Mike Saviage

9.6

Tasted blind. Reddish tawny and young looking. Intense nose. Notes of raspberry, rhubarb, camphor, mocha, Asian spice and dark soil. Rich and intense in the mouth. We’re told this was given lots of air – which led guesses to be red burg more in the late 90s or 00’s. The reveal was exciting as none of us have had a bottle from this vigneron before. Super high quality juice, still on it’s upward climb. This juice will be around, giving pleasure to those that have it, for another decade or two and will undoubtedly improve with more age. — 3 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.2

Not my favorite vintage of Dominus but paired well when served blind with the 00 Lynch Bages showing Bordeaux like notes of red & black fruits, cassis, earth, cedar & leather that was not as rich & aromatic as the LB. — 5 years ago

Jeffrey Lew

9.6

Crushed rocks, flowers, and dark fruit. Just a hint of oak to round it out. These 00 are starting to get approachable. Awesome stuff — 6 years ago

Tobin Trevarthen

9.3

2nd go round with ‘00. A stunning wine. Served with a spicy Bronzino. Elegant. Delicious. — 6 years ago

John Van Trijp

9.8

To be honest....I never ever paid any attention to SHL till that moment.....100 points for the 2009 by Robert Parker. Since that moment I bought some Cases 09 and a case 00, 05 and 08.
This 2005 Rocks! “Napa-style” Bordeaux. — 6 years ago

David L

9.1

00'Colgin Herb Lamb . Nice wine from such a challenging vintage. — 7 years ago

Chris Harwick

9.3

Very nice symmetry. This 2001 is living up to its baby brother to '00 and '05 value. Full bodied and can be enjoyed for many more year. But why wait. — 7 years ago

Paul J

9.1

1hr+ decant. Dark purple color with dark fruit on the nose. Concentrated but lacks character. New world style and I would have guessed an average Napa Cab if having blind. Has aging potential but not sure if that evolves this at all. Having had vintages from ‘00 to this, I’d say the wine at some point definitely shifted in style for the worse unfortunately. — 3 years ago

with Brooke

Ron Siegel

9.4

The 00 was drinking beautiful showing sweet red cherry, earth, iron, fresh flowers & sweet spices. — 5 years ago

Patrick Schultz

9.4

The ‘00’s are really starting to show well! Still a ton of life left of course:) — 6 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.4

The "lesser" of the two wines was the winner in this drink-off. Both difficult years, but the 00' had way more finesse than the 09'.

What a wine! Classic KR and typical Saumagen power. White flowers, chrysanthemum, rich fruit, salty, salty, special KR earthiness, and did I mention salty. As usual, I should mention this isn't for everyone - Bernd's barrels have got some special "dirt" in them. But for me, these wines are full of character and often not exemplifies the term power without weight! — 6 years ago

Raj Harb

9.5

More charming, delicate, and classically styled than the 00/01. I preferred it but was in the minority. — 6 years ago

Severn Goodwin

9.4

Wow, in a very nice place right now, tannins completely gone. The Merlot softens the palate, but the Cabernet still dominates on the nose. Drinking probably at peak.
(99/00/01 Comparison) — 7 years ago

Nico J. Snyman

9.2

Finally this '00 is starting to give back, had it about 8 months ago & it was all primary fruit/oak-driven intensity, it's starting to show that great dark plum character mixed with dried black tea & dustiness, this ones going to improve for the next 10-15 years. — 8 years ago

Jake Hajer

9.1

Similar to the 00, but slightly more red fruit, slightly less harmonious, a little more muted. -but still fantastic!!! Briar and cedar. — 5 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

This like most 00’s is still youthful & needed an hr in the decanter to open. Promising vintage for LB showing blackberry fruits, licorice, graphite, leather, mocha & tobacco. — 5 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.0

Took it's time to open up. Had a sweaty reduction when first open, which eventually developed into this smoky flinty tone. Ripe fruit, big, concentrated, oily, and dense. Air brought out more classic citrus and oyster shell notes, as well as some honeyed and yoghurt-like characters. For me, this is certainly a wine of it's vintage. While the length is impressive, I think it could do with more nerve and tension. Perhaps time will bring it more balance (like the 00' Butteaux I had recently - both from warmer years and more muscular sites, although 00' is perhaps a better vintage). — 5 years ago

E & K G

9.3

Slightly oxidized style of champagne and a bit Selosse-like in it honey and nectar flavors. ‘96-00 vintage blends, bottled in ‘01 and disgorged in ‘15. Pretty amazing work. #wheninparis — 6 years ago

