should continue to develop well over the next 5+ years. 24 hours later: Nose has become more complex and classic - spices, cedar, blackberry, bilberry, still quite sweet. Palate has become rather light, still very soft. Finish is rather shot and dry. Didn't last well overnight, perhaps because it was in a decanter rather than a stoppered bottle.
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6/21/2013 - Ary wrote: 90 Points
Left Bank Bordeaux 2003 (semi blind) (Amsterdam Wijn Antiquariaat): Over-ripe thick dark fruits, herbs and some spicy notes in the nose. Thick, smooth and silky on the palate but missing character, monolithic. Disappointing for a Lynch-Bages.
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6/16/2013 - King JR wrote: 92 Points
Surprisingly nice bottle. Took about an hour in a decanter for the nose to fully bloom, but it eventually did. Light bodied, silky smooth, wonderful fresh fruity nose. Didn't seem like typical LB, but a great bottle of wine. Definiutely ready now, or seems that it could last many more years.
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6/8/2013 - EMTAME wrote: 90 Points
The 5/18 note from another reviewer is spot on, for me. This is a good wine, but it just isn't in the same league with their great vintages, including the '89 and '00.
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5/24/2013 - G_H Likes this wine: 89 Points
Surprisingly not as rich as I expected from 2003 but still quite dense. Nice black berries, especially blackcurrant. Quite tannic still with reasonable longevity potential but interestingly ready to drink now.
Pleasant surprise as I found this by the glass (@ Loft Five in Zurich)
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5/18/2013 - Sjontoft wrote: 90 Points
Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux Tasting in Bordeaux (Bordeaux, France): Very dark wine, but starting to show some age on the rim.
The nose is medium+ in intensity, lots of dark fruit and some prunes.
On the palate it is medium+ bodied with medium acidity and soft tannins. It is quite earthy.
This is a very good wine. It is mature, but has some time to go. For me to rate it higher it would need a bit more of everything, especially fruit and acidity on the palate.
2/3 = Good to Very Good
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5/9/2013 - boreddoughboy wrote: 92 Points
Ruby colored. leather, tobacco with dark ripe fruit. Perfect tannins with long length. Very good now but better in the future.
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3/31/2013 - t_moderne wrote: 88 Points
Pop and pour and served with food (grilled leg of lamb).
Good color, showing dark maroon. Nose of cedar and some lead pencil. Fair amount of fruit, graphite and cigar box notes. Followed over 8 hours, with food and after dinner. Good but nothing that impresses. Understanding 2003 was a hot summer, I did not find this over-ripe or sweet.
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3/13/2013 - Ericsson wrote: 88 Points
Dégustation GEEU (Patio): Bouteille et bouchon en parfaite condition. Non décanté. Couleur bordeaux, pas trop brillante. Nez sur le les petits fruits, le caramel, la vanille. En bouche, un peu mou, brûlant, finit assez court. Un peu décevant, mais peut-être en phase de repli, moins agréable qu'il y a 12 mois.
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3/9/2013 - SimonK Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nose: Black berries, mint
Palate: peppery, raspberries, blueberries
n: brombeere, minze,
g: pfeffrig, himbeere, heidelbeere
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2/18/2013 - dkhale4 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Lots of great fruit, full bodied, and a satin finish. Quality Bordeaux is a treat.
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2/16/2013 - Rich S wrote: 89 Points
Dark purple color. Blast of cassis on the nose along with dark berry and charred oak notes. More of the same on the palate with an oaky, dark fruit laden profile. Full bodied wine with medium acid and tannins. Finished short though. Overall I liked this wine but was expecting more.
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1/26/2013 - Capybara562 wrote: 90 Points
This is still an infant - despite decanting 30-40 minutes before serving. Went well with a grilled steak, but will hold the other bottle for at least 4-5 years.
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1/18/2013 - ltadd wrote: 94 Points
Small Tanins..lite fruit not large bouquet pleasant. Will hold other bottles
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12/27/2012 - alanh13 wrote: 83 Points
Very subdued. Some faint Bordeaux perfume but overall quite dull. There was fruit there and decent mouthfeel but seemed closed. May also just be typical of 2003 vintage. Tired. Definitely not worth the price, even it was bought for what is a bargain price of €60 these days!
