Le Pin doesn’t really do events. I guess it doesn’t need to. This tiny 2.7-hectare property produces on average 600 cases each year and the wines are instantly snapped up on release by collectors lucky enough to be privy to the merchants’ miniscule supply.  But FINE+RARE, after much searching, collated an extraordinary collection of Le Pin bottlings (some coming from Thienpont’s own personal cellar) right back to the inaugural 1979 vintage. The tasting consisted of 12 vintages of Le Pin, as well as three vintages from L’If, Thienpont’s relatively new project in neighbouring Saint-Emilion. We also persuaded Thienpont to come to London and share Le Pin’s fascinating story from the beginning. The setting was perfect for such an intimate event. With just a handful of guests alongside Jacques Thienpont and Diana Berrouet Garcia (MD of Domaines Jacques Thienpont), the dinner took place in Claridges’ L’Epicerie restaurant. L’Epicerie, which seats just 14 guests, is set within Claridges’ hallowed kitchens. It meant the guests could watch the chefs at work and discuss with them why they paired certain dishes with certain vintages. In hindsight, it was amazing just how versatile the Le Pin wines turned out to be. The younger vintages paired beautifully with poached lobster, fois gras terrine, black truffle and artichoke. The older vintages worked just as well with beef fillet and aged cheeses. But, however well the food worked, everyone was there to taste Le Pin.  Le Pin needs little introduction. The youngest of all the Right Bank icons, it became an almost overnight success thanks to the critical acclaim of the property’s fourth vintage in 1982. Combined with its tiny production levels and an ever-expanding collectors’ market, Le Pin became the ultimate wine collectable – and the market price of this tiny estate quickly rose to stratospheric levels.   Such are its size and popularity that it is rare to taste one bottle of Le Pin, let alone 12 vintages back-to-back. I’ve been lucky enough to taste the wine en primeur over the years, so I had some idea of what to expect, but it’s only at maturity that this extraordinary wine’s vivid personality really comes to life.  The elusive address has humble beginnings. From the 1920s to the late 1970s, the land was owned by the Loubie family. During this time, the wine was made by a contract-winemaker based in Lalande de Pomerol and was sold with little fanfare.  In 1979, Jacques Thienpont jumped at the chance to purchase the property when it came up sale, privy to the extraordinary terroir of the site, located next to his uncle Gérard’s esteemed Pomerol estate Vieux Château Certan. Thienpont named his new acquisition after a single pine tree that shaded the property. Over the years, he gradually expanded the vineyard to 2.7 hectares by purchasing slivers of land from adjacent producers.   It’s hard to imagine that a wine of such prestige came from what was – in the early days – a very basic operation. The project and space were so small that there was little flexibility when it came to vinification. Everything was done by hand and malolactic fermentation took place in barrel because Thienpont had nowhere else to store the wines (although this eventually set the trend for modern winemaking). In time, the Belgian vigneron made improvements in the winery and vineyard, including replanting a significant part of the land with new Merlot clones and re-trellising the vines. Now, 40 years later, Thienpont is as hands-on as ever, insisting he is involved in every stage of winemaking.   Wine experts consider Le Pin’s key advantage to be its unique terroir and soil composition. With sandy gravel topsoil on a pocket of gravel which runs five to 10 metres deep, the vineyard has perfect drainage. As it’s south-facing, it is a warmer site and that gives the vineyard great benefits, particularly in poorer, cooler vintages. It is notably different from surrounding vineyards. The vineyard contains a high proportion of iron oxide, aka “crasse de fer”, which Jacques Thienpont attributes to the soil’s fantastic drainage and feels helps Le Pin perform well in wetter vintages.   There are a few odd Cabernet Franc vines in the vineyard at Le Pin, but the wine is 100% Merlot. A significant portion (40%) of the vineyards were replanted in the late 1970s, and replanting has continued under Thienpont’s ownership. In fine wine terms the average age of the vineyards is relatively young. The fact that Le Pin can already produce such incredible wines suggests the future looks bright for the property.  The property produces low volumes but with great consistency, with the wine always expressing a beautiful integration of tannins, wonderful depth and detail. It also ages beautifully, as this stunning line-up showcased so well. Tasting a younger vintage (2018) earlier in the day, it became apparent how versatile Le Pin is. Despite its youth, the 2018 is drinking beautifully right now. Berrouet Garcia believes it is one of Le Pin’s trump cards – it just performs so well at any time, in its youth, at full maturity and any time in between, such is its openness and versatility.  