Layer upon layer of complexity, texture and tannin continue to delight and surprise the palate. There’s silk and satin, subtle roasted coffee beans, sweet berry fruits, bracken, toffee and soft leather. Full of finesse and perfume; you would be thrilled to open a bottle now. But it’s also only just beginning to reveal its heart. Drinking Window 2016 - 2035
Tasted by Jane Anson
Part of Bordeaux 2006: Which wines have aged well?

Tasted blind, I mistook the 2006 Le Pin for the 2005, and it is drinking very well today, bursting with aromas of dark berries, incense, sweet spices and creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, broad and fleshy, with an ample core of rich, succulent fruit and powdery structuring tannins, it concludes with a long, expansive finish.

This micro-cuvee of 500-600 cases of 100% Merlot offers exotic pain grille notes interwoven with lavish quantities of black, blue, and red fruits, an unctuous texture, and beautiful purity as well as length. Full-bodied with velvety tannins as well as extravagant fruit, it should drink well for 20-25 years. Sadly, most consumers can neither afford nor find this stunning Pomerol.

Exotic, as it often can be, with super-ripe mulberry and black cherry fruit to the point of near-kirsch liqueur, with notes of licorice, truffle, and forest floor, this is a full-bodied, concentrated wine with a slight tannic bite to the finish. There is good freshness, depth, and power, and despite the flamboyant aromatics, this wine needs a good 3-5 years of cellaring and should keep for 15 or more years.

Tasted at Bordeaux Index's annual 10-Year On tasting in London. The 2006 Le Pin seems to have evolved quite far on the nose, though it remains very sensual with scents of kirsch, rose petals, liquorice and mint. There is a warmth to these aromatics that leave you feeling a bit giddy. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy ripe red cherry and crushed strawberry fruit, underlying sage and cedar scents surfacing towards the finish. I am not totally convinced this is a long-term Le Pin, but it has wonderful precision and such charm that you almost don't care about the price tag. It's a lovely, almost sexy Pomerol, although I feel that it does not quite match the potential it demonstrated in barrel. Tasted January 2016.

(harvested on September 18, just after a weekend of rain; Alexandre Thienpont has already decided to eliminate one lot of fruit due to rot and will ultimately produce the equivalent of just 22 hectoliters per hectare) Dark red-ruby. Sexy aromas of medicinal black cherry, violet, licorice and sweet oak. Intensely flavored and spicy but not overly sweet; comes across as less fat and supple today than the VCC but wonderfully aromatic in the middle palate. Still a bit youthfully tough but finishes with noteworthy grip and aromatic persistence. Very serious Le Pin, in a less easy style than the wine from some riper years. Showed a bit more opulence with aeration without any loss of elegance.