NB: there could have been poor storage problems here - I suspect it was sitting on a shop shelf for 3+ years.
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12/14/2012 - Zweder wrote: 94 Points
Battle between Pichon Baron, Pichon Comtesse and Lynch Bages. 11 TOP Vintages from 1982 - 2009 (@ Bottles; Sas van Gent, Netherlands): This bottle really showed great. Liquid smoke and graphite. Beautiful ripe black forest fruits and round and friendly tannin. Early maturity stage now and plenty of future.
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11/27/2012 - Winestein wrote: 90 Points
Magnum. Dark garnet. Overripe dark fruits and high alcohol in the nose but still characteristic inky paulliac nose. Jammy finish overpowers the other elements such as leather and mushroom. Went quite well with an overlooked but tender ribeye with red wine sauce.
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11/20/2012 - mjf@ulkner wrote: 92 Points
extremely aromatic. Leather, earth, and blackberry fruit flavors. This got much better~ 2 hours after decanting. Medium bodied with enough fruit to make a Cali Cab fan happy, enough structure, acidity and tannin to appease a Bordeaux lover. The finesse of this belies its 2003 vintage.
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11/11/2012 - RayOB Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drank in Dublin
We had three bottles as it was drinking so well.
Classic claret notes of cassis, earth, tobacco and vanilla. Smooth complex deep and rich mouth with a long length. This is drinking now and is wonderful
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10/31/2012 - vancouvermatt wrote: 92 Points
Drank from half-bottle... wine is in a really good place right now, starting to show some tertiary characteristics but by no means near its peak.
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9/2/2012 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine:
dark red, cassis, ripe fruits, beautiful nose, full bodied, elegant, long, drinking well, delicious
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8/29/2012 - fdub wrote: 92 Points
Open into the decanter for 1 hour. On first smell this has some underlying brett happening but it adds a nice earthy/gamey element. Lead pencil and dark fruit along with earth and game on the nose. Over the hour of drinking this really fleshes out and becomes much more expansive on the nose and palate with the brett blending in more. The mouth feel and structure is classic Bordeaux with great fine grained tannins and good acidity. Nice medium finish. As others have said this is ready to go right now. 91-92
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7/21/2012 - wmccone54 wrote: 93 Points
Like many of the '03 Bordeaux's, this is starting to enter into its prime drinking window. The first of two bottles that have been siting in my cellar for a number of years. Decanted for 2 hours before sampling. Typical Left Bank style, it opens with classic aromas of perfumed flowers, sweet dark berries, creamy vanilla, and some spicy currant, underscored with the clear, recognizable Bordeaux funky earthiness and cigar box aromas.
Creamy and structured, displaying a full mouthfeel; extremely complex, and dry, but with dark sweet berries, spicy currants, vanilla, tobacco, and leather flavors. Smooth and balanced tannins that provide the basis of a long lasting mocha laced finish. Excellent wine; I'm looking forward to drinking my last bottle in another 3-5 years. This will drink well for another 7-10 years easily.
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7/16/2012 - mondino wrote: 92 Points
extra fruity, lots of sweetness, very subtle oak, this is all about the fruit. wonderfully balanced and smooth. no harsh tannins here. this is ready to drink and will be amazing in the next 5 years. enjoy !!!
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5/26/2012 - MarcoAzevedo wrote: 94 Points
After 1,5hr on the decanter notes of menthol, vanilla and figs jumped out of the cup. Potent, but with soft tannins. Menthol, figs and earthy notes in the mouth. Could still age for a long time.
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5/12/2012 - Bisty Likes this wine: 93 Points
Le Week-end des Grands Crus (Bordeaux): Lots of fruit aromas. Blackberries with nice warm aromas.
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3/14/2012 - Aenie wrote: 92 Points
drink with any bordeaux 03 it's same class , it's young ,keep it more than 5 year to drink , good lynch bage , pauillac style
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2/14/2012 - Sweet_Berry_Wine!! wrote: 94 Points
Wow, impressive. Will evolve and improve for years to come. Outstanding.
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2/4/2012 - Engsig wrote: 89 Points
- Brick color.
