Flight Wine Company
Screaming Eagle
Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
The 2015 Screaming Eagle is fabulous. Rich and ample on the palate, with soaring aromatics from the Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2015 is a drop-dead gorgeous beauty. Ripe red plum, pomegranate, mint, kirsch, lavender and sweet spice notes are beautifully delineated in the glass. In this tasting, the Cabernet-based Screaming Eagle is quite a bit more open and accessible than the Merlot-based The Flight. Even so, it will be years before the 2015 Screaming Eagle is ready to drink. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, March 2018) — 6 years ago
Canard-Duchêne
Cuvée Leonie Brut Champagne Blend
3 January 2018. ANA Flight 10. — 6 years ago
Château Léoville-Las Cases
Grand Vin de Leoville du Marquis de las Cases Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1988
Overpowered in the flight and just killed by the 85 and 89. The fruit is waning and the finished is clipped and sharp. — 7 years ago
Domaine Dujac
Bonnes Mares Grand Cru Pinot Noir 1993
Good stuff. Again sort of weird to be in a flight but whatever, dujac. Super dark, spicy savoury goodness. Deep dark murky earthy minerality but again big push of fruit. Wicked good. A real treat. — 7 years ago
Château Troplong Mondot
St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 2014
First red wine of the tasting and third wine in flight one for the Bordeaux Master's Class at Heart's Delight.
Deep opaque ruby red. Dark fruity nose with black currants and black cherries. Strong earthiness and stoney note undertones. Heavy tannins (7.5/10) and medium bodied. Sweet spices and dusty on the front end. Followed by a touch of dark cocoa and herbal notes such as eucalyptus. Slatey long finish. Drink till 2032. — 7 years ago
Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
Baron de Pichon-Longueville Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1989
Pichon Dinner. Flight 3, Wine 3. Red Wine of the Night for me. Still dark red, subtle cigar box, smooth and balanced. All the reds were excellent l, but this was a step above the others. Thank you to Spectrum crew Chris, Kerry, Jason and Dan for setting this up. A great evening of food and wine. — 8 years ago
Brancott Estate
Flight Marlborough Pinot Gris 2015
Although very sweet, still s fantastic Pinot Gris. — 8 years ago
Osprey's Dominion Vineyards
Flight Meritage Red Wine 2007
Best red from Osprey's so far. Floral bouquet with berries and a hint of tobacco. No discordant notes with a lingering, pleasant finish. Standing up to and getting along just fine with blue cheese. A keeper. #everydaygems — 9 years ago
Henri Bonneau
Réserve des Célestins Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend
Exquisite winner of a great flight — 10 years ago
Bruno Giacosa
Santo Stefano Di Neive Barbaresco Nebbiolo
Favorite of barbaresco flight. So fresh. Good drinking. — 11 years ago
Screaming Eagle
The Flight Oakville Red Blend 2015
Part 1 of the final and main event for the Fall WNH. The most spectacular lineup of wines I’ve ever seen, and an overall wonderful ending to an amazing trip with fantastic people.
This is crazy young, but is already that good...and will go up a point or two over the next few years without question. Dust covered ripe fruits (blackberry, raspberries, plum) on the nose with a powerful entry and mid palate...cascading rich fruits that ooze flavor. Dark chocolate caramel too. Tannic and plenty of acidity to go for a good while. Wish I could have spent more time with this. Thank you @Eric LaMasters for bringing this and opening in the name of research! — 6 years ago
Tikal
Amorio Mendoza Malbec
The third of a winter red tasting flight, smooth but not overwhelmingly fruity or sweet. — 6 years ago
The Prisoner Wine Company
Cuttings California Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2014
Had a tasting flight of 2013 and 2014. Absolutely wonderful. 2013 was nearly oirt-like...2014 had more fruit — 6 years ago
Venge Vineyards
Silencieux Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Excellent balance. Pre-flight cabernet for dinner — 7 years ago
Domaine Georges Roumier
Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru Pinot Noir 1996
This was a good flight. 3 bonnes mares from roumier. This to me was the best of the three, and coincidentally had been opened the longest. Rich dark spicy exoticness. Yes please — 7 years ago
Château Kirwan
Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2014
Some more #whiteglovelove for you guys haha @David L @TheSkip @Bill Bender @Martin G Rivard @Shay Aldriedge @Shawn R @Ron R
@Carl Fischer @leon egozi
First wine in flight three for the Bordeaux Master's Class at Heart's Delight with all wines from Margaux.
Medium to deep ruby red. Layered nose with an attack of blackberries and cinnamon. Followed by an undertone of red cherries. Heavy tannins (7/10) with a touch gritty in texture, almost like a soft sandpaper. Quite a bit of a acidity but still balanced with notes of yeast, sweet spices, cinnamon, vanilla, and dark black fruits. Dry medium plus to full body with a long finish. Drink till 2037+. (91+) — 7 years ago
Shaw and Smith
Adelaide Hills Shiraz 2012
Get to Shaw and Smith this Sunday for our Winter Reds Shiraz Tasting Flight!!
