Tasting Notes
Vinous 94
The 2005 Le Pin is a very pretty wine, perhaps a bit more floral and savory and less opulent than it often is. Crushed raspberry, wild flowers, mint and dried herbs all lift from the glass effortlessly. Like most of its peers, the 2005 needs several hours of aeration to be at its best. It is an especially gracious, translucent wine that stands apart stylistically from the typically richer wines that have been made here.
Anticipated maturity: 2021-2035
Robert Parker 95
The Le Pin 2005 has a very sweet, candied bouquet that actually reminds me slightly of a Super-Tuscan, not in a bad way either. It is a complex set of aromas that bring to mind a burlesque: red cherries, soy, undergrowth, a sprig of heather and lavender. As usual it is one of the most opulent, lascivious Pomerols on the nose and returning to my glass over ten minutes it unfurls with careless abandon. The palate is medium-bodied with fine silky tannins. But it does not quite deliver the same sophistication on the second half that is quite linear, touches of coffee and marmalade with a hint of aniseed on the finish. This is a delicious, quite mercurial Le Pin that you could broach now, though I would prefer to leave it another three or four years.
Anticipated maturity: 2018-2037
JancisRobinson.com 16
Tasted blind. Relatively pale. Smells a little simple. Austere and quite tart and simple on the end. A real disappointment.
Anticipated maturity: 2016-2026
