Château Lynch Bages, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2012

Jean-Charles Cazes is refreshingly honest about his wines. 2012 was clearly not an easy year with a poor flowering that needed 'cleaning up', a green harvest, the risk of hydric stress in August and the threat of rot during the harvest. It seems as though the team met these challenges head on and have produced one of the wines of the vintage and a great Lynch Bages. The Merlots were harvested on the 2nd of October and the Cabernets were brought in between the 11th and 19th. Deep, brooking bouquet of perfumed minerals, violets, black forest fruit, savoury, meaty notes, tar and herbs. This is very composed, with layer upon layer of understated, refined black fruit. There is also a fragrant, sweet spot in amongst the mineral core. Kudos to the team for producing a wine with so much concentration and extract, yet remains fresh, precise and compelling. 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.