We have the 09 12 14 & 14 Balhannah Vineyard on tasting this weekend 31st July.
All of them showing beautifully at the moment.
Flight is $25pp, bookings recommended. — 8 years ago
scott@shawandsmith.com
Château Haut-Brion
Graves Red Bordeaux Blend 1979
A runner up in the flight. Seductive on the char/smokey and savory side, with compact, juicy fruit that filled the palate. Showing well. — 10 years ago
Araujo Estate
Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1993
Almost the number one of the flight...so old world with a flutter of new...this and the 96 were so different than the 99 I had a year ago — 11 years ago
Château Lynch-Bages
Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2000
The 2000 is delicious but, it is evolving at a glacial pace. Out of magnum.
On the nose, touch of barnyard, glycerin, ripe; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, plum, strawberries & cherries. Vanilla, dry clay, limestone, river stones, just a touch of pyrazines & bandaid, dark,,turned, moist earth, dry grass and dry & fresh dark florals.
The body is full, round & sexy. Dry softened, sweet tannins. ripe; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, plum, strawberries & cherries. Vanilla, dry clay, limestone, river stones, just a touch of pyrazines & bandaid, fresh tobacco leaf, saddle-wood, dry underbrush, dark, turned, moist earth, dry grass and dry & fresh dark florals. The acidity is magnificent. The structure, tension, length and balance are sensational. The finish is drop dead gorgeous. I’d still hold mine another 5 years as long as you have 3-4 bottles for more 5 year increments.
Photos of, their Estate vines, Clyde Beffa-Owner of K&L Wine Merchants, Owner of Chateau Lynch Bages - Jean-Michel Cazes, guests of the dinner and a sunset view from their Estate.
Producer notes and history...Lynch Bages takes its name from the local area where the Chateau is located in Bages. The vineyard of what was to become Lynch Bages was established and then expanded by the Dejean family who sold it in 1728 to Pierre Drouillard.
In 1749, Drouillard bequeathed the estate to his daughter Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Lynch. This is how the estate came to belong to the Lynch family, where it remained for seventy-five years and received the name Lynch Bages. However, it was not always known under that name.
For a while the wines were sold under the name of Jurine Bages. In fact, when the estate was Classified in the 1855 Classification of the Medoc, the wines were selling under the name of Chateau Jurine Bages. That is because the property was owned at the time by a Swiss wine merchant, Sebastien Jurine.
In 1862, the property was sold to the Cayrou brothers who restored the estate’s name to Chateau Lynch family.
Around 1870, Lou Janou Cazes and his wife Angelique were living in Pauillac, close to Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron. It was here that Jean-Charles Cazes, the couple’s second son, was born in 1877.
In the 1930’s, Jean-Charles Cazes, who was already in charge of Les-Ormes-de-Pez in St. Estephe agreed to lease the vines of Lynch Bages. By that time, the Cazes family had history in Bordeaux dating back to the second half of the nineteenth century.
This agreement to take over Lynch Bages was good for both the owner and Jean Charles Cazes. Because, the vineyards had become dilapidated and were in need of expensive replanting, which was too expensive for the owner. However, for Cazes, this represented an opportunity, as he had the time, and the ability to manage Lynch Bages, but he lacked the funds to buy the vineyard.
Jean-Charles Cazes eventually purchased both properties on the eve of the Second World War. Lynch Bages and Les-Ormes-de-Pez have been run by the Cazes family ever since. In 1988, the Cazes family added to their holdings in Bordeaux when they purchased an estate in the Graves region, Chateau Villa Bel Air.
Around 1970, they increased their vineyards with the purchase of Haut-Bages Averous and Saussus. By the late 1990’s their holdings had expanded to nearly 100 hectares! Jean-Michel Cazes who had been employed as an engineer in Paris, joined the wine trade in 1973. In a short time, Jean Michel Cazes modernized everything at Lynch Bages.
He installed a new vat room, insulated the buildings, developing new technologies and equipment, built storage cellars, restored the loading areas and wine storehouses over the next fifteen years. During that time period, Jean Michel Cazes was the unofficial ambassador of not just the Left Bank, but all of Bordeaux. Jean Michel Cazes was one of the first Chateau owners to begin promoting their wine in China back in 1986.
Bages became the first wine sent into space, when a French astronaut carried a bottle of 1975 Lynch Bages with him on the joint American/French space flight!
Beginning in 1987, Jean-Michel Cazes joined the team at the insurance company AXA, who wanted to build an investment portfolio of quality vineyards in the Medoc, Pomerol, Sauternes, Portugal and Hungary.
Jean-Michel Cazes was named the director of the wine division and all the estates including of course, the neighboring, Second Growth, Chateau Pichon Baron.
