For today's video, Bob Paulinski Master of Wine dug deep into his wine cellar to open a 25 year bottle of Bordeaux from Chateau Lynch Bages. I’ve had this wine since the early 2000s. It’s the last of three bottles that I’ve cellared away.
In terms of cost, if the wine can be found it’ll be around $200 to $250 USD per bottle at retail, generally a bit less at auction. In the description below, I’ll list some more current vintages that will be more readily available, along with approximate costs. I’ll also provide a range of years for cellaring the wines. There’s also a second wine called Echo de Lynch Bages that’s worth searching out.
Recently I posed the question on my community tab, asking which wine from 1998 should be used for this video. Lynch Bages came out on top. Truth be told, eventually the others will likely end up in future videos as well, including Domaine de Trevallon, Ceretto Barbareso and Chateau Filhot Sauternes.
A bit of background on Lynch Bages. It’s an iconic left bank property from the set as a 5th Growth from the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. For me, this is consistently one of the top properties of the left bank. It’s also one of the larger properties which means there’s good global availability. As for the label design, its remained largely unchanged for many years. Random fact, it was the first wine ever to be shot into space back in 1985. The link is in the description if you want to read more about it.
Chateau Lynch-Bages is the first wine to be launched into space (1985)
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It’s a fairly typical Left Bank blend, about ¾ CS, a bit under ¼ Merlot, the rest being CF and Malbec, all from mostly gravel soils. About 15 months in oak, 50% new oak.
Generally, the Right Bank was better than the Left Bank in 1998, but I cellared away a good number of both when I loaded up wine cellar after selling my wine shop about two decades ago.
With old wines, I have a few tips to get the most of your bottles.
1) Let stand upright day or two
2) Fill level well within the neck
3) Cork condition, this one looks great, past videos I ended up swearing at the bottle
4) Bright light up into the base to check for sediment, no need to decant, often does more harm than good
I always have a two-prong or ah-so extractor on hand, since often corks in old bottles can be soft or crumbly.
According to my notes, the first was open in 2010, then 2016, and finally today. First two were very good, but still showing a good amount of tannin, but needed time to really come around. I expect less needed with this bottle.
Recent vintages of Chateau Lynch-Bages, approx cost USD, along with approx cellar potential.
2020 Chateau Lynch-Bages $160, 2035 to 2045+
2019 Chateau Lynch-Bages $180, 2032 to 2043+
2016 Chateau Lynch-Bages $200, 2032 to 2044+
2020 Echo de Lynch-Bages $55, 2024 to 2032
2019 Echo de Lynch-Bages $60, 2024 to 2030
#wine #winetasting #winelife #bordeaux #frenchwine #wset #masterofwine #bobpaulinski #redwine