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2/3/2012 - vespasian wrote: 93 Points
Intense nose you can smell with the glass just sat on the counter! Quite dense core with a noticeable fade starting to develop; intense heady cassis perfume. Graphite and anise. Black currant jam; good body, some unresolved tannins, good fruit- a definite style of fruit not for classicists. Creamy and good density. A very good 2003.
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1/24/2012 - ecola Likes this wine: 89 Points
Subtle aromas and flavors of earth and dark cherry. Nice balance of fruit and acidity. Very well made.
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11/24/2011 - Texas Pete wrote: 91 Points
Refined and delightfully subtle. Drinking well now.
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10/21/2011 - Tavastgatan wrote: 91 Points
Very fine and elegant for the vintage. Dark Pauillac fruit and nicely balanced.
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9/17/2011 - wineotim wrote: 94 Points
All of the traditional flavors and aromas of a classic Bordeaux. Some plum, cigar box, a touch of earth, pencil lead, with smooth integrated tannins. So balanced and elegant...a wine with finesse for sure, a complete and still very young wine. Glad I opened it at this stage.
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7/28/2011 - kenv Does not like this wine: 78 Points
WCC 2003-2005 Red Bordeaux Blind (Yono's Restaurant, Albany, NY): Softer, but quite astringent. Yuck.
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7/1/2011 - jcoughlon wrote: 94 Points
Drinking beautifully
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6/6/2011 - Grinner wrote: 94 Points
After a 1 hour decant through the vinturi: WOW! The nose screams Bordeaux w/ dark fruit, pencil, cigar box, and a touch of tar. The texture, balance, and finish are all in that "excellent/outstanding" category. Agree it's not the best LB, but their bar is pretty high! Next in 2 years.
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6/3/2011 - Rob MacKay wrote: 91 Points
Decanted 4 hours. Lots of dark berries (currants) and earth tones on the nose with a pretty good amount of oak still present as well. Still young and rich on the palate but with the decant it was very enjoyable and I have no regrets about opening this one with just under 8 years of age on it. Still has a pretty good backbone of tannins but they are soft enough to keep everything enjoyable right through to the long finish. Not the best Lynch-Bages I've have but pretty good considering I only paid $50 for it 5 years ago.
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5/26/2011 - Goldstone wrote: 89 Points
Patrick Gauthier Visiting 2-Star Michelin Chef & Watsons Wine Dinner (Oyster & Wine Bar, Sheraton Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong): Dense black-red almost opaque but lightening to near transparence away from the core. Nose is immediately very bloody raw meat, ripe red currants, fresh-sawn planks but not very intrusive. Palate is fresh, initially very acidic in a refreshing way then a blast of sweet red and black fruits, rounded...but then very dry sawn plank wood finish that totally dries out the mouth. Slight length but good resonance that promises well for 10 years' time. Very young, unevolved and somewhat disjointed. Got better with extended time in the glass.
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4/16/2011 - stjames wrote: 95 Points
Blockbuster. loads of fresh plum and blackberries in a very structured and intense package. As others noted, huge finish. It seems every 2003 claret i drink i better than the last.
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4/3/2011 - peterchoy wrote: 90 Points
Appearance: Clear, opaque ruby with paler rims and legs
Nose: Clean, showing medium plus intensity and developing aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry, black cherry, liquorice, chocolate, smoke, leather and savory notes.
Palate: Dry with medium acidity, with medium plus tannin showing ripe and fine-grained texture. Medium alcohol level with medium plus body, showing medium plus intensity flavors of blackberry, black cherry, liquorice, smoke, forest floor and sweet spice. Medium plus length, with a lively acidity though a bit too high affecting the balance. The ripeness of the fruit is a bit weak but still elegant and expressive.
Conclusion: Good quality with a good intensity, complexity and length making this wine particularly enjoyable, though the ripeness of the grapes is not satisfactory which is a surprise given that Chateau Lynch-Bages should put a lot of effort on that perspective. It should be ready to drink within the next 3-5 years.
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2/13/2011 - bundydavis wrote: 93 Points
What a finish on this wine. Didn't stop. Went pefect with the Kobe Burger and duck.
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2/13/2011 - hammie1234 wrote: 94 Points
Beautiful expression of Bordeaux. I can't even say it was 'well made'. It tasted like it was 'well crafted'. Gorgeous balance of earth, leather, anise. The finish just lasted forever. I was afraid it was too young, but it was drinking great.
