TN: 1995 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac)

Decided to pull one of these to see where it’s going. Last bottle three years ago took some time to open up and was still young. This one is showing some nice aged notes.

  • 1995 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (9/9/2009)
    Purple core lightening to dark red at the rim. The nose is forward but simple at first, then blossoms over an hour into a beautifully complex rich nose of cassis, dark berries, forest floor and wet leaves, cedar, and tobacco. Full-bodied, ripe layers of fruit with complexity following from the nose and the classic sweet aged notes so typical of Bordeaux, great balance, well-tamed tannins in the background, long finish, should go easily for another decade or two, this is outstanding.

There was about 1/4 bottle left. The next evening when I went looking for it I saw that my wife put it out in the recycling bin in the garage without realizing there was some left. I rescued the thing, fortunately the wine hadn’t spilled out, and damn if it still wasn’t drinking pretty decently after a hot day in the garage at about 80 degrees. If it can handle that, it can handle another couple of decades in the cellar.

Posted from CellarTracker

Thanks for the note, David - did you decant on night #1?

No decant on the first night. I let the first pour sit in the glass after an initial sniff and sip, then went back to sniff every 15 minutes or so. After an hour the nose had become too enticing to resist any further.

I like their '95 a lot and agree that it has a long life ahead. I am quite familiar with their vintages from the mid-70s to 2001 and, at a vertical dinner of 10 vintages on 13 March 2008 (2001, 1998, 1996, 1995, 19891988, 1986, 1985, 1983 and 1975), I ranked '95 as my best wine, thusly:

1st - 1995, because, though it had a somewhat comparatively reticent nose, it had a wonderfully rounded, velvety mouthfeel and a long definitive finish. I ranked it 2nd in my first pass, but switched it to 1st on the second pass. This probably should still be aged more for quite a bit.

2nd - 1985, a comparatively masculine, earthy, truffled PL. Not surprised I liked this a lot, Edouard brought this to one of our blind tasting dinners and it won 1st place over 1985 Mouton Rothschild, 1982 Pichon Lalande, 1988 Léoville las Cases and 1989 Trotanoy.

3rd - 1996, typically elegant style of PL (sweet smelling with just the merest alluring hint of truffle), surprisingly (to me, anyway) lighter than the '95 and it was the least brilliant looking in the flight. Though pure and elegant, it didn’t seem to make much of a comparative statement in the mouth.

4th - 1989, as I remember it before, cut from the same cloth as the '95 but a few shades lighter in body. In the mouth, earthy, truffled, a bit gamey.

5th - 1983, very nice PL, one I’d not had before, fine and complex, a bit of resin to the smokey cedar - but in a good way. I remember liking this quite a lot and am surprised now, after reviewing my notes, that I ranked it “only” 5th.

6th - 1975, the Doc, Stockbroker and I commented on how young this 32+ year old wine looked. If served blind, I’m sure that I would not have guessed it to be the oldest by its looks. Very nice for a '75, definitely mature and well preserved, but not much weight or mouthfeel and a bit short.

7th - 1986, this is the third time I’ve tried this vintage, and it is the third time I was less than impressed. Definitely not the typically elegant PL, or even attractively butch like the 1989 or 1985. The flavors seem superficial, the finish, again, short with a disturbing hint of astringency.

8th - 1988, I had this many years ago and found it a bit hollow, not much of a middle. My current notes state: “Kicking up truffles/gamey, warm feel but with a finish that ends abruptly”.

9th - 1998, lightest color of the 1st flight, bit of tin and minerals hovering above the sweet craisin, slightly herbaceous nose. Flavor separation detected, comparatively green, weak middle.

10th - 2001, good structure though still quite youthfully astringent. Not quite enjoyable at this point; not for me, anyway. Though I reserve judgment now, I couldn’t help but rank it 10th. Not very fair, I know, but, there it is.

Nice tasting and notes! I am a big fan of both the '95 and '96, but my all-time favorite Pichon Lalande is the '82.

Yes, the '82 is an excellent wine which I’ve had many, many times. The family of one of my regular drinking buddies owned Pichon Lalande for decades until it was sold a few years ago, so he’s got a big stash of it. Of course I and my other friends buy our own as well, but there is nothing quite like ex-château.

That said, even ex-château, I’ve experienced quite a bit of bottle variance with the '82.