| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pauillac |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
This is the popular second wine of Chateau Pichon Lalande. There is always a high percentage of Merlot in the blend here which makes the wine soft and easy to drink when young.
The stunning, ripe dark berries and plums on the nose are attractively dressed and deliver a wealth of assertively rich and juicy dark-fruit flavors on the palate, in balanced and elegant yet powerful style. The best Réserve de la Comtesse for some time. Second wine of Château Pichon-Lalande. Try from 2023.
The 2016 Réserve de la Comtesse has a delightful bouquet of black fruit infused with sous-bois and pencil shavings – classic Claret through and through. The medium-bodied palate delivers crunchy black fruit laced with tobacco and cedar. This is a correct, quite “linear” wine, but one that I find well balanced, with a welcome pepperiness that emerges toward the grippy finish. It might not warrant superlatives, but it is clearly well crafted and endowed with understated nobility. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting. 2021 - 2040
The 2016 Reserve de la Comtesse is deep garnet in color. It shoots from the glass with pure, targeted scents of black cherries, blackcurrants, and juicy plums, plus hints of fragrant earth, violets, and cumin seed. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegant and refreshing with a soft texture and a savory finish.
An incredibly luscious, gorgeously balanced and rich Réserve de la Comtesse. They picked right up until the light October rain, waiting until it had passed before continuing. Those extra few days have contributed to the particularly soft and silky quality of the tannins in the Cabernet Sauvignon, which have a gorgeous density to them. This is a serious wine that could stand up against many Médoc grand vins. The blend here is 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot.
Drinking Window 2027-2050
Tasted blind. Quite correct ripe fruit. A bit simple and scrawny but certainly an expression of the vintage, plus a bit of extra tartness.
Drink 2025 – 2033
This is the popular second wine of Chateau Pichon Lalande. There is always a high percentage of Merlot in the blend here which makes the wine soft and easy to drink when young. Chocolate covered cherries on the nose, sweet and plump. The palate is fresher, with a herbal, crunchy edge and clean, vibrant acidity. The fresh fruit and light crunchy tannin mean this will need minimal bottle age before drinking.
From a vintage compared to 1996 and 2009, both terrific yet different vintages, the 2016 Reserve de la Comtesse is a beauty with a classic Cabernet nose of blackcurrants, graphite, lead pencil, and flowers. It's medium-bodied, supple, incredibly elegant, and seamless on the palate, with loads of charm and character. It's another second wine that delivers the goods.
The nose is restrained the start of the palate tight but it opens up in the middle with rich mix of black fruits mid sweetness. Firm tannins tend to hold back the fruit but there is ripe fruit at the back cassis and black cherry and depth of fruit on the finish. 2022-29
“2016 was stressful, but I’d love to have it every year,” says Stéphanie Danglade. I’m sure she would, because this is an excellent second wine from Pichon Lalande, with leafy, graphite aromas, velvety tannins, a core of crunchy blackcurrant fruit and subtle vanilla spice. A wine that will age seamlessly. 2022-30
The 2016 Réserve de la Comtesse has an intense bouquet of blackberry, oyster shell and estuarine aromas; you can almost smell the Gironde. The palate is medium-bodied with quite gritty tannin on the entry. This is a more masculine Réserve de la Comtesse than I expected, grippy in the mouth and leading to a strongly saline, almost briny finish that I find very attractive. A serious second wine that will age longer than other vintages. Drink 2021-2040
The 2016 Reserve de Comtesse de Lalande is a blend of 37% Merlot, 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, with a modest alcohol level of 13.1% and a pH of 3.71. It has a tightly wound bouquet that perhaps needed more coaxing than some of its peers, but it was worth persisting, as it unveils some lovely cedar-infused black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with quite firm tannin on the entry, moderate depth, a light marine influence upon the black fruit with a little creaminess on the finish. This is a fine Reserve de Comtesse that is on par with the excellent 2015 last year. Drink 2022 - 2040.
A dense and powerful second wine from PL with layers of fruit and ripe, silky tannins. Shows tension and verve as well as polish. Excellent.
The 2016 Reserve de la Comtesse is a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it leaps from the glass with beautiful kirsch, cassis and redcurrants with hints of red roses, black tea, black pepper, chocolate box and cloves. The palate is medium-bodied, very elegant and fresh with gorgeous silken tannins and loads of bright fruit, finishing spicy. 2020 - 2036
Polished and pleasurable. Not a single angle in evidence. What a wonderful wine this would be for an airline first class! But note relatively short drinking period.
Drink 2020-2027