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2/3/2011 - SacramentoCharlie wrote: 90 Points
Seemed a bit restrained and less expressive than when tasted a couple times in '08...even on the 2nd night..maybe this one is going back to sleep for awhile.
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1/29/2011 - skhemka wrote: 96 Points
Super fantabulous thanks gaurav
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1/8/2011 - kellersc wrote: flawed
Tasted like the first one we opened a week ago. Normal table wine with high acidity. Nothing special. Possibly poorly stored or a fake. I will buy no more 2003s in Singapore.
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1/1/2011 - kellersc wrote: 81 Points
Taste was flat, no depth, no character. We were disappointed. Possibly poorly cellared?
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12/16/2010 - madia wrote: 89 Points
Chateau Lynch Bages & Chateau Pavie Macquin Testing (Wine Route Tel Aviv): Opaque purple color. Nice nose, fruity and chocolaty, lacking complexity. Medium bodied, a bit hollow. Predominant acidity, with lack of balance.(225$)
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12/16/2010 - Yagil Likes this wine: 91 Points
Chateau Lynch-Bages & Chateau Pavie-Macquin vertical tasting (Wine Road Tel-Aviv): impressive leathery aroma;
a bit less impressive in taste, cherries, fruity, ready to consume.
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11/6/2010 - BrandrB wrote: 92 Points
Dark ruby color. Cassis, tobacco, and cedar nose – still quite closed. Medium-bodied palate: dark berries, chocolate, spice, and oak. Lots of tannins. Medium-long finish. Starting to pick up a bit of steam since tasting this earlier in the year, but in reality this wine is still far too young to touch. Will this be a classic Lynch-Bages vintage? No, but given some more age it should be drinking beautifully.
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8/8/2010 - spretzer wrote: 92 Points
4 hour decant and it was the hit of my 40th. Beautiful nose, classic bordeaux. I am glad i have more of this and I won't open another for 3 years. this is really a nice effort.
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7/5/2010 - firespeed_1 wrote: 90 Points
Left in the bottle for 9 hours before drinking. The 2003 Lynch Bages had a dark ruby core with no lighting at the rim. On the nose, there were black fruits, plums, tobacco, cigar box, minerals and it was smoky. On the palate, it was medium bodied with sweet tannins...A medium finish.....Drink now - 2020....
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6/24/2010 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: 93 Points
Bordeaux, Italy and a Burg in Minneapolis: Pencil lead, dark cherry, tobacco, coffee and plum. Dark wine and concentrated. Great finish and showing well now but advise to cellar five plus years. Should improve a few points.
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6/23/2010 - Mattshank wrote: 91 Points
Old World Reds at Edina CC (Edina Country Club, MN): Nose: Plum, licorice, creosote and mineral. Very cool nose. Palate: Sweet plum and spices with a medium length and very elegant finish.
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5/8/2010 - cab blends Likes this wine: 92 Points
American Heart Association - Bordeaux tasting with Bordelais and Ray Isle: Light earthy bouquet. This wine can lie down for many years still. A slightly acidic finish but full bodied with good length. Classic bordeaux with heavier tannins than the earlier flights. Less acidity overall.
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4/16/2010 - BrandrB wrote: 91 Points
Ruby-purple color. Initially quite closed, the nose gradually opened into cassis, tobacco, cedar and spice notes. Young, closed, medium-bodied palate of dark cherry, chocolate, oak, vanilla, and spice flavors. Good tannic structure. Medium-long finish. Still young and very closed – this really needs a couple of hours to open up. Will develop nicely over the next decade, for the time being this definitely needs time to breathe.
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3/26/2010 - Darren747 wrote: 88 Points
Clear ruby wine with a garnet rim. Clean intense, typically claret nose. Pronounced blackcurrant, cassis and some development occurring with a touch of cedar.
Dry med+ acidity with light tannins and med+ alcohol. Medium bodied with medium intensity black fruit. Blackcurrant, blackberries and plums. Slight hint of leather on the finish. The palate is slightly disappointing after the intense nose but the finish is long. (Cathay Pacific 1st)
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11/18/2009 - witkinddavis wrote: 90 Points
Decanted it for 1 hour and think it needs another year in the cellar.
