Nathan Renfro

9.3

Very distinct cherry nose and primary fruit. Supple chalky tannins with big ripe cherries. Some earthiness but cherry dominant. Medium bodied, well structured, probably has a few more years left. Medium finish. — 2 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Blend of 96% Sauv Blanc with 4% Sauv Gris adding an interesting dynamic to the wine & distinctive aromas (prior to ‘18 vintage some Semillon added). Pale lemon color, citrus, tropical & floral aromas. On the palate peach, melon, herb & earthy tones, well balanced with acidity, smooth yet robust on a long finish ending rich with wet stone character. Good value! A Fav!! Very consistent! — 3 years ago

Joe

9.3

Another great wine from the Wagner family ! — 5 years ago

Benjamin Wegman

9.5

Perfect pairing with crème brûlée. Doesn’t feel like like 20 years old, but more like 3-4 years on bottle. Can age for 50+ years easily. — 6 years ago

with Alain

Michelle Beer

9.0

Lovely cab franc/cab sauv blend. Great with food, grilled meats especially. — 7 years ago

Joseph Minafra

9.0

Very drinkable now. This wine should please the American taste as a fruit forward and pleasant but excellent for the price. A great affordable wine to order while dinning out. — 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. — 8 years ago

Peter Sultan

9.1

Only red we had paired w Basque tapas & what a pairing. It’s a blend from Outside Madrid- syrah, garnacha, carinena & morenillo , it all hangs together in a loose, fresh style. Not too far removed from a Cru Beaujo. Dark red fruits, surprisingly long & a bit of grip. A ‘ villages level’ from the Spanish version of the Gang of Four. An easy wine easy to like. — 3 years ago

with Owen

Sipping Fine Wine

9.5

Had a bottle year ago. Blend of 95% Cab Sauv, 4% Merlot, rest Petit Verdot, Malbec & Cab Franc, blended then aged for 24 mos in 50% new & 50% once-used American oak. Deep Ruby, youthful aromas of black fruit, sweet cacao & complex spice. Palate shows flavors of rich ripe juicy berries & cherries, core of sweet fruit with oak & vanilla notes. Nicely integrated firm, graceful tannins, long finish, displays primary fruits on ending, developing some secondary aging, nice. Excellent. — 4 years ago

Tom Lyons

9.0

Very subtle. Really enjoyed this! — 6 years ago

Susan Mogish

9.9

2015 bottle. Equisite — 7 years ago

Linden McGreevy

9.0

Carbonic cranberries. — 8 years ago

Pete Talala

9.4

Happy Thanksgiving 2017! 4 Winds will be the 1st one. Super approachable 2013! Solid & high quality experience from Thomas. — 8 years ago

Joakim Bogström

9.1

Garnet. Orange medium-sized rim.
Lovely balanced with aromas of cigarbox, dried red apples, figs and chocolate. Really a blend of red ripe fruits and dark fruits. Peppery.
Dry. Medium acidity. Medium high plus tannins. Medium plus alcohol. But very well integrated. Full, lean body.
Great balance.
Serve at 16 degrees celsius with braised ox, cabbage and butter fried artichokes.
Drink now ord hold for another 4 years. — 9 years ago

Paul T HB

9.9

Only so much cheap wine a person can take. The 13 is definitely not feminine in style.

I’ve been eye balling this for months now.
Down to my 2005 & 12 stock wise. This I could drink everyday, needs hours of decant per norm.
Grab a glass re cork then decant 4 hours on the 2nd day.
I’ve had 92,03,05,06,07,08,11 & 12 — 3 years ago

Dmitry Muzychak

9.0

Выпито в Обнинске 21.10.21. Сегодня на мои стройки наехало ФМС с Росгвардией. Задержали 4 -х рабочих. К вечеру отпустили. Боремся. Вино - классическое Бордо, половинка 2013 года. Рабочее. — 4 years ago

Marc Melser

9.1

We had the 2012 Vintage on 4/25-26/20. A terrific wine with tastes of blackberry, plum, kirsch, licorice and spice. A full bodied, fruit forward wine with a long finish. Ready to drink right out of the bottle. — 6 years ago

Rufus King

9.0

Big, dry Spanish Monastrell, with medium tannin, herby finish at Barcelona in the South End, Boston — 7 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 — 8 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. — 8 years ago