critic reviews
In 2008 the blend for Pichon Lalande was 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot. It has a deep garnet-brick color and rocks up with ready-to-go scents of warm cassis, boysenberry preserves, and baked plums, plus hints of spice cake, Sichuan pepper, and cigar box. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegant and refreshing with fine-grained tannins and understated black fruit and savory layers, finishing long and minerally. It is drinking wonderfully now, in that sweet spot between fruitiness and maturity, however, it still has a good 15-20 years+ of cellaring potential.
The bilberry and cassis fruit is tinged with smoked toffee edging, a lovely gourmet touch balanced by black chocolate, crushed earth and fresh mint uplift on the finish. 2008 saw a cool August followed by a dry sunny September, and you feel this is the fruit character, which is dark and autumnal with blackberries, bilberries, hawthorn, enticing and very Pauillac yet a little surly still at this stage. Oak not perfectly integrated, with a good few years ahead of it before you can say for sure that all elements have slotted into place. Could be drunk but will show its terroir character more over the next decade. 3.7ph, harvest September 29 to October 14.
The 2008 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has an expressive, open bouquet that is more forward than I would have expected (indeed, there was more degradation on the rim than you would expect.) The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red berry fruit laced with cedar and sea salt. I like the harmony and the fleshiness imparted by the Merlot towards the finish, although I expect Pichon Baron represents the longer-term prospect. This is more enjoyable than cerebral. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting.)