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6/1/2009 - Jeff Leve wrote: 90 Points
Lighter in color and concentration than I expect from this historic Pauillac Chateau. This will probably drink well early for a Lynch Bages
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5/15/2009 - rmcnees Likes this wine: 92 Points
Fragrant, full bodied, firm forward cassis, currant, spicy oak with velvety integrated tannins on a long finish.
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5/14/2009 - chateaujochen wrote: 90 Points
Somewhere in Lynch Bages style...maybe LB is very closed in its yought maybe it has to rest for at least 10 years...the most remarkable thing about this wine is that most wines of 2003 have a very big californian style but this wine doesn’t have this taste...strange...seems like LB is always on the light side in its yought...www.everyoneweb.com/chateaujochen
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5/12/2009 - tyvoodoo wrote: 92 Points
This bottle was opened and then consumed over the course of 5 hours. Nose was very tight at first, not giving off much. Lead pencil shavings, tar, smoke and tobacco. Palate seemed to open up before the nose came around. Nice medium body traditional claret with glycerin fruit, red berries, toasty oak and spice. Cool balance with integrated tannins. once the nose opened up, this bottle got better. Sweet round red fruits, vanilla and fresh cream mixed with road tar and tobacco. nice bottle that got better with air time but probably needs another 5+ years.
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5/9/2009 - ews3 wrote: 93 Points
Wine Spectator Grand Tour 2009 (Borgata -- Atlantic City, NJ): some nice notes starting to develop on this. tobacco, tar, black fruit, earthy. med(+) tannins. medium(+) finish still shows lots of tannins, give this more time.
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4/19/2009 - pablopilot wrote: 92 Points
Restaurant bottle, decanted and consumed. Very classy and well balanced. Chocolate, a little plummy, some dusty tannins. Very nice.
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4/14/2009 - ecnemergut wrote: 92 Points
Deep red. Classic nose of currants and other dark berries. Some oak on the nose as well. Big in the mouth with loads of dark fruit. A good tannic bite tells me that this wine is probably too young. Medium finish. Very nice.
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3/21/2009 - spotaha wrote: 90 Points
Drank with my wine class to experience a good Bordeaux.
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3/6/2009 - ctwomey wrote: 92 Points
I know this was opened too early but given how good the 2003 Lagrange was we decided to pop and pour. Classic burnt rubber and lead pencil on the noise, good concentration and just a bloody great wine. Looking forward to enjoying the rest over the years.
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2/15/2009 - dream wrote: 91 Points
Potent nose of cigar box, tar, blackberries and charred oak. Quite tannic, of course, but full-bodied with a lovely thick, viscous texture. Intense flavors of black fruits and tobacco with slate and smoke. Finishes with gritty tannins but a nice smoky complexity for a wine so young. Tastes like the '82 tasted young but a little more terroir-driven and potent. Time will tell but I really like this for its authentic character even though the fruit is clearly from a hot vintage.
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10/24/2008 - beezer6 wrote: 92 Points
Grand Bordeaux Tasting w/ Jill (Binny's South Loop - Chicago, IL): Binny's South Loop October Bordeaux Wine Tasting.
Beautiful and rich with tremendous potential.
Still just a baby.
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10/19/2008 - aof wrote:
La Fete du Bordeaux- 2006 Bordeaux Vintage (Chicago Wine Company, Ritz-Calton.): Dont recall much about this wine other than it being hot.
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10/17/2008 - Wrighty wrote: 92 Points
Dinner to celebrate the arrival of my wines in HK (Crown Wine Cellars): Decanted for nearly 5 hours. Picked up the violets quite early, then a big berry fruit nose, then pepper, then burn. Palate is a bit disjointed, some smoky tannin. this was very volatile and changed a lot throughout the evening.
By the end of the night it was shot through.
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9/16/2008 - toontune wrote: 87 Points
Ordered the 2000 at a very high end LA restaurant and got instead the 2003 which I returned after tasting and realizing the year was not what I had ordered. Didn't have time to properly breathe, but was very ordinary lacking complexity and nose. At $160, would have been a hell of a deal for a 2000.
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4/22/2008 - wjs wrote:
Decanted for 2 hours, needed every minute of it to open. Went from uninspiring to WOTN candidate. With time, coffee and palate weight emerged making this well worth the time & effort. Hold or drink w/ long decant.
