The 1997 Lynch-Bages shows some degradation on the bricked rim. The bouquet is open-knit, fully mature with ferrous, undergrowth, leafy/autumnal scents. It's missing some fruit intensity, as you expect from a more challenging season. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, crisp black fruit laced with orange rind, black pepper, cedar and tobacco. This shows the most cohesion towards the finish and displays a long, sustained aftertaste. This is a real turn-up for the books. Tasted blind at the Lynch Bages vertical at the château. July 2023

A very successful effort for the vintage, this hedonistically-styled Lynch Bages delivers copious quantities of ripe, fat, black currant fruit intermixed with sweet oak. Low acidity combined with high PH results in a chewy, fleshy, up-front wine that will make many friends when it is released in a year and a half. The color is a healthy dark purple, and the wine is perfumed, expansive, round, and crammed with black fruit. The glycerin level is high, the tannin sweet and unaggressive, and the overall style provides considerable satisfaction and thrills. If this wine takes on more weight and adds a nuance or two of complexity, look for it to merit an outstanding rating when released. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2012. - Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #116, April 1998)

A very successful effort for the vintage, this hedonistically-styled Lynch Bages delivers copious quantities of ripe, fat, black currant fruit intermixed with sweet oak. Low acidity combined with high PH results in a chewy, fleshy, up-front wine that will make many friends when it is released in a year and a half. The color is a healthy dark purple, and the wine is perfumed, expansive, round, and crammed with black fruit. The glycerin level is high, the tannin sweet and unaggressive, and the overall style provides considerable satisfaction and thrills. If this wine takes on more weight and adds a nuance or two of complexity, look for it to merit an outstanding rating when released. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2012. - Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #128, APril 2000)