Region | |
---|---|
Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pauillac |
Colour | Red |
Type | Still |
View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
Fifty percent Merlot, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Cabernet Franc with a touch of Petit Verdot has resulted in a chocolatey, ripe, round, elegant style of wine with medium body, sweet tannins, and a good finish. Drink it over the next 5-8 years.
Tasted ex-château and single blind in Southwold. The Reserve de la Comtesse is very austere and leafy on the nose that needs more vigour. Perhaps some bottle age will benefit the aromatics? It seems a little musty at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannins, nice definition and focus, far better than the nose. This will benefit from bottle age. Good length but not a top tier Pauillac (written before I knew it was a Second wine.) Tasted January 2012.
The second wine, the 2008 Reserve de la Comtesse, reveals a gorgeous sensuality as well as a seductive, lush, exuberant style. A blend of 49% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this pure, fleshy 2008 is ideal for drinking in its first decade or life.This is another top estate with very low yields (42 hectoliters per hectare) that achieved an atypically high alcohol level of 13%
This has a light, rather herbaceous nose, a little green perhaps, lacking its usual flair. Cigar box, black tea and undergrowth. The palate is better with some fine tannins, velvety texture, very harmonious with blackcurrant, cassis and cedar. Very elegant and approachable, not a long-term proposition that Reserve can occasionally be. Not bad, but there are better Second wines in Pauillac.