letuffeau.com
(Link)
~ “Instantly recognisable as both Pauillac and Lynch-Bages.” ~
Famille Cazes
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Chateau Lynch-Bages
Pauillac
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“The day is growing long. I have several drafts done-and-dusted for today’s missive.
A friend of mine, a noted journalist with whom I have an up-coming project* in the works, drops in for a chat. I open a bottle.
We are both astounded.
The wine had quite possible the best QPR (Quality: Price Ratio) we had ever seen. All the pre-prepared drafts are swept aside for next week.
This is that bottle. Everything else can wait.”
— David
(*The long-awaited Antipodean Wine Digest … watch this space.)
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~ please note : discounts are automatically applied at the digital check-out! ~
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“Lynch-Bages's new winery came into effect for the 2020 vintage, permitting precision winemaking, with smaller tanks for parcel-by-parcel selection. And given that Lynch-Bages comprehends more or less 250 different parcels that were recently the subject of an in-depth soil study, that must be a real advantage. The same studies, incidentally, are informing work in the vineyards, with parcels cultivated differently depending on their properties, and organic trials are underway in holdings near dwellings. If the 2020 exhibits a touch more polish than might have been the case in a year like this in the past, however, Lynch-Bages's DNA remains unchanged, delivering robust, dark-fruited wines, carrying a generous patina of new oak in their youth but which age with remarkable consistency.”
— William Kelley, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
I
Chateau Lynch-Bages 2020 Pauillac 'Pauillac de Lynch Bages'
(Shelf Price: $148.00)
Offer: $125.00
“I find it a rare thing when a 2eme (second wine) or alternative wine from a great estate immediately feels like the Grand Vin. Often these wines are different expressions from the same cellar, perhaps resulting from different vineyards or plots of young vines. The below is a ‘humble’ 3eme vin!
This 2020 wine from the Famille Cazes is instantly recognisable as both Pauillac and Lynch-Bages. Dark and heady aromas of cassis, crushed blackberry and preserve of such, cedar, baking spice, and pencil box leap from the glass, fully perceptible at arms reach. Aeration lends the olfactory profile a sense of creaminess (which translates onto the palate), with plum, earth, maduro cigars, and a strong marine influence manifesting in nori-seaweed and brine present with time.
The palate, for all its youthful exuberance, retains good concentration of flavour and weight, powdery tannin in support (very Pauillac, and very serious for this level ... perhaps warranting some aging), and a long cassis-inflected creamy finish. Black cherry, black currant, and blackberry mingle with light iodine and nori inflection, clove, and bay leaf; with refreshing hints of mint and salt on the close. Delicious claret. Very fine for its level.”
— David
Order here
(Link)
~ post scriptum : I am still tasting this wine minutes later, the finish and afterimage of the wine is long and incredibly resonant. There is an added, 'x-factor' here in the power of the wine. My friend and I are just stunned; him by the power and finesse on the tannins (for a 3eme vin), me by the aromatic qualities. ~
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The new Le Tuffeau
2026
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As mentioned above Le Tuffeau is open for 2026. We are still an eccentric fine wine shop on the second floor of the Nicholas Building. What is different: we have a new Liquor Licence permitting on premises consumption.
Snacks: coming soon.
Please join us for a drink soon. Reservations preferred.
Bookings and after-6.00pm access: (03) 9419 3867
Tue. 11.00 am–6.00 pm
Wed.–Sat. 11.00 am–11.00 pm
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If you would like any of the above, would like to come by for a private appointment, or just have some questions — please let us know.