| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pauillac |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
One of the great names of the Médoc and a true "super-second". The château is situated next to Château Latour and opposite Pichon Baron, with most of the vines a little further inland from the river. Pichon Lalande is one of the most demanded wines of Bordeaux. Characterised by a slightly exotic, spicy character, plump ripe fruit and a polished texture. The percentage of Merlot in the vineyard is high for Pauillac. The "Comtesse" is now owned by Champagne house Louis Roederer and managed by the brilliant wine-maker Nicolas Glumineau, the man who made the awesome Montrose 2009 and 2010 before coming here. A new winery has just been built and recent vintages have been amongst the best ever produced here. An absolute star wine with great pedigree and brilliant wine-making.
The 2020 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has one of the more opulent aromatic profiles amongst the flight of Pauillac wines, displaying black cherries, cassis, graphite and cedar. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins and a silver bead of acidity. Silky smooth in texture, this retains impressive composure toward the finish, handling the weight of fruit with class. It improves with each swirl, though the bottle I tasted just after bottling had a touch more precision. Nevertheless, this a fabulous Pauillac that flirts with perfection. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. Drink 2032-2065.
Aromas of blueberries and blackcurrants with some stone and sandalwood undertones. Medium-bodied with a solid core of fruit and a fresh and delicious finish. Classy tannins that are fine and textured. Such sophistication. Drink after 2027 and onwards.
The 2020 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is made from 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs considerable swirling to bring out fragrant scents of lilacs, tilled soil, rosehip tea, and Sichuan pepper, giving way to a core of cassis, black raspberries, and cedar chest with emerging iron ore and charcoal scents. The medium-bodied palate is so tightly knit, with firm, grainy tannins and lovely tension, finishing long and minerally.
Stands out from the lineup as ever, a stunning wine with silky smooth tannins that are fine in character but abundant, offering decades of growth ahead. Finessed and juicy blackcurrant, blueberry and bilberry fruit, waves of tobacco, heather, liquorice root, crushed rocks, cigar box, pomegranate, orange peel and pencil lead. So consistent, amazing. 60% new oak, 30hl/ha yield, Nicolas Glumineau director. An upscore from En Primeur.
The 2020 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is very demonstrative out of the gates, bursting from the glass without any coaxing to exhibit aromas of sweet cassis and blueberries mingled with notions of clove, violets and lilac. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and polished, with a seamless, charming profile that exhibits no hard edges, it concludes with a nicely defined, spice-inflected finish. It's a superb exercise in haut couture winemaking, even if, to my palate, the 2019 offers a deeper dive into the estate's D.N.A.
Expressive and quite open already, Pichon Lalande is exuberant and luxuriant for a 2020. Succulent black fruit comes in waves on nose and palate, together with some seductive wood spice and a hint of mocha. Velvet tannins give a pliant texture, creating a glossy mouthfeel that bursts with black fruit, liquorice and espresso. Despite the plush nature of this wine, it remains finely balanced, tightening towards the back end due to the sheer weight of tannins. A wine that manages the impressive feat of remaining serious despite its charming and immediate pleasure.
The 2020 is a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17 % Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, which will be matured for 18 months in 60% new French oak. The yield is 30hl/ha. Harvest started on 9th September, one of the earliest in the estate's history. Deep ruby-purple hue in the glass. The nose is intense and expansive, with pure cassis and oily black fruit layered with brighter floral tones. The oak is well measured, complementing the fruit with accents of cedar and vanilla. The palate has real drive and precision. Silky, ripe blackcurrant fruit and chalky, mouthcoating tannins offer real depth. This is a vertical wine for now, with superb intensity but finely etched structure. A wine of real finesse and length, this is another great success at Pichon Lalande and a stand-out wine of 2020.
77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc. Cask sample.