Adam Gäfvert

9.0

Intressant nytt vin från Lanson. Gillar en stora stilen, matkompatibelt. Lanson-syran har slipats ner men adderar mycket fräschör till den mogna frukten och brödiga tonerna. Reservviner från 00, 02 och 04. — 6 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Pichon Lalande is my favorite 2nd growth with a steak. Yup...it's #SteakandClaret night to quote my buddy Gary Westby. Further, it's certainly one of my favorite producers period. I've waited for this wine to be in the bottle for 10 years before finding out definitely how good it was or wasn't. You see, the 05 Bordeaux vintage was exceptional. It's drinking right now better than 00. 00 may turn out to be better, but not for some time. The real issue was the division of scores between RP & NM. Parker had this as low as an 86 and now has it at 89. Neil Martin has been consistently at 95-96. I found it simply inexplicable that Pichon Lalande could have bombed in such a great vintage. Tonight, I know they didn't. This wine is beautiful. Although, I don't believe it will cellar as long as their some of their very best vintages and many others I've enjoyed. On the nose, bramble, ripe blackberries, dark cherries, notes of blueberries, poached strawberries, graphite, baking spices, cedar, lightly perfumed violets and dark, fresh & dry red flowers. The body is medium-medium plus, tannins nicely resolved with 10 years to be completely resolved. Fruits of; ripe blackberries, dark cherries, notes of blueberries, poached strawberries and pomegranate with a whiff of spice. There's notes of dry bramble, soft leather, fresh violets, graphite, cedar, dry stones, dark rich earth, limestone, tobacco, spice-box, vanilla, very light cinnamon & nutmeg. The finish is very long, elegant, ripe, round, smooth, good acidity and beautifully elegant...50-50 earth & fruit. I bought more bottles of this at $85 after it's was first released in futures and I do not regret it. $85 is proving to be a steal for this wine when it normally sells for between $100-$150 a bottle and higher. Might heavy up further after tonight if I find more around the same price. Oh yes...I'm with NM on the scoring. Photos of the Chateau, estate vines, newer tasting room & the Virginie de Pichon-Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande. Forgive my long post, but my passion and love for this producer is profound. Producer history and notes...as I wrote in an earlier post for Pichon Baron, Pichon Baron and Lalande started as one entity. The first mention of what is now called Chateau Pichon Lalande was the creation of Pierre de Mazure de Rauzan. Pierre de Mazure de Rauzan is responsible for forming many of the top Bordeaux estates today. Pichon Lalande was given its name when Therse, the daughter of the founder received the estate as a dowry when she married Jacques de Pichon Longueville. Pichon Lalande was essentially managed by three women, Therese de Rauzan, Germaine de Lajus and Marie Branda de Terrefort. On the eve of his death in 1850, Baron Joseph de Pichon Longueville divided the property between his five children. His three daughters received Pichon Lalande and his sons Pichon Baron. What happened next was Virginie, the wife of the Count of Lalande took over the management of the estate under the name of Comtesse de Lalande. In 1850 she commissioned the popular, architect Duphot to build a residence inspired by the Hotel de Lalande, located in Bordeaux. Without heirs, Pichon Lalande passed down from aunts to nieces. Following World War I, the Miailhe brothers, bought Pichon Lalande in 1925. They were the ones who planted even more Merlot. May-Eliane de Lencquesaing, the daughter of Edouard Miailhe became the new owner and general manager of Chateau Pichon Lalande in 1978. She expand the size of Chateau Pichon Lalande from 40 hectares to it's current 89 hectares. Chateau Pichon Lalande remained in the same family for more than 250 years! In fact, over three centuries, only two families have owned Pichon Lalande. May-Eliane de Lencquesaing sold Pichon Lalande to the owners of Roederer Champagnein in January 2007. This family-run company is managed by Frederic Rouzaud who owned several other wine estates in Bordeaux; Chateau Bernadotte, Chateau de Pez, Haut Beausejour and Chateau Reaut la Graviere. He sold Chateau Bernadotte in December 2012. In February, 2011, Sylvie Cazes was named the director of Chateau Pichon Lalande. She replaced Gildas d’Ollone. Sylvie Cazes was replaced in 2012 by current Director Nicolas Glumineau, who was previously at Chateau Montrose. In 2012, Pichon Lalande renovated the estate with a budget estimated at over 15 Million Euros. The new facilities included; building of a new underground barrel aging cellar and several new buildings...one that houses their new tasting room as shown. This renovation provided numerous improvements in their wine making. Most importantly, in the vinification. They created a new, triple tiered, cellar where everything moves by gravity. They also added numerous new, stainless steel, temperature controlled, double skinned vats. These new vats allow Pichon Lalande to vinify on a parcel by parcel basis as well as get much softer & gentle extractions. The 89 hectare vineyard of Chateau Pichon Lalande is located adjacent to Chateau Latour and and across the road from Pichon Baron. The terroir of Chateau Pichon Lalande is deep gravel with clay and limestone soil and is planted to; 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. — 7 years ago