A high percentage (75%) of new wood has given this wine a very fine polished character. Along with the structure, it has brought out impressive aromas of black fruits, cinnamon spice and power. The wine is has a fresh black-fruit aftertaste. Drink from 2028.
96 points, Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast (Jul 2024)
Lovely depth to the nose of this young Bordeaux with black currant, ink and walnut aromas that follow through to a medium to full body with a solid core of polished and integrated tannins. This will drink beautifully in 2026 and onwards.
95 points, James Suckling (Dec 2023)
Sweet blackcurrant fruit on the nose, softly jammy and expressive. You can really feel the ripeness here, grapes got full maturity and this is plush, mouthfilling and plump with chewy tannins - more opulent and perfumed than others also with more power and body. Tannins are mouthfilling and you get the stone minerality and the Cabernet freshness that really takes over giving this a sense of tension and grip. A really characterful and expressive Pauillac where the tannins and acidity perfectly compliment each other with the muscular and concentrated fruit also giving a multi-faceted dimension. 3% Cabernet Sauvignon completes the blend. 3.72pH. Ageing 75% new barrels.
95 points, Georgina Hindle, Decanter (Mar 2022)
The 2021 Lynch-Bages is rather somber today. Black fruit, mocha, licorice and chocolate are all amplified in this decidedly muscular wine from a cool year. This is a distinctly cool-climate Lynch-Bages built on power, with less of its usual flash.
94 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous (Feb 2024)
Displays a nice mix of almost caressing black cherry and black currant paste flavors, with warm cast iron, sweet tobacco and chestnut notes, showing just a nip of the vintage's austerity. Rock solid for the vintage, this offers a lively, savory edge that adds cut and energy. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2026 through 2040. 24,000 cases made.
94 points, James Molesworth, Wine Spectator (Apr 2024)
Has the austerity that you want of a great Left Bank wine at the beginning of its life, with cool vintage savoury raspberry leaf, capsicum and peony. Tons of slate-textured tannins, not hugely concentrated which makes it an outlier of recent Lynch Bages vintages, but it's exceptionally well balanced, and has excellent appellation character, with cassis and blackberry fruits. A high tannin index of 90IPT. Harvest September 27 through to October 9. One of the best in Pauillac, finishing up with chewy tannins. 75% new oak.
94 points, Jane Anson (Apr 2024)