Le Pin 2000

This is a slight downgrade for this wine, but I suspect it will bounce back, as it clearly needs more time. It was more reserved than I thought it would be, as Le Pin tends to be one of the more extravagantly rich, flamboyant wines of Pomerol. The one time I tasted the 2000, it had a dense ruby/purple color, aggressive new oak, loads of coconut, vanilla, and spice box, enormous concentration and thickness, but this is an estate where I thought their subsequent year, 2001, was an even better wine. This wine displays some firm tannins in the finish and should be forgotten for another 5-6 years. So much for Le Pin not aging well. This one has at least 25 years left in it.

Tasted blind at Bordeaux Index's 2000 tasting in London. This has a rather strange nose to be honest: very ripe, almost excessively so, with scents of raspberry, blackcurrant, vanilla, coca and a malty element. The palate is medium-bodied with a sweet entry, rounded tannins but rather flaccid. Showy but lacking substance, soft and lithe, with a plush rounded finish. I am unsure just how representative this bottle is, hence the question mark against my score. Tasted March 2010.