Chateau Le Pin
Review of the Estate
Chateau Le Pin, or simply Le Pin, is a Bordeaux wine from the appellation Pomerol. The unusually small estate is located on the Right Bank of France’s Gironde estuary in the commune of Pomerol near the hamlet of Catusseau, Chateau Le Pin is frequently one of the world's most expensive red wines.
Madame Laubie, whose family had owned Chateau Le Pin since 1924 sold the one hectare vineyard in 1979 to the Belgian Jacques Thienpont for 1 million francs. The vineyards were developed by Jacques Thienpont whose family own the neighbouring Vieux Chateau Certan, and the wine at Chateau Le Pin was produced in tiny quantities from a farmhouse basement. The property was already called Le Pin from a solitary pine tree that grows near the winery. Today the estate comprises 2,7 hectares in one contiguous vineyard surrounding the winery. In 2011 a new winery, designed by the Belgian architectural practice Robbrecht en Daem architecten, was inaugurated using small microcuves and gravity to move Chateau Le Pin wine.
Chateau Le Pin is considered by some a predecessor of the "garage wines", although this idea is rejected by many, including by the proprietors, on the basis of the merits of the terroir, and the absence of extreme measures to compensate for mediocre grapes.
Occasionally the most expensive wine in the world, continually receiving high wine ratings from wine critics and produced in extremely small numbers, Chateau Le Pin bottles are a constant presence on the wine auction market.
The winery is currently managed by Jacques Thienpont, and additional tiny plots of land have been acquired. Chateau Le Pin is among the clients of the oenologist Dany Rolland, wife of Michel Rolland.
Vineyard
Surface area: 5 acres
Grape Varieties: 92% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc
Average age of vines: 28 years
Density of plantation: 6,000 vines per hectare
Average yields: 34 hectoliters per hectare
Average cases produced: 600 per year
Plateau of maturity: 8 - 25 years
Chateau Le Pin Performance History Graph
*Click on the graph below to see the performance of each individual wine*
Chateau Le Pin Wine List
*Click on a wine to view more details including a review, recent price history and tasting notes*
Wine | Point Score |
| Chateau Le Pin 1990 | 91 |
| Chateau Le Pin 1991 | 86 |
| Chateau Le Pin 1992 | 82 |
| Chateau Le Pin 1993 | 90 |
| Chateau Le Pin 1994 | 91 |
| Chateau Le Pin 1995 | 94 |
| Chateau Le Pin 1996 | 92 |
| Chateau Le Pin 1997 | 86 |
| Chateau Le Pin 1998 | 93 |
| Chateau Le Pin 1999 | 93 |
| Chateau Le Pin 2000 | 96 |
| Chateau Le Pin 2001 | 98 |
| Chateau Le Pin 2002 | 93 |
| Chateau Le Pin 2003 | N/A |
| Chateau Le Pin 2004 | 95 |
| Chateau Le Pin 2005 | 93 |
| Chateau Le Pin 2006 | 93 |
| Chateau Le Pin 2007 | 89 |
| Chateau Le Pin 2008 | 92 |
| Chateau Le Pin 2009 | 100 |
| Chateau Le Pin 2010 | 100 |
| Chateau Le Pin 2011 | 96 |
Bordeaux Investment Wines - Chateau Le Pin Review