With a couple years in bottle, the 2018 really expresses a signature trait of Le Pin, a trait that through the tasting is so distinctive and emanates from almost every vintage – a trademark tannin texture and mouthfeel. The best way I can explain it is as if the tannins are totally spherical in the mouth. There are no edges, you can feel they are there by their density on the palate. They are the “dark matter” equivalent of tannin – they are there but you just can’t feel them.  Before the Le Pin vertical, guests were introduced to Jacques Thienpont’s Saint-Emilion estate, L’If. Thienpont’s first vintage from this young estate was 2010 and the wines are the perfect antithesis to Le Pin. Whereas Le Pin is voluptuous and opulent, L’If is stricter, more linear and has amazing energy. Thienpont has fallen in love with the limestone soils of Saint-Emilion. While still similar in climate to Pomerol (warm and sunny) the limestone soils in Saint-Emilion keep freshness in the wine and importantly, in winemaking terms, the pH low.  Whereas Le Pin’s opulent levels of ripeness and high pH (due to the soils) can sometimes have problems with fermentations getting stuck (so much so from 2015 onwards that Le Pin has been fermented using a special commercial yeast that avoids this problem), L’If’s limestone soils mean they can push ripeness levels and never lose freshness. Like Le Pin, tasting through the vintages of L’If there is a strong character trait across the vintages – a vibrant energy that is just so expansive on the palate. The 2015, 2013 and 2012 all express distinct vintage traits too, the 2015 the most powerful, the 2013 lighter but beautifully clean and vertical, while the 2012 is soft and juicy with lovely floral delicacy.  Le Pin’s roundness and silk-like texture is such a lovely contrast to L’If and tasting them side by side only accentuates how different in style these two wines from Jacques Thienpont are.  The vertical of Le Pin starts with two legendary vintages – the 2010 and 2009. Strangely, the 2009 throws a lot of sediment, something not found in the other wines. It is hugely concentrated and opulent. Pushing the levels of ripeness, there is a touch of VA, but it doesn’t diminish the wine at all. Despite the richness and ripeness, it is very much on the red fruit spectrum– but the 2010 was even better. It has an electricity to it that adds another level of excitement to the dense, rich fruit and smoky tones. This electric energy was also present in my wine of the night – the 2001. This wine is so elegant and refined, and is in its perfect drinking window today, the light tertiary notes complement the exquisitely pure, fresh fruit. But it’s the clenched tautness to the wine and that extra burst of energy that makes it so special and surpasses even the hugely anticipated 2000. This too has the tension, the sinewy tannins, the textbook spherical mouthfeel but the tertiary development is more advanced than the 2001.  The 2008 was also a highlight for me. It had all the classic Pomerol hallmarks, the irony-minerality and opulent fruit. It was also impressively structured while remaining heavenly soft. It was perhaps the vintage that showed off this contrast best, but it was a trait running throughout. The 2007 was lighter, earthier even with a touch of menthol and shorter on the palate but still delightful. The 2006 for me also outshone the “better” vintage of 2005. The density of the 2006 is just so impressive. If anything, the 2005 tasted the least like Le Pin. It had an almost Cabernet-esque feel, more structured, more extracted and, in that sense, felt like the odd one out in the tasting.  The 1996 was fully developed with lovely tertiary notes and dried fruit flavours. But the spherical mouthfeel clearly synonymous with Le Pin was very much intact and there was still plenty of tension and a very long finish. The 1990 was a revelation, so light on its feet – almost Pinot Noir-like in its daintiness and purity. It had a lovely freshness still, despite the concentration from this warm vintage. Again, it is still spherical in character, with lovely mature Claret flavours.  The 1983 was slightly unclean on corking, perhaps unsurprisingly, but this blew off in the glass. It was fully mature, dominated by tertiary flavours, but the tannins interestingly were less dried out than the 1996. Finally, the inaugural 1979 vintage. Amazingly, this first vintage already has the Le Pin DNA on the palate. The spherical mouthfeel was there. It is a remarkably clean bottle considering the age. It tasted more youthful than the 1983 alongside and still had fresh fruit characters and more tertiary notes. The spherical tannins are beautifully integrated. What a wine and what condition! It’s quite incredible.  There were clear takeaways from the tasting. Firstly, Le Pin’s consistency was self-evident, performing year-in, year-out. Secondly, the DNA of Le Pin was distinct throughout the flight (bar the 2005) both in youth and at full maturity. Also, it is clear that its character, its distinctness exists right back to its humble beginnings. Le Pin is a special wine, a rare treat, but not just a wine for the well-initiated. Such is its openness, elegance and dare I say easiness, Le Pin turns out to be the ultimate crowd-pleaser. Browse all current Le Pin listings or read more Editorial

