Pichon Comtesse Réserve, Pauillac, 2022
The quality of some of the second wines this year is quite astonishing. Technical Directors must have questioned the need to declassify any fruit. Nicolas Glumineau decided to produce Pichon Comtesse Reserve, and it's a wonderful example with grand vin proportions. It opens with an attractive and lifted bouquet of purple fruits, graphite and violets. The palate continues in the same vein with detailed, expressive, wonderfully textured creme de mûre fruit, lots of minerality and a sumptuous mouthfeel. Super-refined and very serious for a second label. 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc.
critic reviews
The 2022 Réserve has a lively and well defined nose: blackberry, pencil shavings and brine scents unfolding in the glass. Just a scintilla of herbaceousness that works well here. The palate is medium-bodied with a harmonious entry. Just a little lower in acidity than I might have liked, which takes away a bit of tension and race, although there is decent fruit purity on the finish. Fine. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.
The second wine of Pichon-Comtesse, made by Nicolas Glumineau, this is a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 10% Petit Verdot, the later variety generally reserved for the Réserve, if you will pardon the phrase. The élevage was in 50% new oak, 50% second-fill barrel, for close to 14 months, and this accounts for 40% of the production in this vintage. The nose is savoury and complex, with notes of black fruit, tar, liquorice, cigar box, charcoal and smoke. There follows a supple blend on the palate, rather dry and bold in style, with sinewy fruit and evident tannic grip underpinning it. The grip persists through to the finish, beneath that supple upper layer;it all works well, although it cries out for cellar time. Long, savoury, gripped and dark, this is one of the better second wines in this vintage, so don’t broach this one too early. The alcohol is 13.8%.
Beautiful depth of colour, enticing aromatics, holds your interest, dark chocolate block, slate and firm tannins, luscious fruit, clearly ripe, but it keeps the Pauillac signature, getting a shot of espresso and pure bilberry as it opens, super enjoyable, not quite as persistent perhaps as the very best years, but this is good. Nicolas Glumineau director, Eric Boissenot consultant. Harvest September 8, lasting for three weeks.
Like a number of second wines from the best classified growths, the 2022 Reserve de la Comtesse shares much of the personality of the grand vin this year, delivering aromas of blackberries, violets and exotic spices, followed by a medium to full-bodied, supple and fleshy palate with a rich core of fruit framed by powdery tannins.