The Spectacular 2015 Château Le Pin
Le Pin in 2015 is just 20 barrels and it’s spectacular.
I counted the barrels myself yesterday afternoon in the small cellar of Le Pin and tasted the wine from barrel. The wine is fabulous as expected, considering the excellence of the 2015 vintage in Bordeaux, particularly the Right Bank. The pure merlot of Le Pin is perfection.
Will the 2015 Le Pin ultimately be better than the perfect (100 points) 1998 or 2010? We will see when it is finally bottled but it is a magical wine. It reminds me of some of the classic Le Pins of the 1980s such as 1982 and 1986, in view of the wines’ density of fruit and backbone of tannins. Winemaker Alexandre Thienpont says it is the densest and most structured Le Pin ever produced. “The richness and structure of the wine is so impressive,” he said as we tasted from the cellar with his cousin, wine merchant Francois Thienpont.
Le Pin actually made three wines in 2015 underlying its dedication to make the best wine possible. It made a generic wine from parcels of vineyard deemed less good than those for the first wine. A second wine called Trilogy is the second wine of Le Pin and it’s made through a selection process to find the best wines of the tiny estate. And, of course, there is the gran vin or first wine.
I didn’t taste the Le Pin in March because Thienpont family believed it was not ready to taste. In fact, nobody tasted the wine until now. “The wine was just not ready,” said Thienpont. “It wasn’t showing right. It was not a question of merlot. We just didn’t think it should be shown then.”
Here are my tasting notes:
Unnamed (Le Pin) Pomerol: The third wine from Le Pin. A bright and fresh young red that shows spice and bright fruit. Medium body, vibrant acidity. Reminds me of pinot more than merlot with its fine texture and tangy acidity. Lovely finish. The citrusy acidity is so attractive. From a parcel near Nenin. 91-92 points.
Trilogy Pomerol: This is the second wine of Le Pin made from almost all old vines, but deemed not at gran vin quality. It delivers a fabulous yet refined character of coco powder, orange, cinnamon, plum and cedar. Medium to full body, fine tannins that build on the finish. This is from vines from 1999 and 2012. Fine and intense in the end. Serious second wine. 94-95 points.
Château Le Pin Pomerol 2015 (Sorry. You need to be a subscriber to access the tasting note of Le Pin. I think it’s a perfect young wine.)
Photos from top to bottom: Le Pin winery; Francios Thienpont (left) and Alexandre Thienpont (right); and tiny cellar of Le Pin with third wine, Trilogy and gran vin aging in barrels.
-James Suckling, CEO