2005 Le Pin, Pomerol, Bordeaux

The 2005 Le Pin is a very pretty wine, perhaps a bit more floral and savoury 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.

Drink 2021 - 2035

The 2005 Le Pin is deep garnet-brick in color. Starting off a little shy, the nose is primary and youthful, with a fair bit of oak still poking through. It eventually opens out to notes of black cherry preserves and stewed plums with hints of red roses, pencil shavings, and fertile loam. Medium-bodied, flamboyant, and remarkably young and plump in the mouth, it has a firm and grainy texture with seamless freshness and an epically long finish. While tempting to drink now, give it another 5-7 years to find its stride and drink it over the next 30 years+. Le Pin is a tiny, 6.5 acre estate high on the plateau of Pomerol, mainly composed of sand and gravel, and thus very well drained. Purchased by Jacques Thienpont in late 1970s, the first vintage was 1979. The style tends to be perfumed and exotic, delivering opulence without weightiness. Only 500 cases were made in 2005.

Drink 2027 - 2057

Tasted at the Pomerol Comparative Exploration tasting in London, the 2005 Le Pin has never quite lived up to the billing when compared to other vintages from Jacques Thienpont's iconic Pomerol estate, yet that is begrudging what is still a gorgeous wine. It remains very youthful and limpid in colour. 

The bouquet is much more Burgundian than I anticipated, with raspberry coulis, wild strawberry scents, fine mineralité, and poise. With time, there is more blue fruit emerging. The palate is sweet and candied on the entry, plush and sensual, saturated tannin with impressive depth. 

You feel that perhaps it just egged on a little too much in the winery at the expense of some sophistication and delineation. However, in terms of pure pleasure, it is a delicious wine, albeit one with a hefty price tag.

Drink 2020 - 2045

Tasted at Bipin Desai’s Le Pin vertical in Los Angeles. A magnificent Le Pin, deep garnet/ruby in colour. The nose has the clarity of crisp spring morning with notes of red fruits, violets, minerals, gravel and just a hint of dark chocolate that I have not picked up before. This is more Burgundian than I recall. The full-bodied has a velvety smooth entry and then you are gob-smacked by the concentration married with poise and tension. If anything, this 2005 has put on weight over the year with layers of strawberry, black plum, blueberry and cassis. The finish has a firm grip, a Pomerol that says: “don’t mess with me”. A tremendous wine that I am certain will continue to get better and better with passing years. 550 cases made.

Drink 2015 - 2030+