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12/4/2007 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 92 Points
Kitchen Tasting Group does Lynch Bages: Dark red color. The nose gives an exhuberent expression of red fruit, mocha, brown sugar, tobacco and lilac/flower. Extremely ripe but very nice. Equally big in the mouth, showing big, soft red fruit, cocoa, coffee and oak. Opulent texture. Decent length on the finish. This should develop nicely with additional bottle age, as there seems to be enough structure to balance out the fruit.
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12/4/2007 - Siggy wrote: 91 Points
Tasting Group Dinner - Lynch Bages (JP's American Bistro, Minneapolis): Single decanted for approximately 6 hours. Super-ripe and California-like on the nose. On the palate, this shows creamy, jammy dark fruit, mocha, and dark chocolate. Hard to identify as Lynch-Bages at this point in its development, although the herb/tobacco/leafy flavor signature is there if you hunt for it.
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12/1/2007 - Fatty Cat wrote: 88 Points
Early Dec 2007: rubin red color; restrained red fruits in nose and mouth; slightly acidic on the palate.
This four year old Lynch-Bages 2003 was at a very good quality level. Another 4-5 years of more cellaring could help him to gain an excellent score.
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10/9/2007 - abbulf wrote:
Bordeaux at Per Gørans house (Stamerbakken, Bergen, Norway): Almost black colour. Delicious nose. Fruity, barnyard, stable. Really good. On the palate it is fruity and with good consentration. But too sweet and there could be more tannins. Quite acidic though. It improved somewhat with air, but overall I am not very impressed with 03 Bordeaux.
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9/23/2007 - zimmy07 wrote: 91 Points
classic bordeaux with some barnyard, leather, and cedar box. Great structure and balance
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9/22/2007 - peternelson wrote: 91 Points
K&L: Blueberry, blkberry (frt driven) w/soft vanilla;grt blueberry tartness w/creamy pie filling; frt focus, rounder, lacks a bit of character, even though a nice wine.
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9/22/2007 - EMichels wrote: 92 Points
K&L Tasting - Bordeaux: Good stuff; Great depth and clarity; Needs more time; Medium dark
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9/22/2007 - tanglenet wrote:
Served as part of a tasting at K&L. Quick notes: beautiful nose of dark fruit and earth; seems a little primary right now (watery) with a tight finish. I think in 5 years this will be Very Good.
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9/21/2007 - psmith wrote:
Ripe dark fruits and graphite notes. Clear Bordeaux character. Well structured, very nice wine.
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9/6/2007 - balassis wrote: 90 Points
Opened at my friend Costas home, yesterday evening. A dinner without our spouses.
A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.
Ruby color with almost black core.
Classic bordeaux nose, with scents of cassis, cedar, tar and tobacco leaf.
Medium-bodied (perhaps it is a problem) with round but still firm tannins.
Flavours of sour cherry, chocolate, oaky vanilla, truffle and spices (cinnamon and pepper).
The finish is intense and aromatic (perhaps a hint of clove)
Good, but I expected more...
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8/22/2007 - dedris wrote: 89 Points
Slightly disappointing, introvert wine. Not as great as 1995 and 96. Notes of berry, citrus, bit of cigar, and wood spice. Young, slight tannic to palate. Lacking good structure, fading at the end. Finish with slight acid and sour aftertaste. What happens?
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6/1/2007 - peternelson wrote: 89 Points
Red Carpet: Ruby purple; shrooms, cigar box; silky entry, elegnat med-p, nice strucure, swt richness. Good. but...
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5/4/2007 - KeithAkers wrote: 92 Points
good classic Bordeaux ruby color. Light and semi see-through. Nose: nice soft floral, berries, and cherry. Taste: very smooth with cherry, cassis, and blackberry. A very well made wine
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3/11/2007 - drcbarroso wrote:
TB: Opened by a friend as part of a Bordeaux tasting. Not decanted, opened 2 hours prior to tasting. Somewhat clear wine showing color similar to black cherry. Earthy nose showing some violet, but clearly tight and not as expressive as it will be. Sour cherry on the palate, but tight once again. Long finish, but this wine obviously needs serious decanting and bottle time.
