2002 Château Le Pin

Full red-ruby. Ripe aromas of plum, dark raspberry, chocolate and espresso. Fat, lush and fruity, with a lovely pliant texture and impressive richness for the vintage; hints of espresso and roasted herbs. Alexandre Thienpont likes this wine very much but told me he gives the edge to the 2001, so I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of this bottle.

One of the candidates for the Pomerol of this challenging vintage, Le Pin’s 2002 boasts a deep plum/purple color in addition to sweet aromas of dried herbs, roasted coffee, chocolate, plums, and sweet cherries. This luscious offering possesses terrific fruit, medium body, low acidity, and a long, heady finish. Drink it over the next 12-15 years. It is an amazing wine for the vintage!

I tasted one lot from 'young' (25-year-old!) vines that was a healthy crimson but was pretty tough and taut. The second lot, from 35-year-old vines, was a deeper crimson, equally sappy and lively and had more fruit to compensate for the acidity and marked tannins towards the finish. Dry finish and not charming, but then the property produced only 15 hl/ha, about half the average and a mere 12 barrels, so there should be no problem selling it. Perhaps the most charming sample, surprisingly, was the vin de presse which had great vivacity as well as, of course, masses of both acidity and tannin. (JR)