96pts James Suckling

Intense graphite and violet character with lead pencil. It’s full and firm with chewy and balanced tannins. Iodine coming through. So intense. Super second wine. Like the grand vin of Lynch from the 1980s. 60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% merlot. Barrel Sample: 

94pts Jeb Dunnuck

Offering classic Pauillac notes of blackcurrants, scorched earth, violets, and lead pencil, the 2020 Echo De Lynch Bages is a big, rich, nicely concentrated wine that shows the fresh yet powerful style of the vintage beautifully. It's a terrific second wine, yet one that's going to benefit from a few years of bottle age. The blend is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot.
Barrel Sample: 92-94

93pts Decanter

Bramble fruit, toasty aromas and soft florality. Structured and serious from the get go with super fine tannins that fill the mouth and coat the tongue and cheeks, but with a cool, graphite grip to them. Supple but not plush at all, definitely more lean but not strict as this has a soft chew giving a lovely appealing, welcome weight in the mouth. Juicy and vibrant, this has energy and life but remaining refined and elegant, nothing has been overworked here. A really impressive second wine with terroir speaking. Succulent and easy but also confident and well built.

92pts Vinous

The 2020 Echo de Lynch Bages is fabulous. A compelling second wine, Echo offers all the aromatic sensuality, red fruit and silkiness of the Grand Vin, but in an open-knit style that can be enjoyed upon release. All the elements are so impeccably balanced. Everything about the 2020 speaks to class and refinement.

91pts Wine Spectator

This has a nice generous feel, with cassis and damson plum unfurling easily, backed by light floral and iron notes through the fresh finish. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2020 Echo de Lynch-Bages is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, aging for around 12 months in one-year-old French oak barriques. It has an alcohol of 13.03%, a pH of 3.78 and an IPT (tannin index) of 80. Deep garnet-purple in color, it rolls out of the glass with expressive, upfront notes of baked black and red cherries, plum preserves and blackcurrant cordial, followed by hints of new leather, tobacco leaf and a medicinal waft. The medium-bodied palate is chock-full of savory flavors, with a chewy texture and just enough freshness, finishing a little rustic.

Tasting Notes

Echo de Lynch-Bages 2020 displays vibrant ruby purple in the glass with pure and lifted aromas of fresh redcurrant and raspberry. The palate unfolds with well-rounded tannins on a fresh and elegant finish (May 2021).

About the Wine

The story behind the name...

On Mount Olympus… According to Greek mythology, Zeus – a sometimes fickle husband – entrusted the nymph Echo with distracting his wife Hera by engaging her in endless chatter when he wished to tarry with some beautiful mortal. Hera, on discovering this little game, pronounced sentence on the nymph with the following words: “You will never be the first to speak, but you will always have the last word”. Echo’s life had changed forever, but that is another story…

Back in Bordeaux… Château Haut-Bages Averous is a property in Pauillac, acquired some time ago by André Cazes. For over 30 years, it was Lynch-Bages’ second wine. In 2008, a new identity was given to the second wine, under the name “Echo de Lynch-Bages”.

Echo de Lynch-Bages displays savoury aromas of fresh red fruits. Round, mellow and seductive in its youth, its ability to age is outstanding.

About the Winery

Château Haut-Bages Averous was the name of the former Pauillac estate acquired by
André Cazes and was the Domaine’s second wine from 1976 onwards. It was renamed Echo de Lynch-Bages as of the 2008 vintage in order to affirm its relationship with the Grand Cru Classé. Its name Echo refers to the nymph from Greek mythology who was deprived of speech by Hera as a punishment for distracting her when Zeus wished to consort with beautiful mortals. As such, although Echo de Lynch-Bages is not the first to speak, it shares the first wine's elegance and character.

Like its big brother, Echo de Lynch-Bages displays the characteristic taste, aromas, and length of Pauillac wines. As an echo of the first wine, it receives the same care and attention from the vine to the cellars. It is the result of a selection of LynchBages' youngest vines and specific plots which represent between 25 to 40 % of the harvest depending on the vintage. Echo de Lynch-Bages is round, soft, and seductive in its youth with outstanding potential for bottle age. 

Blend: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot