Ch. Pichon Lalande
2nd Growth Grand Cru Classe
Pauillac
1996

The producer

After Pichon-Longueville was divided between Baron Joseph’s son and daughters in 1850, and Pichon Comtesse de Lalande became its own entity, the estate has often been run by women from Virginie Comtesse de Lalande to the fiercely energetic and ambitious May-Elaine de Lencquesaing, who took over the property in 1978.

Pichon Comtesse is lying across the road from Pichon Baron, and although the chateaux still share a name, they are not related in any other way. The 2^nd Growth estate has 75 hectares of vineyards located in the eastern part of Pauillac and planted with 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 8% Petit Verdot. Because of the high Merlot content, and the floral spice which Petit Verdot adds, the wines could be said to be on the softer, less structured and rigid side, and with more grace especially in its youth, compared to most other Pauillac’s with higher contents of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Although this is not to say that Pichon Comtesse lacks in concentration or longevity – these are very impressive and long-lived wines. May-Eliane de Lencquesaing sold Pichon Lalande to the owners of Champagne Roederer in January 2007, and the estate remains firmly in the “Super-Second” level of quality.

The wine

Although in the past the Cabernet Sauvignon proportion of Pichon Comtesse’s Grand Vin was lower, these days it regularly tops 70%, and is complemented by varying proportions of Merlot and Cabernet Franc; most vintages also see a little Petit Verdot, which adds a lovely floral spice note to the blend. Widely known for a softness and grace, especially compared to other Pauillac estates, Comtesse de Lalande does has an unmistakeably powerful structure and body as is classic for the area. These are indeed very long-lived wines, and some of the most finessed in Pauillac.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.