Jay Kline

9.1

This bottle of the 1984 Insignia was opened about 30min before service and enjoyed over the course of a few hours. The wine pours a deep garnet with a slightly browning rim and an opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and plenty of sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of desiccated black fruits: blackberries, black cherry, Chunky beef stew, mushroom, eucalyptus, leather, organic earth and baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+. A mature wine what’s still lovely; full of secondary and tertiary notes. Drink now. — 7 months ago

Ericsson

9.4

Enjoyed this wine eight years ago. Wine is so evolved now. Tasting so much better. There’s deep notes of cedar and cooked fruit. — 9 months ago

Ericsson

9.6

Hands down best Bordeaux value. Might as well be a 1st growth. Great vintage too. Tasting incredible. Villa @ Secrets Moxché — 9 months ago

Jess

9.1

Deep ruby color.
Aromas of black cherry, oak spice.
Dry. Flavors of stewed black cherry, dried cherry, licorice, cedar, black raspberry. Rich, chewy tannins.

Intensity: 4/5
Complexity: 3/5
Balance: 4/5
Finish: 4/5 — 3 years ago

R. David Liebers

9.0

Pleasant aroma, fruity on the tongue with a dry finish. — 6 years ago

Dimes

8.9

Not worth its weight in gold nor wine. Over priced but I’d pay for the label all day everyday. Hahaha the French are annoying — 8 years ago

Somm 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. — 9 years ago

Neil Valenzuela

9.0

Deep ruby color. Aromas of dark cherry, plum, eucalyptus and baking spice. Blackberry on the palate, nutmeg/clove, earthy finish. — 7 months ago

Vino Joe

9.8

Wow. Wow and wow. This was amazing! It’s definitely still early on. I let this decant for 2.5 hours before the first sip. It was revved and ready by then and was stellar by hour 4+. Rich and deep but silky smooth. Currants and an earthy/smokey quality. Loved this! — 8 months ago

Vinnie Daboul

9.9

The last of our 2018. It has aged really well. Deep ruby color, butter, some earth. Delicious. — 9 months ago

Richard Russell

9.1

Wava likes publix bogo 30 per — 3 years ago

Paul K

9.1

Glad I picked up a bunch of these from Costco a few years ago. Great value! Looking forward to enjoying for the next few years. Don’t think this is a long term lay down but over next five years a great mid week bottle. — 3 years ago

Cecil Ramirez

9.2

2013 vintage. Vibrant ruby color, med bodied, soft mouthfeel & tannins. Bright cherry, cola, plum, strawberry, vanilla notes. Nice lasting finish. — 7 years ago

Jared Silvia

8.9

Deep Purple! Lovely full bodied red wine and a great value. The blackberry and blue berry notes pair with the vanilla and hints of cocoa. Think pie with cookie dough ice cream. The taste is smooth, spicy. — 9 years ago

with Brandi

Karen Larson

9.2

Deep fruit flavored. My friend who is not a Pinot Lover tried this wine and thought it was amazing! Said it did not taste like a Pinot. — 10 years ago

with Craig

Rocket Rod

9.1

Lovely balance and long finish. Classic "Grange" characteristics with better QPR. Drinking nicely now but lots of fun to come down the line. — 10 years ago

A. Harrison

9.8

Hands down my favorite Cab. Excellent. Not too heavy. Received as a gift. — 11 years ago

Nils W

9.4

Silky smooth with deep tones that kept resonating wonderfulness — 12 years ago

DAG

9.8

@Bill Bender @Roman Sukley @V M @Steve Swaney zigzag dot commerce at verizon dot net and we continue the conversation offline. — 13 years ago

Jay Kline

9.5

Presented to me double-blind. The wine pours a deep garnet with an opaque core and some rim variation; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and signs of sediment. On the nose the wine is vinous with notes of cassis, blackberry, black plum, tobacco, menthol, leather, and mix of cool and warm spices. On the palate the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long. This is really delicious.

Initial conclusions: this could be a Cabernet Sauvignon based blend or other Bordeaux-styled blend or a Tempranillo based blend from the United States, France or Spain. This saw French oak so I eliminated Spain. I thought the fruit was outshining the structure…so I liked the USA over France. And, based off the appearance, I thought this probably had 30+ years of age. Final conclusion: this is a Cabernet Sauvignon based blend from the United States, from California, Napa, Rutherford; 1994. Ugh…the 1990 vintage in Bordeaux has bit me twice now recently. Really awesome stuff! Drink now through 2040+. — 8 months ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Opened several hours prior to service, the 2007 pours a deep, ruby/purple color with an opaque core; medium+ viscosity with light staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of ripe and desiccated bramble berries, strawberry, dried red flowers, garrigue, anise, leather, dried herbs and stony earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long. This is anything but tired and far from overblown. I’ve been surprised by a number of 2007 CdP’s lately. They have showed better balance than I expected and this one is wonderfully balanced. Drink now through 2037. — 9 months ago

Anna Filipovich

9.3

Deep, elegant Super Tuscan now firmly in its tertiary phase. Nose leans more to leather, tobacco, dried herbs and balsamic notes, with the red cherry and plum fruit clearly in the background. Medium‑plus body and acidity, fine chalky tannins; savoury flavours of dried red fruit, cedar and spice carry through on a long, resolved finish. Showing peak complexity today and unlikely to improve further with cellaring, so firmly in the drink‑now camp. — 9 months ago

Neil Valenzuela

9.9

Deep gold color. Aromas of botrytis, dried apricot, pineapple and honey. Stunning! 2014 wasn’t the best D’Yquem I’ve had, but it always exceeds expectations.

🥇 96-99 points - Wine Spectator
🥇 96-98 points - Robert Parker
🥇 97-98 points - James Suckling — 5 years ago

Jack Petras

9.1

1995 vintage. Still deep purple red, subtle earthy leather aromas with a burst of fresh red raspberries mid palate. Lots of herbal hints like anise and tarragon. Finished with graphite and iron. Changed with each sip. Very nice mature and fully approachable left bank beauty. — 8 years ago

Robert Rothfield

9.2

Out of a magnum.....big and tannic, settled down with some air...nice wine — 9 years ago

Mike Mentesana

9.6

One of the best Bordeaux I've had in years, great structure and mouth feel, well defined and deep fruit and that touch of leather we all love. Amazing bottle! — 10 years ago

Mike Blom

9.0

1982 wasn't rated highly as a vintage but this 5.0 liter shows great producers can still provide a solid wine.

Red rim and deep red core. Violets and red currants. Toffee, leather, coco bean in the initial flavors. Enough acidity to keep the finish lively. — 11 years ago

Kapyrick Wine

9.5

V13. Very good today, great tomorrow! Very nice cedar bouquet, deep blackberry and plum fruit with a spicy and very slight green pepper finish . Wine is really good today , but there is a slight "newness" that will eventually round out. Enjoyable dinner wine. — 11 years ago

Victor Demydov

8.9

Great for 30 — 13 years ago

Matt Young

10

Favorite wine ever. Very fruit forward and smooth, strong and complex. Deep, dark berry notes, slight charcoal and spice middle with smooth, cool, rich, complex finish. — 14 years ago