2021 Château Le Pin

The 2021 Le Pin has turned out beautifully. Élevage has done wonders in building texture. Dark, pliant and super-expressive, the 2021 is fabulous right out of the gate. Bright acids resonate on the striking finish. Black cherry, plum, leather, spice, graphite and jasmine lend an exotic flair. Time in the glass releases the aromatics. The 2021 is a gorgeous wine.

- Antonio Galloni (12/2023)

This is really pure and primary with very clean and bright aromas of crushed grapes. Minerally and floral with brightness and vividness. Just a hint of smoke and meat. Medium-bodied with a tight and poised center palate and a racy finish. Structured in a classic, great Bordeaux way. Needs five or six years to come together and soften, but this is seamless and wonderful. Drink after 2030 and beyond. (07/2024)

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2021 Le Pin needs a few swirls to release evocative scents of juicy black and red plums, black cherries, and black raspberries, giving way to fragrant scents of red roses, cinnamon stick, black truffles, and underbrush, with a touch of cardamom. The medium-bodied palate is filled with vibrant black berry layers and red berry sparks, framed by gorgeous, ripe, rounded tannins and amazing freshness, finishing long and perfumed. This wine is a breathtaking achievement, considering the challenges of this vintage. (04/2024)

The 2021 Le Pin has turned out beautifully in bottle, bursting with aromas of raspberries and blackberries mingled with notions of pencil shavings, spices, black truffle and licorice, framed by a discreet touch of new oak (only 55% new this year). Medium to full-bodied, ample and enveloping, it's suave and sensual, with a fleshy core of fruit and beautifully refined tannins and concludes with a long, rose-inflected finish. Le Pin, after all, is an early-ripening, well-drained terroir, so it's hardly surprising that it should perform especially well in a vintage like 2021.

- William Kelley (02/2024)