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2/17/2007 - Fatty Cat wrote: 91 Points
Birthday party dinner mid Feb 2007: rubin red color; intense berry bouquet; smooth and lush on the palate.
Excellent, very young Lynch-Bages 2003, however at this point of development he lacks the typical terroir authenticity.
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1/25/2007 - psmith wrote:
Ripe, but hardly overdone. Lots of classic tobacco and lead pencil notes. Rich red fruits. Lots of potential.
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1/21/2007 - JasonD wrote: 93 Points
Classic bord. Some oak and a bit of bret that blew off quickly. Still needs time.
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1/20/2007 - tanglenet wrote:
Served at K&L at a tasting. Slightly herbal nose with some eucalyptus and a peppery finish that seemed kind of lightweight. Fair to Good.
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7/27/2006 - Siggy wrote: 90 Points
Winestreet Does 2003 Bordeaux (Kozlak's, North Oaks, MN): This was initially very closed; two hours after we first tasted it, it had started to open up nicely. Dark maroon color. Pencil lead, cedar, mild spice, and red fruits. Nice balance and acidity. There is a herbal/vegetal streak to this wine, not entirely unpleasant, that reminds me of the 1995 Lynch-Bages.
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7/27/2006 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 90 Points
2003 Bordeaux (Mouton, Haut Brion, Cos, Ducru, Trotanoy, Lynch, many others): Dark red color. The nose is fairly closed giving subdued red fruit and tobacco. This is much bigger in the mouth, however, showing big, soft red fruit. Much more fruit than structure. Decent length. Note that I retasted this approximately two hours later and it was much more impressive. The nose had blossomed, and more structure had emerged. You definitely want to decant this wine for a few hours before serving it.
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7/1/2006 - AzorianMatador wrote: 90 Points
Refer to jdunnuck's review below--spot on. Good but not a block-buster; a bit dissapointing overall, but did improve greatly with food. Just an average QPR IMO.
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6/26/2006 - Stampy wrote: 92 Points
Concentrated. Good tannic structure well balanced with acidity. Reticent nose, but very elegant. Long finish. Nice complexity. Fruit somewhat hidden behind structure, but opened out to a very silky mouth after an hour.
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5/8/2006 - JasonD wrote: 91 Points
Smoked meat, earth, sweet currant nose. Medium weight mid palate and a moderately tannic finish.
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5/5/2006 - Wrighty wrote: 93 Points
A small test of 2003 Bordeaux (With Mark and Keiko at home, Hong Kong): This is lovely; blackcurrant, cedar, even some leather but still fresh. Tight with fine tannins, structured with a medium long finish.
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1/27/2006 - Vino Me wrote: 94 Points
TN: 2003 Red Bordeaux (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux Tasting); 1/26/2006-1/27/2006 (Drake Hotel, Chicago, Illinois): One of the top wines from Pauillac at this tasting. Not as good as the classic 2000 but far better than the 1999. I would put this on the level of the 1989 and 1990 which is quite a compliment in my opinion. Sweet tannins and very approachable now. This wine had a soft and supple texture. Very elegant with tobacco, kirsh and red fruit notes. Moderate bite on the finish. 93-95+ points.
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1/23/2006 - PanosKakaviatos Likes this wine: 92 Points
Has opened up since its rather inexpressive from the barrel tasting. Cassis notes, a tad too much oak derived notes for my taste, but finely grained tannins and a full body. Fine finish as well. Needs time in bottle.
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1/1/2006 - winefool wrote: 91 Points
Pale aroma. Not bad, but nothing great. A little better with a second tasting, but still not much… 1/06
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11/26/2005 - PaulH wrote: 90 Points
Inky black-purple very dark and opaque. Nose of dusty herbs. Palate showed medium body, and marked dark chocolate which seemed roasted or smoky -- perhaps some licorice. Low acidity, but enough to balance out the fruit and structure. Good finish with moderate tannins. As you might expect, very plush for a Bordeaux. This will be an early drinker, but not this early. Give it a year or two before trying again.
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3/30/2004 - peternelson wrote: 89 Points
Ch. Braniare-Ducru:Some tart berry; full, smooth, nice mouth, tart a’s, big integrated t’s; cigar box, forest in mth, long fin.***Good w/tartness & classic notes.
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