Bright crimson hue. Generous, vineyard-nuanced fruit on the nose with complex cassis and graphite notes. Fruit equally generous on the palate, backed by an abundance of fine tannin. Lots of drive and persistence. Punchier and more masculine in style than 2019. Definitely one for the cellar. (JL)
Drink 2028 – 2045
(77% CS, 17% M, 6% CF; 60% harvest; 13.6% ABV; 60% new)
Inky black-red; a dense, core of raw blackcurrant at the heart of the dense “gravelly” aromas; full of subtle, complex promise; immediately rich and generous and taut and contained, a concentrated, effortless blend of superfine dry tannins, close-knit flesh, and freshly carrying acidity; deep and very “Pauillac,” mouthcoating without any sense of excess, great tenacity and complexity of flavor and with splendid, aromatic, gravelly length. An imposing baritone performance (appropriately enough, as a baritone was Nicolas Glumineau’s initial career). Magnificent wine. First-growth quality. 2032–50+.
The 2020 Pichon Lalande is blended from 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc but without any Petit Verdot and it has a deep garnet-purple color. It is a touch closed to start off, before soaring out of the glass with notes of juicy blueberries, black raspberries and fresh blackcurrant, plus hints of pencil shavings, cinnamon stick, red roses, and Ceylon tea, with a waft of dark chocolate. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a rock-solid structure of grainy tannins and seamless freshness supporting the taut, muscular black and blue fruits, finishing long and fragrant.
The 2020 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has a very intense bouquet with layers of black fruit, hints of seaweed/brine, crushed stone, and perhaps less mint than it displayed from barrel. This possesses stunning delineation, like a perfect C major chord echoing around an empty cathedral. The palate is very well balanced, much more classic in style than its barrel showing, saline to its core, with hints of brine. A Pauillac where you can really sense the Gironde estuary flowing through its veins. Nicolas Glumineau has one of his finest creations on his hands, and when it grows up, it will be challenging First Growths. Drink 2027-2055.
The 2020 Pichon-Lalande has a backward nose similar to that of its neighbor Pichon-Baron, and so I decanted the bottle for 45 minutes. It then revealed gorgeous scents of blackberry, wild hedgerow, seaweed (Japanese nori) and wild mint. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit and gentle but insistent grip. Very intense but not ripe; there is a coolness about this Pauillac that I like, while the finish is very classically styled and leaves behind a persistent, slightly briny aftertaste. This is a magnificent, cerebral Pichon-Lalande that will deserve serious aging and the patience of anyone still waiting for The Cure's new album. Tasted three times, including directly from the château. Drink: 2027 - 2055
Tasted blind at the Southwold Group tasting. Deep, shiny purple in the glass with a nose that exudes fresh blackcurrant, star anise, burning incense and pencil shavings. The same tight, focused profile follows on the palate but the mouthfeel is luxuriant, with cashmere tannins and high glycerol giving a note of milk chocolate and espresso crema. Despite this the wine avoids being decadent, its seductive elements bound by the purity of fruit and incisive acids. The tannins build, velveteen but persistent towards the finish, adding a savoury depth and tension. Very long with supreme balance on the finish, I suspect with bottle age this will merit an even higher score.
This is extremely structured, but with a level of polish and refinement that highlights the excellence of the terroir. Very long and expansive on the palate, showing class and beauty. Powerful.
Deep purple-black in color, the 2020 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande begins on a single, well-defined, wonderfully pure note of ripe blackcurrants, opening out to a melody of redcurrant jelly, kirsch, ripe blackberries and tar, with emerging suggestions of dark chocolate, cardamom, ground cloves and violets, with a waft of black truffles. Medium-bodied, tightly wound and with loads of fantastically nuanced black fruit layers, it has a rock-solid frame of finely grained tannins and bags of freshness, finishing long and mineral laced. The blend this year is 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc. 2026 - 2050
Softer and silkier than many Pauillacs in the vintage, this is a clear success. Hugely silky and seductive, with grip, power and finesse. One of the best of the appellation, with finessed tobacco, heather and plump blueberry and cassis fruit, expertly managing the low 30hl/ha yield. 60% new oak. Tasted twice.
Drinking Window 2030 - 2048
