Winemaker Notes
Blend: 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2021 Lynch-Moussas is a terrific surprise, especially as I missed it en primeur. Dynamic, bold and full of energy, the 2021 is super-complex right out of the gate. Wild red cherry, spice, white pepper, gravel, mint and rose petal are some of the notes the race from the glass. I especially admire the wine's energy. This is impeccably rendered. –Antonio Galloni
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James Suckling
This is structured for the year, with chocolate, currant, cedar and dried flower aromas. Medium body, solid depth and a chewy finish. 72% cabernet sauvignon and 28% merlot. Give it three or four years to soften. Drink after 2027.
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Decanter
A dark, knitted nose. Red and black cherries, smooth and well textured with fine tannins that just give support. I like the blue fruit touch on the palate, this has a cool feel aided by bitter dark chocolate elements adding the nuance but all presented with gusto. This is serious and powerful for sure with persistence and long length. It's like a greyhound straight out the gates, fast and decisive. Good balance and well built with power and concentration. A great effort and a real success for getting the most out the vintage. Tasted twice. Ageing 60% new oak.
Barrel Sample: 92 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Lynch-Moussas is a solid effort, exhibiting aromas of cassis, loamy soil and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, lively and charming, with impressive depth for the vintage and by the standards of this 62-hectare Pauillac estate, the blend is dominated by 72% Cabernet Sauvignon. Barrel Sample: 89 - 91
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
The leader on the Left Bank in number of first growth classified producers within its boundaries, Pauillac has more than any of the other appellations, at three of the five. Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild border St. Estephe on its northern end and Chateau Latour is at Pauillac’s southern end, bordering St. Julien.
While the first growths are certainly some of the better producers of the Left Bank, today they often compete with some of the “lower ranked” producers (second, third, fourth, fifth growth) in quality and value. The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification that goes back to 1855. The finest chateaux in that year were judged on the basis of reputation and trading price; changes in rank since then have been miniscule at best. Today producers such as Chateau Pontet-Canet, Chateau Grand Puy-Lacoste, Chateau Lynch-Bages, among others (all fifth growth) offer some of the most outstanding wines in all of Bordeaux.
Defining characteristics of fine wines from Pauillac (i.e. Cabernet-based Bordeaux Blends) include inky and juicy blackcurrant, cedar or cigar box and plush or chalky tannins.
Layers of gravel in the Pauillac region are key to its wines’ character and quality. The layers offer excellent drainage in the relatively flat topography of the region allowing water to run off into “jalles” or streams, which subsequently flow off into the Gironde.