2017 Le Pin
By Chateau Le Pin
2017 Le Pin from Chateau Le Pin, Pomerol, Bordeaux
Situated in the heart of Pomerol, the minute jewel-box estate of Chateau Le Pin produces some of Bordeaux's most opulent and sought-after wines. The year 2017 was a vintage of resilience and finesse, heralding the 2017 Le Pin as a vestige of meticulous winemaking amidst meteorological trials.
From Adversity to Excellence: A Vintage's Journey
The spring frost of April 2017 laid a challenging precedent, markedly diminishing yield across Bordeaux. However, this insidious onset became a crucible for greatness at Chateau Le Pin. With astute vineyard management and Mother Nature's subsequent leniency, the remaining Merlot grapes achieved remarkable concentration. These concerted efforts came to fruition with the release of the 2017 Le Pin, characterised by its supple mouthfeel and intricate flavour profile.
A Cultivator of Complexity and Elegance
The 2017 Le Pin weaves a bouquet where dark cherries and plums pirouette with subtle hints of truffle and cocoa. The palate? It's an ensemble of rich fruit layered with touches of ironstone and tobacco leaf. The finish lingers like a whispered promise of sustained pleasure, owed to its fine-grained tannins and deftly integrated oak treatment (the subtlety achieved even in a winemaker’s trial year is laudable).
Wine investors with discernment will observe that while some vintages blare their charm, the 2017 Le Pin opts for a dignified discourse. It holds forth an investment proposition as robust as its structure; it is a wine whose storied provenance matches its cellar potential.
In sum, the 2017 vintage from Chateau Le Pin stands as an exemplar of what Pomerol can achieve under duress - yielding elegance, depth, and a promise for longevity. For those seeking investment wines with both narrative heft and exquisite drinking pleasure, this offering should not be overlooked.
Market price (USD)
$28,200.00
12x75cl
Highest score
97
POP score
1358.82
Scores and 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.
James Suckling - jamessuckling.com
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!
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Advocate, 16 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.
Wine Advocate - Lisa Perrotti-Brown - robertparker.com
Totally sensual and vivid in the glass, the 2017 Le Pin is gorgeous today. Silky tannins and lifted aromatics add finesse to the sumptuous fruit as the 2017 gradually unfurls in the glass. The sweet red cherry, tobacco, mint and white pepper notes are beautifully delineated. Above all else, though, Le Pin impresses for its impeccable balance and total sense of harmony. Readers who don't want to splurge on Le Pin should seriously consider Jacques Thienpont's Saint-Émilion L'If, which, I believe, has all the potential to equal or surpass Le Pin in the future.
Antonio Galloni - Antonio Galloni - vinous.com - May '18
The 2017 Le Pin, which has 100% new oak as usual, was cropped at 32hl/ha with 13.9° alcohol. It has a perfumed bouquet with dark cherries, a touch of blue fruit, cold stone and a hint of incense. This is more opulent than the Vieux-Château-Certan, but with a bit more sensuality if not quite the same degree of complexity. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannin, very smooth in texture with red fruit laced with sea salt and a suggestion of iodine. There is certainly good backbone to this Le Pin, although it is so silky towards the finish that it is barely tangible. A more backward Le Pin at the moment compared to the last three vintages but I am fascinated to see how this ages. Tasted twice and showing a little more structure in the second showing. Jacques Thienpont told me that around 500 cases will be produced.
Neal Martin - Neal Martin - vinous.com - May '18