The 2022 Lynch-Bages has a showstopping bouquet that is well defined, very pure and focused, displaying black fruit laced with cedar and graphite. Hints of pressed violet emerge with aeration. This has actually gained pixelation in barrel. The palate is taut and crisp, with touches of graphite flourishing with aeration so that it could only come from Pauillac. There`s plenty of energy coiled up in this Lynch Bages. The 2022 will give a lot of pleasure over the next 30 years or more. Superb. 96 points

One of the vintage`s most powerful, muscular wines is the 2022 Lynch-Bages, a full-bodied, broad-shouldered Pauillac that unfurls in the glass with aromas of cassis, cherries, mint, pencil shavings and petroleum jelly, framed by nicely integrated new oak. Liberally extracted, its deep core of fruit is underpinned by an imposing chassis of rich, powdery tannin and lively acids. Always rather forbidding from barrel, Lynch Bages always seems to come together in bottle, and the 2022 has the makings of another success for this address. 93-96 points

Full on inky purple in colour, this is sculpted and full of character. Intense, not just a reflection of the vintage but in the increasing concentration found in Lynch Bages over the past decade. Delivers so much character, wtih charcoal, soot, campfire, liquorice, slate, bilberry, cassis. Hugely impressive and complex, will age for decades. As it opens and those fierce tannins loosen their grip a little, the floral character of the Cabernet Sauvignon becomes more clear. It`s austere right now, with shoulders and muscles, but I am fully on board. One to wait for. 75% new oak. Harvest September 12 to 24. 97 points

The 2022 Lynch-Bages shows all the classic Lynch layers, but dialed up to the maximum. Rich, deep and explosive, the 2022 packs tremendous punch. Sweet dark cherry, spice, leather, menthol, licorice, plum and mocha all open with time in the glass. The tannins are imposing, and yet there is more than enough fruit to balance things out, at least to some degree. I expect the 2022 will need a decade to shed some of its tannin, but it is formidable, even in the early going. Impressive. Tasted two times. `This is the third time in history we are above 14% in alcohol, the others were 2018 and 2019,` Jean-Charles Cazes explained. 95-97 points