Château Pichon-Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande

Château Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2018

Name: Château Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac
Brand: Château Pichon-Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande
Price: 791.12 GBP

Available Vintages

all 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2012 2014 2015 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

justerini & brooks tasting note

Nicolas Glumineau is a modest man not prone to hyperbole, so when he says 2018 is a vintage that will 'traverse time and remain a true point of reference', we sit up and take note. Produced from 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2018 Pichon Comtesse is a masterful wine, like a piece of classical music, with many parts of the orchestra combining in perfect harmony. Nicolas has kept the femininity and pure Pichon character with its haunting aromas and refined fruit and enhanced it, but has also extracted a little more flesh and roundness giving this a more amplitude on the mid palate that only previously came from the exceptional vintages such as 1982. He has also achieved a level of precision that is hard to find anywhere else in Bordeaux. The flavours are so well delineated and clear. This is more introspective than other recent vintages; after some coaxing classic aromas of violets, griotte, spice, bramble and fine gravelly minerals emerge. This has such impressive purity on the palate; waves of refined fruit coat the mouth - there is a seamless texture - velour fruit caresses the palate. Pure crème de cassis and mulberry are interspersed with notes of coal, cocoa nibs and cranberry. We love the style. This is broad and deeply concentrated, yet there is nothing gawkish. It is composed, refined, elegant, perfectly proportioned. As one would expect from one of Nicolas' wines, the tannins are pitch perfect. They frame the sumptuous palate with salted small berries and delicate mineral notes. It has real tannic finesse, effortless, graceful, deeply nuanced; this is a joy to taste. A really aristocratic Comtesse.

critic reviews

96/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Independent

The 2018 Pichon Comtesse is deep garnet-purple in color. It features fragrant notions of garrigue, star anise, clove oil, and forest floor, over a core of baked plums, blackcurrant preserves, and dried mulberries. Full-bodied, the palate has a solid backbone of grainy tannins with seamless freshness to frame the taut, muscular black fruits, finishing with a spicy lift.

DRINKING WINDOW 2026 - 2050

date of review 02/2023

97/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

A gourmet vintage that I found a little atypical En Primeur but it has shown over subsequent tastings that this is in control and is going to age beautifully. Love the touches of fennel, liqurice and olive paste that sit alongside the tar, pencil lead, slate and cassis fruits. 50% new oak, 35hl/h yield because of the dry summer. A great wine that I am expecting to have the 2009 ability to surprise you with its finesse as the terroir comes through. Tasted at a chateau vertical July 2021, and again September 2021.

DRINKING WINDOW 2028 - 2044

date of review 10/2021

97+/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2018 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot with a pH of 3.85, an IPT (total polyphenol index) of 87 and 14% alcohol. The grand vin represents 50% of the crop this year. Deep garnet-purple colored, it charges out of the gate with bold scents of baked plums, ripe blackcurrants and wild blueberries, followed by hints of cedar chest, pencil lead, bouquet garni and charcuterie, plus a waft of lilacs. The medium-bodied palate is beautifully crafted with its seamless freshness and firm, grainy tannins supporting the compelling, finely knit black fruits and savory nuances, finishing on a lingering fragrant-earth note. This will need a good 5 years to come around and should easily cellar for another 30 years or more.

DRINKING WINDOW 2026 - 2056

date of review 03/2021

97/100Neal Martin,Vinous

The 2018 Pichon-Lalande was given an hour’s decant and then observed over the next 24 hours. It has clearly retained the showstopping nose that I encountered from barrel, those same “gentle waves" of black cherries and blueberry, incense and violets lending it a Margaux-like allure. The palate is vibrant and full of tension from the start, the acidity slicing through the layers of quite plush black fruit, judiciously laced with tobacco and mint. There is a beguiling sense of harmony conveyed by this Pichon-Lalande and although there is clearly plenty of structure, the tannins are so pixelated and pliant that it might well be broachable in 4–5 years’ time. Personally, however, I would prefer to cellar it for 8–10 years (by which time I hope that the new Cure album is finally released). However long you decide to keep it tucked away, this is a quite brilliant Pauillac.

DRINKING WINDOW 2025 - 2055

date of review 03/2021