Wine: Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse Lalande Pauillac 2017

Country: France

Region: Bordeaux

Designation: Pauillac

Brand/Producer: Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse Lalande

Grape Varietal: Blend: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot

Type: Red

Code: 6874

Producer

The Pichon Longueville estate goes back to 1688-1689 and has been inherited by the ladies in the family right down to the modern day.

Remarkably, just two families have been responsible for maintaining this wine's superb reputation for three centuries. Bordering on Chateau Latour, Second Growth Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is located in the southern part of Pauillac, near Saint-Julien. Traditional methods and modern technology combine to make the most of the estate's prestigious soil. The international reputation of this "Super Second" Growth can be attributed to unfailing quality and dynamic owners.

Critical Acclaim

Vivino 4.4

96 points Wine Spectator

A sleek, precisely dialed-in Pauillac, with a pure and racy beam of cassis, blackberry and dark plum fruit inlaid with a mouthwatering iron note. A backdrop of singed alder and sweet tobacco waits in reserve, while the finish sails through with great cut. Possesses a regal feel.

96 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2017 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and is a little closed to begin, soon revealing floral notes of lilacs and lavender over a core of black raspberries, warm blackberries and forest floor plus touches of star anise and stewed black tea. Medium-bodied, the palate is a bundle of energy and tension with softly played tannins and beautiful floral and black fruit layers, finishing with a long-lingering whisper.

95 points Decanter

Tasting in a blind lineup across Pauillac, it is instantly clear that what you get in this glass is better clarity of fruit, a darker and more serious texture across the palate and some lovely saffron and cinnamon notes to fill out the body. This feels like a Pauillac and even though it doesn't have the concentration of bigger years, there is a lot to be delighted about here. Silky tannins, burnished confidence, well-handled oak. 

94 points James Suckling

A tight, compact young Bordeaux with medium body, polished and round tannins and a medium finish. Not a big wine, but some very classy currant and raspberry character and just a hint of lead pencil and polished structure. Drink after 2022.