Wine Advisor
Le Pin 2000
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at Bordeaux Index’s 2000 tasting in London. This has a rather strange nose to be honest: very ripe, almost excessively so, with scents of raspberry, blackcurrant, vanilla, coca and a malty element. The palate is medium-bodied with a sweet entry, rounded tannins but rather flaccid. Showy but lacking substance, soft and lithe, with a plush rounded finish. I am unsure just how representative this bottle is, hence the question mark against my score. Tasted March 2010.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Exotic, opulent, extravagant, and impossible to resist, the 2000 Le Pin is an explosive, virtually perfect example of this estate. Dense purple-colored, with luxurious levels of extract and richness, this intense, unctuously-textured, black fruit-filled Pomerol is thick enough to drink with a spoon. Revealing abundant tannin and definition for such a young Le Pin, it is typical of many of the blockbuster, but backward and tannic 2000 Pomerols. It is a great wine for multi-millionaires who are able to latch onto a few bottles. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2025.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
An explosive, virtually perfect example of Le Pin, the dense purple-colored 2000 boasts luxurious levels of extract and richness. This intense, unctuously-textured Pomerol bursting with black fruits is thick enough to drink with a spoon. It reveals abundant tannin and definition for such a young Le Pin, yet it is typical of many of the blockbuster, but backward and tannic 2000 Pomerols. It is a great wine for the multi-millionaires who are able to latch onto a few bottles. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2020.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This is a slight downgrade for this wine, but I suspect it will bounce back, as it clearly needs more time. It was more reserved than I thought it would be, as Le Pin tends to be one of the more extravagantly rich, flamboyant wines of Pomerol. The one time I tasted the 2000, it had a dense ruby/purple color, aggressive new oak, loads of coconut, vanilla, and spice box, enormous concentration and thickness, but this is an estate where I thought their subsequent year, 2001, was an even better wine. This wine displays some firm tannins in the finish and should be forgotten for another 5-6 years. So much for Le Pin not aging well. This one has at least 25 years left in it.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A sweet, jammy, soft, fleshy, round, delicious offering, the 2000 Le Pin exhibits scents of coconut, aggressive but toasty new oak, caramel, and vanillin. Somehow, the proprietor, the Thienpont family, has managed to subdue some of the vintage's high levels of tannin. This full-bodied wine comes across as ripe, with low acidity, and a beautifully sweet, rich, sexy personality. It will be drinkable upon release. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2015.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at Bipin Desai’s Le Pin vertical in Los Angeles. Virtually opaque in colour, the millennial Le Pin has a very opulent nose that bears faint resemblance to a Richebourg. Wonderful definition with black cherries, boysenberry, blueberry, violets and a thrilling sense of mineralite. Just a sublime bouquet. The palate is awesome: immense concentration, incredibly focused with exquisite poise, ultra-fine tannins. If the nose is Richebourg then the palate is Romanee-St.-Vivant. There is still a lot of new oak present but there is great structure on the almost coquettish finish. A wonderful, wonderful Le Pin! Impossible not to resist its wily charms. 530 cases produced. Drink now-2020+ Tasted November 2008.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2000 Le Pin is a vintage that I have not tasted for a decade or so. It has an exotic bouquet of vivacious red fruit, kirsch, black truffle, rose petals and orange blossoms. It just feels a little smudged against the 2001. The medium-bodied palate delivers sweet, ripe tannins, fleshy, orange-peel-infused red fruit, a little balsamic and touches of hoisin. The vibrant finish is reminiscent of the legendary 1982 or perhaps the 1989.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(tasted from cuve, on its finings) Good medium ruby. Superripe, liqueur-like aromas of exotic framboise and kirsch Rich and concentrated, with very sweet fruit flavors complemented by a torrefaction note of coffee. Very hard to assess accurately today but appears to be riper and denser than the 2001. Judgment deferred.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Bright ruby. Perfumed aromas of black raspberry, cherry, violet and bitter chocolate, plus a whiff of roasted ripeness (Alexandre Theinpont told me that the mildew gave a slight dryness to the skins, which in turn was responsible for a note of torrefaction in the wine). Offers almost confectionery sweetness of cassis, raspberry and spice flavors; dense but not huge. But not quite as exotic as the superb '98, which features notes of pineapple and passion fruit. Finishes long and ripely tannic, with notes of spice and bitter chocolate. The yield was barely 30 hectoliters per hectare.
About the Producer
Le Pin is the most expensive wine in the world. Jacques Thienpont purchased the meagre 1.6 hectares of land for one million francs in 1979. The Thienpoints named their wine Le Pin after a solitary pine tree that shaded the property. By acquiring tiny adjoining plots of land, Jacques has doubled the size of Le Pin to five acres. The south-facing vineyard on a well-drained slope of gravel and sand is planted with Merlot (about 92%), and a small amount of Cabernet Franc. Le Pin's soil is a mixture of gravel and clay with a little sand and is exceptionally low yielding (between 30 to 35 hl/hc). The grapes are hand-harvested and are fermented in stainless steel before being matured in`200%` new oak barriques for between 14 and 18 months. Dany Rolland, wife of cult-oenologist Michel Rolland, is a consultant here. Le Pin produces just 600 to 700 cases each year (Lafite Rothschild produces approximately 29,000 cases of wine a year and and Pétrus about 4,000) and its rarity is one of the driving forces behind its high prices. Le Pin produces super-concentrated, decadent, lush and lavishly oaked wines - they can be drunk young but are best with 7-10 years of bottle ageing.
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