What did we really know about the creation story of one of Bordeaux’s most unusual wines before this tasting? Here are a few facts.
Le Pin is one of the youngest of Bordeaux’s great wines, if we can put it that way: the first vintage was made from the 1979 harvest. In many respects, Le Pin was born out of luck shaped by circumstance. Because there was no proper equipment for vinification and the quantities of grapes were so small, Jacques Thienpont decided to experiment by fermenting the wine directly in oak barrels, with malolactic fermentation taking place in the same barrels afterwards – something no one had really done in Bordeaux at the time; today, this is a fairly common practice. The demand for criticism and commentary converged perfectly with the rise of Robert Parker, who declared the 1982 Le Pin an outstanding Bordeaux, and the cult was born.
But what do we actually have today? After such a vertical, I came away with a few key conclusions. First, Le Pin is an outstanding Bordeaux, a true classic and a benchmark for other estates. The progress of modern oenology has allowed many châteaux to catch up in terms of quality. If you look at it purely in comparison with other wines, it might even seem that Le Pin is no better than the rest – but for me, that is absolutely not the case.
Second, Le Pin is made with extreme meticulousness, something the tiny vineyard size and limited production make possible. This is precisely why the 2006, 2002 and 1995 vintages were, by a clear margin, better than Pétrus in the same years, in my view. Third, Le Pin has no bad vintages – only bad storage. The 1993 and 1989 we tasted illustrated exactly that; I am convinced that with different bottles those years would show at the same lofty level as the other vintages.
Text and Picture: Greg Somm
And finally, within the hierarchy of Pomerol, Le Pin is, in my view, the best wine today. That last point is, of course, my subjective judgment – but after this tasting, it is one I stand by completely.
