2023 Le Pin

That classic Le Pin sexiness emerges from the 2023 Château Le Pin in its spiced red fruits, dried flowers, camphor, and liquid violets. Based on 100% Merlot and brought up in 66% new French oak from Seguin Moreau and Taransaud, it's medium to full-bodied and flawlessly balanced, with ultra-fine tannins, beautifully integrated oak, and a gorgeous finish. It makes the most of this classic, ripe, balanced vintage. Give it just 4-5 years and drink over the following three decades. Drink 2029-2059.

The 2023 Le Pin is one of the wines of the vintage. It starts and ends there. Seamless, silky and remarkably pure, the 2023 is off-the-charts gorgeous. Everything is in perfect balance. The 2023 is not an especially opulent or dense Le Pin, rather it is a wine of remarkable completeness. Floral overtones, bright fruit and mid-weight structure are the signatures, and yet the 2023 has gorgeous mid-palate pliancy and the most cashmere-like tannins imaginable. Yields came in at a generous 39 hectoliters per hectare. New oak was 67%, a reduction from the 100% that was the norm a few years ago.

The 2023 Le Pin was bottled in early June after aging in two-thirds new oak with racking every four months, with no collage. “Nature gave us the balance,” remarked Guillaume Thienpont. It has a very well-defined and very pure bouquet that blossoms in the glass, black fruit, hints of dark chocolate manifesting with aeration. This is beautifully balanced, with a sensually creamy texture that just glides across the mouth. Very well-defined, lovely poise with impressive depth toward the finish, this a gorgeous Le Pin. Very persistent in the mouth, superb. [Interestingly, a decanted bottle demonstrated a tad more precision and race on the finish.]