Château Le Pin 2020
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 2020 Reviews / Tasting Notes
Neal Martin - Vinous
Point Score: 96-98
The 2020 Le Pin, tasted with Jacques Thienpont in Pomerol, is limpid in the glass. It has an impressively pixelated nose with layers of dark plum, raspberry, slate and subtle potpourri scents. Unlike some recent vintages, this politely asks you to be patient and then unfurls at its own stately pace. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a fine bead of acidity. This does not set out to be a powerful Le Pin, but it gently builds to deliver a very precise, quite spicy finish that has very long persistence. Superb salinity on the aftertaste, not a million miles away from Lafleur despite the differences in composition ("Don't ask me why..." commented Jacques Thienpont when I enquired about that aspect.) Give this 4-6 years in bottle and watch it blossom over many.
Decanter
Point Score: 97
The aromatics take a few beats to arrive, and then show pure, bright blue and red berry fruits with incredible density and a pure velvet texture. This is a brilliant Le Pin - seductive, with the density and pleasure you expect from this estate, with slow delivery of pure black berry fruits and a toasted coffee and cocoa bean finish with cooler waves of gunsmoke and earth. A wine that you will take your time over, and that will give the best of itself with at least a decade in bottle. Keeps opening and deepening the longer that it stays in the glass. A yield of 24hl/ha (usually no higher than 34hl/ha so this is not so unusual). Sandy/gravel over clay soils. Harvest 14, 16 and 21 September. Malolactic fermentation in barrel.
Jancis Robinson
Point Score: 18/20
100% Merlot. Cask sample. Typically seductive with a density of fruit and opulent form and texture. Aromatically alluring with zesty red fruit and floral notes and a hint of chocolate from the oak. Tannins very suave and dense. Point of salinity to give balance but the alcohol does show. (JL) 14.5%