While “once-in-a-lifetime” might be overused, a vertical of Le Pin back to the inaugural 1979 vintage was just that. After tasting 12 vintages of this cult Pomerol with owner Jacques Thienpont, Gavin Smith considers what defines the property, and wine

A once-in-a-lifetime tasting of Le Pin back to its inaugural 1979 vintage held in Claridges’ L’Epicerie restaurant

Le Pin – from the beginning

Le Pin: from the beginning

Humble yet with undeniable ambition, Jacques Devauges arrived at Domaine des Lambrays in March 2019 and has wasted no time in making small but significant adjustments at the estate. His appointment was the most recent in a flurry of changes that have made waves in the quiet of Burgundy, after the property was purchased by LVMH in 2014 for an undisclosed sum – the luxury group’s first foray into Burgundy.    While the first mention of “Cloux des Lambrays” dates back to 1364, it was really in the 1980s that its modern reputation was established. The vineyard had fallen into disrepair, but was bought by Roland de Chambure and the Saier brothers in 1979. They installed Thierry Brouin as winemaker and director, together restoring the property to its former glory. Thierry, in Devauges’s words, “rejuvenated” the estate – staying at the helm for 38 years, overseeing the property under three different owners before finally retiring in 2017.  Boris Champy had already been lined up to take over, but stayed a mere two years before Devauges was poached from Clos de Tart (where he’d been since 2015, previously Domaine de l’Arlot). In the humdrum of Burgundy, Champy’s sudden departure was big news – as was Devauges’s sudden arrival, although everyone has remained suitably tight-lipped on the topic.  While Domaine des Lambrays does own some village and Premier Cru Morey-Saint-Denis, as well as some Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru, the domaine’s reputation is inextricably entwined with that of the eponymous Clos des Lambrays. This remarkable site – one of Morey’s five Grands Crus, along with Clos de la Roche, Clos Saint-Denis, Clos de Tart and Bonnes-Mares – was originally classified only as a Premier Cru. It was only in 1981, under Thierry Brouin’s tenure and significant work in the vineyard, that the site was rightfully upgraded – making it the last of Burgundy’s 33 Grands Crus to earn its status.  Such is its association with the domaine that Clos des Lambrays is often mistaken for a monopole; however it isn’t quite. One ouvrée – less than 0.2 of the total 8.84 hectares – at the bottom of the clos belongs to Taupenot-Merme. Originally a vegetable garden, it was planted with vines in 1974, and produces a tiny amount of wine (no more than one barrel in the most generous years).   Visiting in October 2020, it was clear that Jacques Devauges has big plans – and if 2019 is anything to go by, there is much to look forward to. Coincidentally, Devauges wasn’t new to the estate – having worked briefly in the winery under Brouin in 1997. He’s full of praise for Brouin’s work and clearly wishes to respect the enormous legacy he’s been handed. His aim, however, is to recreate the old Domaine des Lambrays of the early 20th century – before the vineyard fell into disrepair in the 1930s.  There have already been a few shifts, with the construction of a new winery underway and 2019 the first fully organic vintage, and the property – as of 2020 – in conversion to biodynamics. This is no small feat given some of the site’s peculiarities. After phylloxera, the vine rows were planted north to south, perpendicular to the slope. This is an angle that little machinery can handle (with a serious risk of toppling over) and as such almost all the work here has to be done by hand, however Devauges has had a special tractor made that can handle the site’s undulating terroir. A relatively large site, it’s unsurprising that the soils here vary. While broadly speaking it is a rocky clay, the bottom of the site is heavier clay and loam, while the midslope is more gravelly over deep limestone, and the very top has shallower limestone soils. As he gets to know the Clos, and differences between each sub-parcel, Devauges is vinifying each one separately, laying the barrels out in the same way as the vineyard – so he can figuratively walk the rows, identifying the character of each. For Clos des Lambrays, he has divided the site into 10 sub-plots (see the map below), however he identifies three major sections of the vineyard: the section near Clos de Tart, the middle and then the side closer to Clos-Saint-Denis.  Tasting three components of the vineyard separately, and then together, with Devauges was enlightening. First up was La Plante Dessous, on the Clos Saint-Denis side, home to some of its “youngest” vines – which are still 40 years in age. The wine produced here is tight and intense, building gradually in the mouth with silky tannins and an amazing purity of blueberry and blackberry fruit. Cerisier, a plot at the bottom of the slope near Clos de Tart, is drastically different. This is full, exotic, rich and ripe – yet with a real freshness and a chalky minerality beneath. The final section we tasted was 80 Ouvrées Dessus – right at the top, middle part of the vineyard. Angular and structured, it showed remarkable energy and intensity – a core of vibrant blue fruit and firm tannins. In the resulting final blend, you can feel every element – except with the dial turned up to max.   Unlike Brouin, Devauges feels it is important not to select the best barrels, and “blend” a wine, but to seek “as much truth as possible”. While he is declassifying the very youngest vines (those under 20 years in age) to their Premier Cru bottling, he feels that they have a responsibility to capture the site in its entirety – using whatever nature provides. “Here, we are farmers,” he says modestly, with a suitably Gallic shrug. The resulting wine is the one true expression of this site – and that’s clearly where Devauges’s focus lies, something that will doubtless evolve in the coming vintages. “Every year is a new page,” Devauges told us. If 2019 is the preface, we look forward to seeing the story unfold. Browse all wines from Domaine des Lambrays or read more Editorial 

