Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - Subskription -

97-99/100 Wine Advocate The 2023 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is a brilliant wine that will be worth a special effort to track down. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of wild berries and cassis mingled with licorice, lilac, iris root, violet, burning embers and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, seamless and complete, with a deep, layered core of cool fruit that largely conceals it's ultra-refined structuring tannins. At a very measured 13% alcohol and 3.67 pH, it unites all Pichon Comtesse's sensuality with unimpeachable Pauillac classicism. The 2023 is a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. - William Kelley 98-99/100 Jamessuckling.com Wow. This is really excellent, with superb finesse and focus. It has tight density that is almost diamond-like in its brilliance. Medium to full body, with a quality of tannin that is incredibly seamless. Like silk in texture. A top Pichon Lalande. From organic and biodynamically grown grapes. 80% cabernet sauvignon, 17% merlot and 3% cabernet franc. May be better than 2022. - James Suckling 96-98/100 Vinous The 2023 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande was picked from September 6 until 29, with some rain on September 20 in the middle of Cabernet picking. But, Nicolas Glumineau remarked that the vineyard/fruit was in good condition; one day of rain did not affect the quality. The 2023 has a quintessential Comtesse bouquet, displaying pure and expressive black fruit laced with violet and graphite, delivered with impressive delineation. The palate is very refined on the entry. This is armed with beguiling symmetry—poised yet intense on the finish. It doesn’t exert huge grip because it knows it doesn't need to, and it fans out gloriously. Outstanding. - Neal Martin 95-98/100 Vinous The 2023 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande marries elegance, power and sophistication. Soft, ripe tannins wrap around a core of inky dark fruit, licorice, spice, pencil shavings, lavender and menthol. Bright acids pull it all together on the finish. In 2023, Pichon Comtesse blends Merlot picked early for freshness and Cabernets picked later for tannin ripeness and flavor complexity. Readers will have to be patient, but the 2023 holds considerable promise for those who can wait. This is another stellar effort from the team led by General Manager Nicolas Glumineau. Tasted three times. - Antonio Galloni 98/100 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Intense and luxurious, with wonderful balance and grip, has the old school feel of a powerful, structured but effortlessly drinkable Pauillac with the precison and sculpted fruit quality of recent vintages at this exceptional estate. A gorgeous mix of cassis, cocoa bean, espresso, squid ink, graphite, pencil lead and gunsmoke. A wine you will want to drink and share, and one that is fully at the top of the vintage. 14.7% press wine, 60% new oak, final year of conversion to organics. Nicolas Glumineau director. Tasted twice. - Jane Anson 96-98/100 The Wine Cellar Insider Cuban cigars, cocoa, espresso, currants, blackberries, flowers, truffles, and smoke. On the palate, the wine is as complex as the nose. This gem is silky, sensuous, polished, fresh, and alive. The cherries, and currants, are pure. There is depth and sweetness. The wine is medium-bodied, but not light. According to the chateau, the 2023 represents their version of Back to the Future. I see their point. The wine will age effortlessly for decades, yet it is going to fabulous to drink, even in its youth. The wine blends 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc. 13% ABV, 3.67 pH. The harvest took place September 6 - September 27. Yields were 30 hectoliters per hectare. Only 50% of the harvest goes into the Grand Vin. Drink from 2087-2065. 96-98 Pts. - Jeff Leve 96-98/100 The Drink Business Pichon Comtesse de Lalande (Pauillac; 80% Cabernet Sauvignon; 17% Merlot; 3% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 40 hl//ha; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin and then with Florent Genty and the property; very strict plot selection with just 40% of the production making the grade for the grand vin; they are practicing biodynamic viticulture over 80 of the 98 hectares). Exquisite as it now so reliably is, and once again pushing at the first growths in qualitative terms (though not in price). In a way this is the wine that everyone aspires to emulate. Loved by vigneron(ne)s – and by me. Violet, black cherry, iris and wisteria – all beautifully integrated and interwoven. A little rose petal. Graphite. There’s an extraordinary mirror pool clarity to the mid-palate, if perhaps not quite the plunge-pool depth of the 2020 or 2022. Texturally sublime nonetheless. So suave and succulent. So juicy. So composed. A mirror pool of fresh sapid fruit. This is if anything even more impressive at the property when I nudge up my rating just a notch. - Colin Hay 95-97/100 Jeb Dunnuck The Grand Vin 2023 Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse De Lalande checks in as 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc. It's a beautiful, elegant wine offering incredible finesse and elegance in its darker, almost blue fruits as well as graphite, violets, and crushed stone-like minerality. Medium to full-bodied, balanced, with silky tannins, as well as outstanding length, it brings that classic Comtesse round, seductive, sexy style and is another gorgeous wine from this remarkable team. - Jeb Dunnuck 98-99/100 Yvesbeck.wine Die Größe ist von Anfang an da. Noten von schwarzer Johannisbeere und Eukalyptus, ergänzt durch Düfte von Iris, schwarzen Beeren, Süßholz und selbstverständlich Graphit unterstreichen die Komplexität des Bouquets! Am Gaumen enthüllt sich der Wein nach und nach und lässt seine Tannine langsam die Oberhand gewinnen, ohne dass diese erdrückend wirken. Ganz im Gegenteil, sie nehmen alle Komponenten mit sich und sind strukturierend! So viel Kraft, Fülle und Präzision in diesem authentischen Pichon Comtesse 2023 mit einem salzigen, saftigen und lang anhaltenden Abgang. - Yves Beck 97/100 Falstaff Dark ruby garnet, opaque core, purple reflections, brightening on the edge. Deli- cately floral, black cherries, some cassis, a hint of nougat and spices, multi-faceted bouquet. Juicy, complex and elegant, fine tannins, good freshness, pronounced fruit in the finish, good length, as if from a single moul; a full-bodied wine for the table, certain ageing potential. - Peter Moser