Robert Rothfield

9.6

From Magnum......4 hour decant......just spectacular! — 4 years ago

with Warren

Rufus King

9.0

Big, dry Spanish Monastrell, with medium tannin, herby finish at Barcelona in the South End, Boston — 6 years ago

Lauren Chooljian Baer

9.2

YUM. This is exactly what I want in my Gamay - barely effervescent, a little funk and super juicy. #shouldhavebought2 — 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

Veronica S

9.4

2005. Can't believe that's 10 years old!! Soft Jasmine on the nose, some kind of fruit.... It's so good I have no words to describe it. — 9 years ago

with David

Not Telling

9.0

Worth drinking again — 9 years ago

Manny Abascal

9.2

Leather and menthol nose, hard candy on palate, tannic, long finish. Rustic, great with steak and truffle. 2 hour decant and got much better after dinner at around 4 hours after opening. — 4 years ago

Michelle Beer

9.0

Lovely cab franc/cab sauv blend. Great with food, grilled meats especially. — 6 years ago

Marc-Andre Michaud

9.2

One of my favorite in low prices wines. — 6 years ago

Jeremy Wong

9.3

Drank on 4 Dec 2015 in HK @ Upper Modern Bistro — 7 years ago

Philip Carpenter

Founder/Educator santabarbarawinetalk.com

10

Petrol, perfume, lemon. Picked up a decent amount of weight. Peachy finish, niiiiice, Larry!! — 8 years ago

with larry

Matt Ball

9.2

Zingy lemon dry sweetness at the front, buttered roll at the end. This is a stellar wine. Iconic bottling from an iconic producer. — 8 years ago

Scott Michel

10

Best wine ever!...Chuck Gudas joined Roman and I for this treat!!! — 9 years ago

with Roman

Robert Knowles

8.9

A little tight at first. Seemed like it was falling apart on day two. But on day four it's fantastic — 9 years ago

Elisa

9.0

Whole foods $8 — 9 years ago

Jeffrey Boscamp

9.8

4/28/15 grand finale at j and j. The 90 is what you thought it was and what I remember. And what you can never forget. The ultimate reminder of why one loves wine. — 9 years ago

Cecilia Sánchez

10

Feb 4, 2015 La Gitana: NOS, Christine, Nietos, y tía Maru — 9 years ago

Ned Gray Creed

9.1

Empty - Napa quake, just recording bottles. 4-2010 — 10 years ago

Tom Lyons

9.0

Very subtle. Really enjoyed this! — 4 years ago

Elizabeth Gardner

9.1

Young fruit bomb, with enough tannins and tartness to make it interesting. — 5 years ago

Bob Halifax

9.1

An Aussie Riesling that I, a Canadian Riesling “freak,” can happily knock back. Too bad we couldn’t arrange an on-the-spot tasting at the winery the other day. — 6 years ago

James Forsyth

9.4

Delicious. It was tastier than I anticipated. The balance is what stands out the most. Spice notes with red cherries, this wine was a massive hit at dinner. — 7 years ago

Eric L.

9.2

Meaty and funky. Could use a few more years. — 7 years ago

Staffan Persson

9.7

Still fantastic, and I have six bottles left — 8 years ago

Becky Hixen

9.0

Fruity, light - sweet — 9 years ago

Kelsey Simmons

9.0

Pretty good... Not too overpowering, so would go well with a variety of foods. Really like that the vineyard uses sustainable practices also! — 9 years ago

Miguel de Leon

Service Director/Wine Educator Casa Mono

9.0

Wine from Gran Canaria's "badlands" -- violets, juicy juice, nice kick at the end. Can do with a slight chill below cellar and even more stellar with food from the grill. — 9 years ago

Mads

9.2

Clone4 stags leap. — 9 years ago

with Teresa and Kristin

Jeffrey Long

9.3

Nice, classic Beaucastel but still quite tight and needs a lot more time. Will try to wait another 4 more years before trying the next bottle. — 9 years ago

with Jim

Jose Merino

9.9

Pride, Dalla, Araujo, Shafer Hillside Select and Harlan. These are 4 of the 14 Napa wines from 1999. — 11 years ago