Château Le Pin 2009
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.
Chateau Le Pin 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
Château Le Pin 2009 Reviews / Tasting Notes
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Advocate
Point Score: 100
Medium garnet colored, the 2009 Le Pin comes charging out of the glass with exuberant notions of baked red and black cherries, mulberries and warm plums with touches of star anise, cigar box and lavender plus wafts of menthol and fragrant soil. Full-bodied and boldly fruited, it has tons of vibrant red and black fruit layers with wonderful mineral and floral sparks throughout the long, plushly textured finish.
Wine Spectator
Point Score: 96-99
This is classic Merlot from Pomerol on the nose, with black licorice, black olive and rich fruit. Yet it's subtle and pretty. Full-bodied, and chewy, with loads of power. Tannic and muscular. Chocolate, coffee and vanilla bean. I can't remember a Le Pin like this. You'd have to go back to 1986, or 1983. Score range: 96-99
Stephen Tanzer - Vinous
Point Score: 93-96
(100% merlot; from a crop level of 34 hectoliters per hectare; pH 3.70; 13.5% alcohol; harvested on September 22 and 25) Deep ruby-red. Perfumed, expressive aromas of cassis, blackberry liqueur and minerals lack the sheer decadent opulence of some recent vintages. Then wonderfully clean and precise, with flavors of blackberry and plum complicated by hints of Oriental spices, bitter chocolate and minerals. Firmer than usual but still silky-smooth owing to perfectly ripe tannins. Finishes long and vibrant, with a lingering note of creamy blackberry. Lucky Le Pin collectors will likely find this vintage to be more refined but a shade less opulent than usual. It reminded me a little of the 1990, and it should age just as well.