Pichon Lalande

a featured wine

Our Pichon Lalande wines					Parker Score hover or click for more
Wine	Vintage	Case size	Price/case	Cases	Parker Score hover or click for more
Pichon Lalande	1986	12×75cl	£1,750	1	96
Tasted 7 Times Since Bottling With Consistent Notes The 1986 is the most tannic, as well as the largest-framed Pichon-Lalande in over three decades. Whether it will ultimately eclipse the 1982 is doubtful, but it will be longer-lived. Dark ruby/purple, with a tight yet profound bouquet of cedar, blackcurrants, spicy oak, and minerals, this full-bodied, deeply concentrated, exceptionally well-balanced wine is, atypically, too brawny and big to drink young. Anticipated maturity: 1994-2015.
Pichon Lalande	2000	12×75cl	£1,850	1	96
Sitting next to my former colleague, Pierre Antoine Rovani, at one of the tastings, he commented that he didn’t like the striking green note in the aromatics of this wine, which I didn’t detect at all, and a subsequent bottle at another tasting did not reveal it either. I do think there is a hint of bay leaf and a meatiness to it. In short, I find this to be a spectacular Pichon Lalande. Dense purple in color, with loads of coffee, mocha, creme de cassis, and chocolate notes, this is a somewhat unusual blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, and a whooping 10% Petit Verdot, with a little bit of Cabernet Franc. The Petit Verdot certainly gives the wine more of a tapenade, floral note, which I think can be interpreted by some as herbal. This is a rich, opulent, stunning Pichon Lalande that is beginning to drink beautifully, yet should continue to improve for at least another 10-15 years and last 30 or more years.
Pichon Lalande	2003	12×75cl	£1,000	1	95
The brilliant, opulent, fleshy 2003 Pichon Lalande (65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot) possesses a high pH of 3.8 as well as 13% alcohol. Reminiscent of the 1982 Pichon Lalande (which never shut down and continues to go from strength to strength), the dense plum/purple-colored 2003 offers gorgeous aromas of blackberries, plum liqueur, sweet cherries, smoke, and melted licorice. Fleshy, full-bodied, and intense, displaying a seamless integration of wood, acidity, tannin, and alcohol, this beauty can be drunk now or cellared for 20 years or more.
Pichon Lalande	2008	12×75cl	£760	3	92
The 2008 is a beauty in the style of the 1988. Although not performing as well as I predicted last year, it is unquestionably an outstanding effort as well as one of the better values from Pichon Lalande in many years. Its dense plum/purple hue is accompanied by sweet aromas of red and black currants, charcoal, herbs, underbrush and a hint of truffles. This medium-bodied, rich, concentrated blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc is an elegant, supple Pichon Lalande that can be drunk now or cellared for 15-20 years.
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Château Pichon Comtesse de Lalande

The earliest records of what was to become Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, circa 1686-1689, give mention to one Pierre de Mazure de Rauzan, a significant figure in Bordeaux history responsible for the developing of many of today’s leading chateau. In this period his daughter, Thérèse, married Jacques de Pichon Longueville, the first president of the Bordeaux Parliament. The union was to mark 250 years of continuous ownership of the chateau by a single family.

A significant actor in this history was Baron Joseph de Pichon Longueville who took the helm of the running of the estate at just 19 years of age. He went on to weather five kings of France, three revolutions, two republics and emprire to steer the chateau towards its classification in 1855. The baron’s death, 5 years prior, saw the even distribution of the estate between his 5 children, his two sons and three daughters receving one fifth each. The new properties were largely ran as one in the interim until circa 1860 when one of the sisters, Virgine, and wife to the Count of Lalande took over the running of those of her sisters.

The arrival of La Comtesse de Lalande was to mark the beginning of the two distinct eras of the Pichon estates.

The Comtesse was to prove and able and passionate administrator, she was to make an enduring impact on the estate that still bears her name and became one the most illustrious characters 19^th century Medoc.

In the intervening years until after the Great War, a period that marked the Medoc through enormous human cost, the Chateau Pichon Comtesse de Lalande saw stewardship from aunt to niece as no other heirs were produced at the time. In this challenging economic environment the Miailhe brothers, a family of landowners of ancient Bordeaux lineage and courtiers au vin (wine brokers) determined, in 1925, to buy the chateau.

The penultimate sequence to this long history came in 1978, when May-Eliane de Lencquesaing, daughter to Edouard Miailhe, took over as general manager at the estate. Much in the vein of Virgine, Comtesse de Lalande, she took a very direct management approach backed by great passion, to the extent that in this time she became one of Bordeaux’s most ardent ambassadors, travelling the globe in the search for new markets while overseeing renovation of the estate back home.

In 2007, May-Eliane de Lencquesaing, eager to see the continuation of Château Pichon Comtesse de Lalande’s success, sold the estate to the Roederer Champagne house, which remains family-run. In February 2007, Sylvie Cazes was named the director of Chateau Pichon Lalande.

Style

Often referred to as the most voluptuous of all Medoc wines, with a comparatively high Merlot content, Pichon Lalande offers a classical aromatic range of red and dark berries with trufle and cedar hints.

Top-rated vintages

Vintage	RP	JR	Market price £	£ / Parker points
1982	100	18.5	5,500	55.00
2009	96-98	17	1,300	13.40
2010	92-95	17	1,200	12.83
2000	96	17.5	1,980	20.63
1996	96	18	1,800	18.75
1995	96	18	1,650	17.19
2003	95	17	1,000	10.53
2006	95	17.5	950	10.00
As per June 2011

Market

Pichon Lalande is a leading chateau and Medoc brand name whose has performed consistently since the 1855 Classification to today find itself among the top 15 Medoc chateau, punching slightly above its weight as a classed growth to measure up alongside its first growth peers. In a changing market this is one to watch.

Liv-ex Power 100 ranking

2010	total score	2009	move
50	292	60	+10

As per June 2011

The Liv-ex Power 100 is a list of the top performers over the previous year and their position starting the current year. The indice traces the movement of chateau and other wines using a sophisticated weighting system based on average prices, production, notional availability and Parker Points.

Release price evolution

Vintage	ex Negociant € / btl	London release price £ / cs
2010	138	1,350
2009	105	1,395
2008	33	455
2007	49	575
2006	60	650
2005	70	750

Pichon Lalande at a glance

Commune: Pauillac

Soils: deep Garonnaise gravel beds underpinned by clay and then sandstone and limestone (part of these vineyards actually reside in the St-Julien appellation).

Climate: maritime, moderated by the Gironde estuary

District: Medoc

Classification: 2eme Cru Classe 1855

Owner: Champagne Roederer

Winemaker: Thomas Do Chi Nam

Vineyard: 85ha/210 acre divided between a number of plots; Ardileys, Moulin Riche, Longueville, Grand’Plant, La Chapelle, Virginie, Sophie and Marie-Joséphine, planted to 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 8% Petit Verdot.

Vinification and ageing: stainless steel cuvées and then matured in oak barriques (50% new) for 18 months (25% new oak for second wine Réserve de la Comtesse).

Production: 36,000 cases

Other wines: Reserve de la Comtesse (2nd wine of Grand Vin).

Other properties: Chateau Bernadotte, Chateau de Pez, Chateau Haut Beausejour, Château Réaut la Gravière.

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