chateau pichon comtesse de lalande 2eme cru classe pauillac

Château Pichon-Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande

Château Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2020

Name: Château Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac
Brand: Château Pichon-Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande
Price: 173.72 GBP

97/100

Inside Bordeaux

99/100

The Wine Independent

98/100

Vinous

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2020
75cl
DP
£173.72
Last Few
2020
75cl
DP
£173.72
2020
6x75cl
DP
£1,042.33

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

We have tasted some wonderful wines since Nicolas Glumineau took the reins at Pichon Comtesse, however, the 2020 may well be the finest expression we’ve witnessed to date. Topping 2019 was going to be a challenge, however, if anything, this possesses even more refinement and style. Initially this is all brooding and introverted, one senses potential, but it is stubbornly mute. The palate is anything but shy, it is so seductive and seamless, the quality of fruit is just exceptional: deep, dark, complex, mineral infused, spectacularly graceful yet powerful, there’s no sense of heat or weight, one’s palate is treated to an explosion of cashmere textured floral fruit. It is such a joy to taste, but extremely difficult to do justice to with a tasting note… After further aeration, some florality comes through, violets and roses mixing with pure cherry and cassis, one feels the full potential will not be seem for many years… We keep returning to the deep core of fruit and the stunning tannic profile, so detailed and precise, it just oozes quality and refinement, it keeps growing in stature, effortless, wonderful, this clearly has a huge future ahead. Nicolas describes it as “a delicate, almost syrup-like, silky structure”. A spectacular Pichon! 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc.

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GUARANTEED PROVENANCE

Provenance in fine wine

When it comes to purchasing wine, provenance is of upmost importance. A wine’s history – where it’s sourced from and how it’s been stored – can have an enormous influence on the eventual enjoyment it provides. At Justerini & Brooks, we can trace nearly every case back to the domaine, estate or Château it originally came from; we ship from over 200 wine producers throughout the world.

Wines not bought directly from the vineyard are either sourced from trusted suppliers, with whom we share the same philosophy and rigour in buying, or from our own network of Cellarers customers. These customers’ wines are stored in optimal conditions in Octavian Corsham and, in the vast majority of cases, have been stored by us since the wine was first shipped. We do not purchase wine from auctions.

We feel it is equally important to for our customers that the case they buy and leave in storage with us is exactly the same case they subsequently have delivered. This may sound obvious and straightforward, yet we are one of very few merchants to have taken measures to ensure this.

We have created a system where every case is independent, thereby ensuring a trail of ownership and peace of mind for every customer.

The Journey

Justerinis ensures that every case of wine stored with Cellarers (Wines) Ltd has a unique identifier and customer’s name, almost unheard of in the industry as it is expensive to administer. These details are printed and placed on every case which is logged and recorded under your account name and kept in the world’s most renowned storage facility, Octavian Corsham.

This information is sent from our systems to the warehouse every day to ensure the trail of ownership is verified and upheld.

While customer reserves are stored in Corsham, our physical stocks are kept in Hoddesdon, further providing a geographical separation between customers’ wines with Cellarers and Justerinis’ own stock.

Further Reassurance

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is a legally separate limited company from Justerini & Brooks which currently holds approximately £450 million worth of customer reserves. It is fully insured to catastrophic loss. Many merchants will state that wine in their care is fully insured, but in reality this is on an individual case basis with insufficient cover for total loss as this is prohibitively expensive. The cover provided by Octavian and Justerini & Brooks is unmatched.

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is audited by PwC every year.

Critic Reviews

98/100

Neal Martin,

Vinous

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.

drinking window 2027 - 2055

date of review 02/2023

99/100

Lisa Perrotti-Brown,

The Wine Independent

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.

drinking window 2027 - 2062

date of review 11/2022

97/100

Jane Anson,

Inside Bordeaux

Espresso, cocoa beans, powerfully ripe black damson, blueberry and cassis fruits. A ton of personality and a delicious wine with tension, a real sense of seductive charming tannins, full of promise. One of the best of the appellation, with finessed tobacco, heather and campfire smoke as it opens, expertly managing the low 30hl/ha yield. 60% new oak, harvest September 9 to 29. Tasted twice.

drinking window 2030 - 2050

date of review 09/2021

product details

Specifications

Country:

France

Region:

Bordeaux

Appellation:

Pauillac

Producer:

Château Pichon-Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande

style:

Red Wine

Grape Variety:

Cab Sauvignon Merlot

abv:

13%

allergen information

This product may contain sulphites. Full allergen information is available upon request, please call our Customer Relations Team on +44 (0)20 7484 6430.