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Le Pin 2018

Le Pin, Bordeaux, France

Le Pin
Bordeaux France
  • 100
    Points
  • The 131 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 14 Pros of
    14 recommend
    this wine
387 100
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    106

  • Producer ranking ?

    3

  • Decanting time

    4h

  • When to drink

    from 2025

  • Food Pairing

    Beef

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(100 Merlot) | 100% new oak | 14.5% alc | 30 hl/ha | 3.7 pH | 70 IPT A very intense nose leads the way with supreme richness and decadence. The acidity on the finish is amazing, too, and these two elements bookend a profoundly delicious, densely exotic wine dotted with spice and wild flower notes. It is the layering of eight different plots of Merlot on the 2.5ha property which makes this such a fa...

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The Story

Château Le Pin, or simply Le Pin, is an unclassed Bordeaux wine from the appellation Pomerol. There has never been an official classification of Pomerol. Even so, Chateau Le Pin commands prices that put it at levels equal to the best wines of Bordeaux. The unusually small estate is located on the Right Bank of France’s Gironde estuary, and its wine is periodically one of the world's most expensive red wines. Le Pin was the first of the "garage...

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Vintage 2018

Report and recommendations for the 2018 Bordeaux vintage

by Andrew Caillard MW

2018 is an exceptional year. Bordeaux whites and Sauternes are very good, but from an Australian perspective, the excitement is all in the red wines. All sub-regions produced examples of very good wines, but some performed better than others. Generally, the largest estates have made exemplary wines illustrating that the human factor and wealth can have a major...

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

2018 Le Pin 99-100p
Tasted in November 2021. I lack words to describe this wine, so that it will be a short description. Fantastic density, kinkiness and exceptional midpalate. Liquid cashmere. 

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  • 100p

The 2018 Le Pin, tasted directly from barrel as usual, albeit six months later than primeur, ergo this represents the final blend. This has an intriguing bouquet - much more reserved and almost Left Bank in character with tightly wound black fruit laced with oyster shell and hints of seaweed. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a little more muscular than usual with touches of charcoal and graphite towards the beautifully defined finish. This is an intellectual Le Pin that will be fascinating to taste once in bottle.

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  • 97p

30 hl/ha, pH 3.7. Barrel sample.
Intensely perfumed with a complex combinaton of red fruits, a hint of lovely leafiness or pencil shavings (not underripeness at all), and floral plus some dark fruits in this vintage. Then there's a slightly chocolatey note from the oak but very slight and not intrusive. On the palate, both dry and silky at the same time, fluent across the palate, with the lightest of tannic friction more like a matt texture. Intense and sweet-fruited on the palate, impressive concentration, the sweetness of pure fruit. Generous, inviting and glossy without being showy.

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  • 95p

Ruby. Blueberries, anise, some spices, elegant nose, dark fruits, layered and detailed nose. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, anise, blueberries and spices, layered, detailed, intense, stunning balance and length, incredible. 99-100

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  • 100p

Dark purple red colour with violet hue and black core. Opulent nose with graphite, almost flinty character, very juicy fruit, hints of ripe berries in the background. Complex palate, with perfect concentration, excellent structure, gentle extraction, complex and rich character, great depth. A great wine with great class.

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  • 99p
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Information

Origin

Pomerol, Bordeaux

Inside Information

98-99 JAMES SUCKLING: "A very plush and exciting L’Evangile with polished, velvety tannins that set this up to be a classic. It’s full-bodied with glorious fruit and a great center palate that has fantastic depth. It’s so caressing and beautiful. So much here."

98 DECANTER: "This is extremely good, expansive and luxurious with a stunning texture – vibrant and powerful, and a floral side that becomes clear as it opens in the glass, lifting the whole thing not through acidity but through aromatics. The real difference with Le Pin and other 100% Merlot wines is the sumptuousness through the mid palate, it’s so wide and rich, you can’t just walk over it but lie down on it, feather pillow style. They had a yield of 30hl/ha, mainly due to thicker than usual skins with some concentration at the finish, and added a selected rather than indigenous yeast to deal with the alcohol levels. 3.7Ph. 70IPT. 2019, by the way, is the 40th anniversary vintage here for the Thienponts."

97-99 JEB DUNNUCK: "About as sexy as wine gets, the 2018 Le Pin comes from a tiny vineyard located just across from Vieux Château Certan and is always 100% Merlot brought up in new barrels. It reveals a deep purple color as well as a heavenly bouquet of crème de cassis, roasted coffee, vanilla, and toasted spice. Deep, full-bodied, seamless, and incredibly layered on the palate, with ultra-fine tannins, it´s already approachable, with the flamboyant style of the vintage, yet should evolve for decades. It’s a brilliant Pomerol in the making." 

97-99 THE WINEADVOCATE: "The 2018 Le Pin is made of 100% Merlot, picked the last week of September with yields of 30 hectoliters per hectare. The wine has a pH of 3.7, an IPT (total polyphenol index) of 70 and 14.5% alcohol. Deep purple-black in color, it is a little reserved to begin, offering glimpses of tar, fertile loam and truffles with slowly emerging notes of baked black cherries, stewed plums, mulberries and underbrush plus hints of black pepper, hoisin and chargrill with a waft of garrigue. Full-bodied, the palate is loaded with taut, muscular fruit and heaps of earthy accents, with a firm frame of ripe, rounded tannins and just enough seamless freshness, finishing very long and wonderfully savory."

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