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Le Pin 2017

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > Pomerol
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot

One of the most famous and hard-to-find wines of Bordeaux thanks to the tiny production and consistently fabulous quality. Jacques Thienpont established Le Pin in 1979 and his sumptuous, silky Pomerol is always intense yet un-forced, smooth and fine.

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Le Pin

Label

Tasting Notes

This Le Pin is extremely linear and compact with tight, polished tannins that flow down the center of the palate. Full-to medium-bodied, succulent and tangy with orange-peel and hazelnut undertones. Dusty and polished at the same time. Superb length. Drink after 2022.

97
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (June 2019), January 2020

The 2017 Le Pin is medium to deep garnet-purple in color. It opens up into an evocative aria of Morello cherries, black raspberries, juicy blackberries, and lilacs, with touches of star anise, lavender, cast iron pan, and peat moss, plus a hint of dried roses. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is beautifully poised with satiny tannins and a lively line lifting the intense, perfumed black and red fruits, finishing long and fragrant. Although it would be a shame to drink it now, it is so very tempting. If you do so, Jacques Thienpont (the owner) recommends at least a 3 hour decant.

97
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, December 2022

No frost at Le Pin gave a normal yield of 32hl/ha, and the early season meant the harvest came in from 18-21 September. Picking over three days is relatively unusual here, and is something they ascribe to the arrival of Guillaume Thienpont over at Vieux Chateau Certan, as he looks after the viticulture through the year at both estates, along with his father Alexandre. This wine features some extremely bright spice, with touches of exoticism, tasted from a blend taken from 12 different barrels (the final blend happens only at the moment of bottling). It deepens and takes on plush definition with time in the glass, with those layers of featherlight but pulsating Le Pin tannins, but it displays more subtle opulence than in some years. All new oak, with malo in both Taransaud and Seguin Moreau barrels. 3.7pH.
Drinking Window 2026 - 2040

94
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, April 2018

Deep crimson. Super-fragrant, almost floral, with very fine fruit and some toasty oak. So moreish, sweet-fruited and very silky already. Gorgeously silky and long. Almost a touch of burgundy to the sweet red fruit on the finish.
Drink 2025-2040

18.5
Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2018

This is a very fresh and bright Le Pin because July and August were not too hot. This has given rise to an elegant Le Pin. Great depth on the nose, but not that intense on the palate, it is impossible to compare the weather conditions in 2017 to any other vintage and so there is a unique shape and size to this wine. Fascinating, melodic and musical, beautiful and honed, this is a very delicate and resonant Le Pin and I like it very much indeed.

19+
Matthew Jukes, Matthew Jukes' Blog, April 2018
Read more tasting notes...

A squared and properly focused 2017 with chocolate, dark berries and silky tannins that envelop the palate. A Burgundian sensibility to this with a very fine texture of acidity and tannins that back up the elegant and supple fruit. A clarity and beauty to the wine.

96/97
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2018

Made from 100% Merlot, the deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Le Pin opens a little closed and broody, slowly unfurling to offer notes of baked plums, Black Forest cake and raspberry pie with touches of iron ore, crushed rocks, roses and star anise plus a waft of cardamom. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers the most jaw-dropping, exquisitely ripe tannins with amazingly seamless freshness and layer upon layer of red and black fruits, finishing with incredible energy and depth. WOW!

“The most delicate task was finding the best time to pick the grapes,” commented Jacques Thienpont on the 2017 vintage at Le Pin, during my Primeurs visit. “This year we harvested even our very small vineyard over different days.” This 2017 Le Pin is utterly gorgeous. Still very youthful, the attention to ripeness as well as what must have been a very strict selection process in this newly bottled blockbuster is clear. Vibrancy, layers of nuances and an astonishingly velvety texture—this 2017 is gonna blow Pomerol lovers away!

Drink Date
2020 - 2055

97+
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, March 2020

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Le Pin (100% Merlot) is a little reticent to begin, opening out to crushed black berries, warm black plums and wild blueberries with touches of forest floor, violets, star anise and cast iron pan with a waft of cigar box. Medium to full-bodied, it has a sensuous frame of very ripe, silken tannins and seamless freshness, flaunting a very elegant core of perfumed fruit and finishing with many, many mineral layers.

94/96+
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (236), April 2018
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.