Château Le Pin 2006
Chateau Le Pin, or simply Le Pin, is a Bordeaux wine from the appellation Pomerol. The unusually small estate is located on the Right Bank of France's Gironde estuary in the commune of Pomerol near the hamlet of Catusseau, Chateau Le Pin is frequently one of the world's most expensive red wines.
Madame Laubie, whose family had owned Chateau Le Pin since 1924 sold the one hectare vineyard in 1979 to the Belgian Jacques Thienpont for 1 million francs. The vineyards were developed by Jacques Thienpont whose family own the neighbouring Vieux Chateau Certan, and the wine at Chateau Le Pin was produced in tiny quantities from a farmhouse basement. The property was already called Le Pin from a solitary pine tree that grows near the winery. Today the estate comprises 2,7 hectares in one contiguous vineyard surrounding the winery. In 2011 a new winery, designed by the Belgian architectural practice Robbrecht en Daem architecten, was inaugurated using small microcuves and gravity to move Chateau Le Pin wine.
Chateau Le Pin is considered by some a predecessor of the "garage wines", although this idea is rejected by many, including by the proprietors, on the basis of the merits of the terroir, and the absence of extreme measures to compensate for mediocre grapes.
Chateau Le Pin occasionally the most expensive wine in the world, continually receiving high wine ratings from wine critics and produced in extremely small numbers, Chateau Le Pin bottles are a constant presence on the wine auction market.
The winery is currently managed by Jacques Thienpont, and additional tiny plots of land have been acquired. Chateau Le Pin is among the clients of the oenologist Dany Rolland, wife of Michel Rolland.
Vineyard
Surface area: 5 acres
Grape Varieties: 92% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc
Average age of vines: 28 years
Density of plantation: 6,000 vines per hectare
Average yields: 34 hectoliters per hectare
Average cases produced: 600 per year
Plateau of maturity: 8 - 25 years
Château Le Pin 2006 Reviews / Tasting Notes
Neal Martin - The Wine Advocate
Point Score: 96
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.
Wine Spectator
Point Score: 92-94
This has a lovely sweetness of fruit on the palate. Full, silky and flavorful, with chocolate, berry and vanilla character. Medium long on the finish. A beauty. Score range: 92-94
Neal Martin - The Wine Advocate
Point Score: 91-93
(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.