The 2019 vintage was significant at Domaine des Lambrays not just for its exceptional quality, but as the first full year under new winemaker Jacques Devauges. We visited the property to find out more 

Exploring the first full vintage at the Burgundian estate Domaine des Lambrays under new winemaker Jacques Devauges 

Changing of the guard at Domaine des Lambrays

The latest from Latour In the wake of last week’s launch of the 2016 vintage of the First Growth’s third wine, Pauillac de Latour, the Pauillac powerhouse will be releasing the 2013 vintage of the Grand Vin, as well as 2015 Les Forts de Latour, its second wine. The 2013 is only the second vintage of the Grand Vin that the property has released since it moved away from en primeur – and there’s no doubt, despite the vintage’s sometimes maligned reputation, that this is going to be highly sought-after. New from Champagne March brings with it a bounty of fine fizz releases. Top of our wish-list are the new wines from Henri Giraud – a House that produces small volumes of outstanding, terroir-driven wines, almost all of which are oak-fermented (and is, for that reason, often compared favourably to Krug). We’ll see the latest release of its multi-vintage cuvée (described by Jancis Robinson MW as “a sort of Montrachet of Champagne”) and the new, 2013 vintage of their top wine, Argonne. Keep an eye out also for 2007 Bollinger R.D. and Pol Roger’s 2012 Sir Winston Churchill.  Single-farm spirits The unfailingly modish and exciting Irish distillery Waterford has been making waves in recent weeks, having scientifically proven terroir’s influence in whisky. This month will see the latest spirits from the Irish distillery released – two single-farm single malts that offer a chance for you to explore the concept yourself. One comes from Hook Head – a site on the southern coast with clay-loam soils, while the other hails from Lakefield, with deep loam soils in County Laois. Burgundy There are still a few 2019s emerging from the Côte d’Or – including wines from Domaine des Lambrays and Le Grappin. Clos des Lambrays was a stand-out from our trip in October last year, while Aussie Andrew Nielsen’s Le Grappin wines (a darling of London’s restaurant scene) offer brilliant value year in, year out. The 2021 collection from Maison Leroy has almost entirely sold out, however we’ll also see the latest releases from the rest of Lalou Bize-Leroy’s empire – Domaine Leroy and Domaine d’Auvenay. Available, as ever, in tiny volumes, these are some of the world’s most collectable wines, and unmissable for Burgundy aficionados. Italian icons After a series of superlative 2016s from Brunello, Tuscany is on the mind. While Castello di Ama’s 2017 San Lorenzo is already available, the 2018 vintage of the Chianti Classico property’s flagship wine, L’Apparita, will be released in the coming weeks. Tasting through a selection of the range with our team, CEO Lorenza Sebasti told us that she and winemaker Marco Pallanti feel it’s “the best we’ve ever made”. We’ll also see the new vintage of Ornellaia’s entry-level bottling – Le Volte dell’Ornellaia, which provides an affordable and earlier-drinking taste of this Super Tuscan estate, ahead of the release of Ornellaia “proper” in April.

A new month brings another flurry of fine wine and spirits releases. While Bordeaux en primeur is on the horizon, March sees new vintages from Latour and the Grandes Marques, as well as releases from Tuscany, Burgundy and Ireland’s most exciting distillery: here’s our pick of the bunch

A new month brings another flurry of fine wine and spirits releases. Here, we pick the best of the bunch – from Latour, Castello di Ama, Waterford and more 

Jacques Carillon

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Jacques Carillon

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