Le Pin - Pomerol 2021

matthewjukes.com

19 / 20

byMatthew Jukesthe8/2/2022

Jacques Thienpont introduced me to Diana Berrouet-Garcia at our tasting, joking he would retire and spend the rest of his life on a beach. I cannot see this happening, but this pioneering gent surely deserves a couple of days off, so who could argue with him rolling up his trousers and kicking off his loafers as long as he hangs around for a couple of days each year around EP time! As always, Jacques was happy to doff his hat to his VCC family members for keeping his vines clean and ship-shape during the testing growing season, and with well-drained plots, he didn’t suffer too much anyway. There were no mildew problems here, and with slight chaptalisation from 12.2% to 13-ish coupled with a bit of saignée he and Diana arrived at a wine that would stop a runaway truck with its overriding sense of power and grace. This is one of the most aromatic and ethereal Le Pin vintages I have tasted. Jacques loves this 2021-style more than the ’18, ’19 and ’20, and I concur. But he reasons that it is a 10am wine and that it is so delicious he could be tempted to open a second. Of course, he has the keys to the cellar, so this is his privilege. I, for one, will be ringing Diana and enquiring about his upcoming beach holiday plans while booking brunch dates with her from now 'til eternity if this is their corporate motto! In all seriousness, this is a compelling and shimmeringly beautiful Le Pin. Of course, it will make old bones, but no one in their right mind would let this wine linger for too long in their cellar. This wine should be drunk while it possesses all of the joie de vivre of its inventor! And that is that. 19

Jamessuckling.com

98-99 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe6/8/2022

This has a firm, seamless and velvety tannin structure, accompanying a deep core of dark plum fruit, peach stones, chocolate and mahogany. Layered and caressing. Supple, yet full and powerful. Silky and smooth at the end. It shows real structure for the vintage and will age really well. 100% merlot.

Jeb DUNNUCK

93-95 / 100

byJeb Dunnuckthe6/2/2022

Always 100% Merlot from a tiny parcel of clay and gravelly soils, the 2021 Château Le Pin offers up a textbook Le Pin nose of ripe red and blue fruits as well as toast, crème brûlée, spice, and exotic flowers. It's one of the sexiest, most opulent, and seamless wines in the vintage and is medium-bodied, has beautiful tannins, and great overall balance.

Bettane & Desseauve

95-96 / 100

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/24/2022

Le Pin réussit parfaitement cette année fraîche. Le merlot a parfaitement tiré profit du terroir précoce, aidé en ce sens par le bon sens vigneron de Guillaume Thienpont. Il a trouvé le juste équilibre dans ses pratiques culturales et a vinifié avec beaucoup de précision. Registre floral évanescent, empreint de coquetterie. Le tannin aérien imprime un rythme aromatique irrésistible qui se prolonge magnifiquement.

The Vintage Journal

96-97 / 100

byAndrew Caillard MWthe5/17/2022

Medium-deep crimson. Attractive redcurrant raspberry plum cassis aromas with dark chocolate notes, some rose garden and violet. Juicy sweet wine with plentiful chalky/ hint al dente textures, lovely pure red cherry raspberry and plum fruits. Underlying savoury vanilla notes. Minerally bitter notes. Beautiful. 100% merlot 13.4% alc

Alexandre Ma

94-96 / 100

byAlexandre Mathe5/16/2022

Compared to the previous rich and intensive Le Pin, the 2021 vintage adopts a slender silhouette and a more elegant taste. Its signature spice note is very adorable. The mild spiciness puts some excitement in your palate, similar to the unique tender and spicy sensation of eating a Chinese pepper chicken. Le Pin was not affected by any frost or downy mildew, and hence reached a satisfying 35hl/ha yield. Overall I appreciate the pure and natural expression of Le Pin 2021, a Le Pin interpretation of a cool vintage. ????????Le Pin??,2021???Le Pin?????????,??????????????????????,????????????????????,????????????????????????????????????????,?????35hl/ha,?????????????Le Pin?2021???????????,??Le Pin?????????

The Wine Cellar Insider

94-96 / 100

byJeff Levethe5/16/2022

Cinnamon, flowers, licorice, roses, plums and cherries with espresso, black raspberries and fresh, leafy herbs create the array of notes in the perfume. On the palate, the wine is fresh, bright, soft, polished, elegant, and refined. The tannins are silky, the fruits are pure and vibrant, with a crisp, almost crunchy quality to the sweet cherries, cocoa and orange rind in the finish. The wine was produced from 100% Merlot, 13.4% ABV. The harvest took place September 25 - October 4. Yields were 35 hectoliters per hectare. Drink from 2025 - 2045. 94-96

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

94 / 100

byJane Ansonthe5/13/2022

Vinous

94-96 / 100

byNeal Martinthe5/12/2022

The 2021 Le Pin was picked from 25 September to 4 October at a respectable 35hL/ha. Jacques Thienpont remarked how Alexandre and Guillaume Thienpont had tended the vineyard so well throughout the year and for the first time they oversaw the vinification and the current élevage. It has a beautifully-defined bouquet, less ostentatious than recent vintages, unfurling with quite mineral-rich red and black fruit. The palate follows in a similar vein, a Le Pin imbued with a sense of athleticism, no excess fat, framed by fine tannins and a laser-focused finish. The terroir really shines through in 2021 perhaps more than in other feted vintages. Wonderful. This has 13.4% alcohol.

Vinous

94-96 / 100

byAntonio Gallonithe5/11/2022

The 2021 Le Pin is a delicate, refined wine that is still coming together in barrel. Bright saline accents and vivid floral aromatics lend energy to a core of red-fleshed fruit. The 75% new oak is expertly judged. Production is down quite a bit, about 14 barrels instead of the more typical 20 or so. The 2021 is a somewhat unusual, lighter style of Le Pin. I can't wait to see how it ages.

Anthocyanes

95-97 / 100

byYohan Castaingthe5/6/2022

Assemblages non réalisés. 75 % de barriques neuves. Très beau nez de fruits noirs, de fleurs avec un éclat magnifique et une petite pointe boisée élégante et fondue. Boisé parfaitement fondu. Bouche droite, juteuse, très belle acidité, des tanins élégants, caressants, soyeux, frais et digestes grâce à une superbe acidité des sols de graves. Aérien et frais.

Wine Advocate

94-97 / 100

byWilliam Kelleythe4/29/2022

I tasted the 2021 Le Pin several times this spring, and on every occasion the wine showed brilliantly. Wafting from the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, exotic spices, vine smoke and carnal nuances, it's medium to full-bodied, sumptuous and enveloping, with a velvety attack, supple tannins and a long, penetrating finish. Seamless and impressively concentrated, it demonstrates how precocious, well-drained sites such as Le Pin came into their own in the 2021 growing season. As usual, it's 100% Merlot, and this year it checks in at 13.4% alcohol.

Decanter.com

94 / 100

byGeorgina Hindlethe4/1/2022

Red cherries and strawberries alongside roses, peonies and smoked earth on the nose. Immediately so smooth, silky in the mouth with bright and searing strawberry and red cherry flavours. A delicate style on show, less plush and plump, more finessed and defined. Minerality shows through clearly with the high-toned fruit framed by just-robust tannins at this point giving a firmness to the overall structure. It has freshness and a sense of underlying power with a menthol backbone and touches of liquorice and black pepper. Long flavour and an appealing chalky finish.