Château Lynch-Bages 2022

Critic scores

• Jeb Dunnuck99
• James Suckling98
• Vinous97
• Decanter97
• Wine Enthusiast96
• Wine Spectator96
• Wine Advocate94

The 2022 vintage in Pauillac

Vintage benchmark: 98/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: Three heatwaves and extreme drought gave, against all odds, wines of exceptional concentration without harshness — the great sun-drenched year.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pauillac. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

With a deep garnet color with purplish reflections, Château Lynch-Bages 2022 offers a pleasant and complex nose. The attack is supple and rich. The wine expresses an aromatic palette of black and red fruits (blackcurrant, morello cherry, etc.) with spicy notes. The coated tannins reinforce the aromatic persistence.

Blend of the 2022 vintage

Figures from the 2022 sheet

• 34 hl/haYield
• 350,000 bottlesProduction

Ageing

18 months in French oak barrels (75% new oak)

Terroir

Extending over some 100 hectares in the commune of Pauillac, the Lynch-Bages vineyard lies entirely on the soil favoured by the great growths, formed along the estuary by the gravel alluvium of the Médoc. The property occupies the well-defined rises to the south and south-west of the town. The soils of Lynch-Bages are homogeneous, consisting essentially of Günz-era Garonne gravels (early Quaternary) resulting from the slow erosion of the Pyrenees by the Garonne. Highly free-draining and low in silt, these soils of stones and sand store heat during the day and release it at night. Poor and of low fertility, they allow moderate vine growth and encourage deep rooting.