June 1989 marked the inauguration of the new wine making facilities at Lynch Bages, which was on of their best vintages. 1989 also marked the debut of the Cordeillan- hotel and restaurant where Sofia and I had one of our best dinners ever. A few years after that, the Village de Bages with its shops was born.
The following year, in 1990, the estate began making white wine, Blanc de Lynch Bages. In 2001, the Cazes family company bought vineyards in the Rhone Valley in the Languedoc appellation, as well as in Australia and Portugal. They added to their holdings a few years later when they purchased a vineyard in Chateauneuf du Pape.
In 2006, Jean-Charles Cazes took over as the managing director of Chateau Lynch Bages. Jean-Michel Cazes continues to lead the wine and tourism division of the family’s activities. Due to their constant promotion in the Asian market, Chateau Lynch Bages remains one of the strongest brands in the Asian market, especially in China.
In 2017, Chateau Lynch Bages began a massive renovation and modernization, focusing on their wine making, and technical facilities. The project, headed by the noted architects Chien Chung Pei and Li Chung Pei, the sons of the famous architect that designed the glass pyramid for the Louvre in Paris as well as several other important buildings.
The project will be completed in 2019. This includes a new grape, reception center, gravity flow wine cellar and the vat rooms, which will house at least, 80 stainless steel vats in various sizes allowing for parcel by parcel vinification.
The new cellars will feature a glass roof, terraces with 360 degree views and completely modernized reception areas and offices. They are not seeing visitors until it’s completion.
In March, 2017, they purchased Chateau Haut Batailley from Françoise Des Brest Borie giving the Cazes family over 120 hectares of vines in Pauillac!
The 100 hectare vineyard of Lynch Bages is planted to 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The vineyard has a terroir of gravel, chalk and sand soils.
The vineyard can be divided into two main sections, with a large portion of the vines being planted close to the Chateau on the Bages plateau. At their peak, the vineyard reaches an elevation of 20 meters. The other section of the vineyard lies further north, with its key terroir placed on the Monferan plateau.
They also own vines in the far southwest of the appellation, next Chateau Pichon Lalande, on the St. Julien border, which can be used in the Grand Vin. The vineyard can be split into four main blocks, which can be further subdivided into 140 separate parcels.
The average age of the vines is about 30 years old. But they have old vines, some of which are close to 90 years old.
The vineyards are planted to a vine density of 9,000 vines per hectare. The average age of the vines is about 30 years old. But they have old vines, some of which are close to 90 years old.
Lynch Bages also six hectares of vine are reserved for the production of the white Bordeaux wine of Chateau Lynch Bages. Those vines are located to the west of the estate. They are planted to 53% Sauvignon Blanc, 32% Semillon and 15% Muscadelle. On average, those vines are about 20 years of age. Lynch Bages Blanc made its debut in 1990.
To produce the wine of Chateau Lynch Bages, vinification takes place 35 stainless steel vats that vary in size. Malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of 30% French, oak barrels with the remainder taking place in tank.
The wine of Chateau Lynch Bages is aged in an average of 70% new, French oak barrels for between 12 and 15 months. Due to the appellation laws of Pauillac, the wine is sold as a generic AOC Bordeaux Blanc, because Pauillac does not allow for the plantings of white wine grapes.
For the vinification of their white, Bordeaux wine, Blanc de Lynch-Bages is vinified in a combination of 50% new, French oak barrels, 20% in one year old barrels and the remaining 30% is vinified in vats. The wine is aged on its lees for at least six months. The white wine is sold an AOC Bordeaux wine.
The annual production at Lynch Bages is close to 35,000 cases depending on the vintage.
The also make a 2nd wine, which was previously known as Chateau Chateau Haut Bages Averous. However, the estate changed its name to Echo de Lynch Bages beginning with the 2007 vintage. The estate recently added a third wine, Pauillac de Lynch-Bages.
— 6 years ago
Dom Pérignon
Brut Champagne Blend
The Emirates flight crew altered me that @Claire Owen and I consumed a total of 4 bottles on the flight...worth it, I think? Needed something to pair with the caviar and canapés. #EmiratesSuites #a380 #honeymoon — 8 years ago
Château Margaux
Premier Grand Cru Classé Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 1984
Quivira Vineyard and Winery
Flight Zinfandel 2013
This is actually pretty solid this year. Still not a top shelf Dry Creek Zin though — 9 years ago
Château Rayas
Réservé Châteauneuf-du-Pape Grenache Blend 1985
Wine of the flight at learnaboutwine's (now wineLA) Top Wines tasting - House of Blues. Color: Grenache/brick NOSE: Amazing bouquet of tomato paste, olive tapenade, herb, stone, ((did not need to taste to love)) MOUTH: textured, refined, fresh, amazingly balanced and reminiscent of the legendary 1985 with perhaps a nudge of newer wood. Score 98 points (N2self - one of my greatest bottles this year) — 10 years ago
Karen Skertich
Very nice, relaxing drinking wine. No food required! — 6 years ago