Lynch-Bages Pauillac 2011

96 points Jane Anson (Decanter): "One of the clear standouts where the fruit has real depth and is laced with black chocolate, liquorice, cassis as well as cassis bud. Cabernet dominant, will some angularity to the tannins but this is high quality, and has a floral lift and juiciness to it. A food vintage, because acidities are pretty high, but this delivers one of the best wines of Pauillac. New optical sorter used this year. 65% new oak, 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 66% of production in the first wine. Drinking Window: 2021-2040. (Feb 2021)"

95 points Tim Atkin, MW (4/9/12).

94 points/'Cellar Selection,' Wine Enthusiast: "This is a luxurious wine that's opulently rich. Ripe black fruits dominate, lending fullness to the firm structure in the backdrop. It's a wine with great potential, density and weight. Touches of chocolate and licorice combine with flavors of dark plum, toast and spice. Drink from 2018. (Feb 2014)"

94 points Jane Anson: "(72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot). Young, poised black fruits, blackberry and bilberry that are ripe but still laced with fresh acidities, giving a slight angularity to the tannins. This is good quaility, with signature Lynch Bages confidence, but does not expand through the palate as the vintages on either side do, holding itself back. I suggest waiting for another few years before drinking to really allow things to soften up. 65% new oak, with an optical sorter used for the first time in this vintage, and 65% of overall production making it into the 1st wine. Drink: 2024-2044. (3/11/22)"

94 points (17/20) La Revue du Vin de France: "[Jean-Charles Cazes] succeeds in making a 2011 that's generous in fruit, absolutely delicious; the usual softness of the vintage perfectly coats its tannic structure. (2016)"

93 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2011 Château Lynch-Bages is a lovely example of the vintage, though like many of the most successful wines on the Left Bank, it is plenty tannic and will need at least a good decade to soften. The deep, complex and very classy nose jumps from the glass in a blaze of cassis, black cherries, espresso, gravelly soil tones, a touch of anise and lead pencilly new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite well-balanced, with a very good core of fruit, fine focus and a very long, ripely tannic and chewy finish. With this wine, the analogy between the 1986 and 2011 vintages seems quite apropos. 2025-2075. (Mar/Apr 2012)"

93 points James Suckling: "A dense, chewy wine for the vintage, with plum, currant and blackberry character. Full body, polished tannic texture and a bright finish. Very pretty indeed. This needs time to soften. Try in 2019. (2/18/14)"

92 points Wine Spectator: "This has solid guts, with plum, currant and blackberry fruit melded together at the core, while notes of charcoal, warm tobacco and singed iron form the backdrop. Should be very solid when it comes together after some cellaring. Best from 2016 through 2028. (3/31/14)"

92 points Peter Moser (Falstaff) (2/18/22).