2021 Ch Le Pin, Pomerol

DUE OCT 2024

Medium-deep crimson. Attractive redcurrant raspberry plum cassis aromas with dark chocolate notes, some rose garden and violet. Juicy sweet wine with plentiful chalky/ hint al dente textures, lovely pure red cherry raspberry and plum fruits. Underlying savoury vanilla notes. Minerally bitter notes. Beautiful. 100% merlot 13.4% alc

96-97 points Andrew Caillard MW

I tasted the 2021 Le Pin several times this spring, and on every occasion the wine showed brilliantly. Wafting from the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, exotic spices, vine smoke and carnal nuances, it's medium to full-bodied, sumptuous and enveloping, with a velvety attack, supple tannins and a long, penetrating finish. Seamless and impressively concentrated, it demonstrates how precocious, well-drained sites such as Le Pin came into their own in the 2021 growing season. As usual, it's 100% Merlot, and this year it checks in at 13.4% alcohol.

94-97 points William Kelley robertparker.com Apr 2022

This has a firm, seamless and velvety tannin structure, accompanying a deep core of dark plum fruit, peach stones, chocolate and mahogany. Layered and caressing. Supple, yet full and powerful. Silky and smooth at the end. It shows real structure for the vintage and will age really well. 100% merlot.

98-99 points jamessuckling.com May 2022

Red cherries and strawberries alongside roses, peonies and smoked earth on the nose. Immediately so smooth, silky in the mouth with bright and searing strawberry and red cherry flavours. A delicate style on show, less plush and plump, more finessed and defined. Minerality shows through clearly with the high-toned fruit framed by just-robust tannins at this point giving a firmness to the overall structure. It has freshness and a sense of underlying power with a menthol backbone and touches of liquorice and black pepper. Long flavour and an appealing chalky finish.

Drinking Window 2027 - 2046

94 points GH decanter.com

Jewel-ruby colour, this has layers of nuanced black fruits and campfire smoke on the nose. One of the more delicate renditions of Le Pin after a number of years of powerful seduction, this is vivid and juicy, heading towards brambled raspberry fruits, with finely-spun tannins and a twist of liquorice bud and grilled earth. The deep gravels of Le Pin (among the deepest of Pomerol, up to 6m) were able to ripen earlier than most areas, and this still delivers an arresting wine, with nuance, hidden power, and beauty. But it may not still the conversation in a room the way that the best vintages of this remarkable wine can do. 75% new oak. Diana Berrouet arrived in January 2022 (from Ch Petit Village) to Le Pin for the blending of this vintage, working with viticulturalist and consulting winemaker Guillaume Thienpont. 35hl/h yield, harvest November 25 to October 4. No frost impact, no mildew either. They made no 2013 and no 2003 here, so if they are making it, it's a good sign that they are happy with it.

94 points JA janeanson.com Apr 2022

The 2021 Le Pin is a delicate refined wine that is still coming together in barrel. Bright saine accents and vivid floral aromatics lend energy to a core of red fleshed fruit. The 75% new oak is expertly judged. Production is down quite a bit about 14 barrels instead of the more typical 20 or so. The 2021 is somewhat unusual lighter style of Le Pin I can't wait to see how it ages.

94-96 AG points vinous.com

Always 100% Merlot from a tiny parcel of clay and gravelly soils, the 2021 Château Le Pin offers up a textbook Le Pin nose of ripe red and blue fruits as well as toast, crème brûlée, spice, and exotic flowers. It's one of the sexiest, most opulent, and seamless wines in the vintage and is medium-bodied, has beautiful tannins, and great overall balance.

93-95 points JB jebdunnuck.com