Chateau Lynch Bages: A reflection of Pauillac charm

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 03/26/2006 7:55 AM  |  Life

Yohan Handoyo, Contributor, Jakarta

To wine lovers, the word Pauillac often sparks an anticipation of great wines because three of the five First Growth wines -- Chteau Mouton-Rothschild, Chteau Lafite-Rothschild, and Chteau Latour -- come from this beautiful small village just north of the city of Bordeaux. Pauillac is also home to 15 other classified wines and many of them can be and should be considered drink-at-least-once-before-you-die wines.

But if you want to taste the beauty of Pauillac's great wines, you should not only anticipate its greatness and elegance because the price tag of some of the best Pauillac wines can be quite staggering too. Therefore, if you would like a good introduction to the taste of this prestigious wine region without having to re-mortgage your house, Chteau Lynch Bages would be a very good start.

Although classified as Fifth Growth in the famous 1855 Bordeaux Classification, Chteau Lynch Bages as most wine experts would agree -- deserves higher level of recognition as they often produce wines on par with higher classified wines. But this quality does not just sprout out from the soil as it's been a long and winding road for Chteau Lynch Bages to define and maintain the definition of quality.

Despite its prestigious designation, Chteau Lynch Bages has gone through a lot of ups and downs since the day when the Lynch family bought an estate in the village of Bages -- hence the name Lynch Bages -- in Pauillac. This family owned the Chteau from 1749 to 1824, at which time they sold it to the Jurine Family from Geneva. And although the name remains the same until now, a change of ownership occurred several times, which means this Chteau has gone through different owners and winemaking standards. It was particularly tough for this Chteau especially during the two World Wars when the demand for good wines plummeted to almost zero. Even during the great depression in the 1930s, more than half the area of the vineyard was turned into potato plantation!

By this time, Lynch Bages was in a dilapidated state due to the neglect of the previous absentee owner, and Jean-Charles Cazes decided to take over the estate in 1939. The new ownership turned out to be the rebound point for Chteau Lynch Bages as the Cazes family devoted all their time to this business (mind you, the wine business was not considered as glamorous as it is now) and despite all the hardships this family also successfully purchased Chteau Les Ormes de Pez (not to be confused with Chteau de Pez that is also located in the same village) in St-Estphe in 1940. And since 2003, this winery has bee classified as Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel - a quality level often considered to be step below the 1855 Bordeaux Classification.

Now Lynch Bages is known not only as a Fifth Growth wine, but also as a wine that can stand shoulder to shoulder with Second Growth or even First Growth wines. In his famous Wine Buyer's Guide, Robert Parker Jr. written between 1971 and 1979, Lynch Bages has produced an uninterrupted series of fine wines, ""largely because of the immense accomplishment of Jean-Michael Cazes"", and just recently, Mr. Cazes came to Jakarta (Thanks to Mr. Jaya Sukamto who brought him in) to show people how charming a Pauillac wine can be.

Jean Michel Cazes is now 71-years-old, but remains a winemaker with abundant joie-de-vivre, who took over the leadership in Lynch Bages in 1974. He is the driving force behind the modernization of the winery that finally led to the overall improvement of the wine as stated by Robert Parker Jr. With his wife he came to Jakarta last week to promote his wines and experience the food pairing with Indonesian cuisine prepared by the Lara Djonggrang Restaurant.

There were 6 different wines presented on the night. The first one was Blanc de Lynch Bages 2004 made from 40% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Smillon, and 20% Muscadelle that reminded me a lot of a creamy lemon pie with a character of grape fruit and mineral taste. A touch of spices and oak character seems to dance in the palate when I took a sip of this wine. Fresh and nice, but I think this wine has not yet fully showed the complexity of white Bordeaux.

The second wine was L'ostal CazesCru La Liviniere 2003, which is Cazes' new venture in the Languedoc area of southern France (and La Liviniere is also a new appellation inside the bigger Minervois appellation). This wine has an unmistakably French-Mediterranean-Syrah character with a lot of black fruits and spiciness going back and forth like a caged animal in your mouth. The tannin was structured yet elegant and I will not soon forget the pleasant plum-like aftertaste that lingered for quite a while. I always like a complex, yet elegant wine like this.

The next wine was also nice. It was Chteau Haut-Bages Averous (Lynch Bages' second label) 1999 and it had a beautiful integration of fruit and mellow tannin. The aroma was also rich and pleasant with a hint of mint and chocolate. And although Lara Djonggrang's team prepared some beautiful and tasty food, pairing sate kambing and sweet thick kecap manis with these wines was very brave indeed.

One of my favorites was the Les Ormes de Pez 1996 that exhibited a burst of blackberry and smoky-spicy oak, all wrapped in a sweet, opulent, round texture. And to save the best for last, we had Chteau Lynch Bages 1998 and 1995 before dessert. Although these two wines were still young, they have showed the charm of the great Pauillac wines, such as elegance, finesse, structured yet elegant tannin, distinctive style and complexity. The 1995 was attractive, supple yet soft and seductive. The 1998 was austere yet complex and elegant. I particularly loved the 1995 as this wine lured me back again and again every time I swirled my glass.

While I took a sip of the 1995, I could not help but imagining the beautiful castles and vineyards in Pauillac. Yes, I was charmed again.

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