Sylvain Rhainds

9.6

1993
Que c’est grand de Alzero! De la véritable bombe de saveurs qui va dans tous les sens! Quel jus!!! — 5 years ago

Ben Christen

8.9

Natural crunch — 5 years ago

with Ellen

Kevin Fabrizio

9.1

Absolutely fucking delicious — 6 years ago

Jordan Kokot

9.0

Rich plum color. Nose of blackberries, leather, and rich woods. Earthy and dry. — 7 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

Benoit Duhamel

9.8

Comment dire... j’ai bu beaucoup de vieux bordeaux mais je pense que celui-ci est le meilleur que j’ai goûté de ma vie, Je les aimes avec de l’age et celui-ci était définitivement le plus abouti. Bouteille parfaite, bu à mon sens à son peak. Des couches de saveurs, une complexité hors norme, le fruit est encore bien présent accompagné de sous-bois, de fumée, de boite à cigare, de terre. Mais surtout une persistance en bouche que j’ai rarement vu. J’en rêve encore. Grand vin — 5 years ago

Stephanie Hudson

9.5

Zach loves — 6 years ago

Joel Roskind

9.3

Csw crisp delic — 6 years ago

with Susan

Merritt Santino Raül Gilé

9.2

Easter bubbles! — 7 years ago

with Alison

Ludovic Bobinet

9.0

Quintarelli Valpolicella 2006 en mag
C’est un peu particulier car c’est très mur, puissant mais pourtant tu ne sens pas trop l’alcool. Je pense que tu dois friser les 15° mais ça passe tout seul.
Objectivement c’est trop jeune — 8 years ago

Fredrik Johansson

Winemaker Staglin Family Vineyard

9.3

V.2011 bottled July 2012 100% Meunier

Complex. Savory. Saline/Salty. Sounds bad but almost an ashtray note but in a good and interesting way. Love what Alex is doing at C-T! — 8 years ago

Charles Saumade

9.0

Ce vin est d'une finesse aromatique remarquable. Au nez, des arômes de pêche blanche, de fleurs blanche et de vanille se ressentent. En bouche, je sens un côté litchi, soutenu par une belle rondeur et de la minéralité. J'adore ! — 9 years ago

Richard Fleming

10

Forget "leger passage en carafe," I just put my thumb over the opening and gave it a good shake to de-gas and it was an amazing guzzle accompanying a kind of asiatic boeuf bourgignon and boston lettuce in pomegranate-yoghurt dressing. Look no further when eating salty meaty stews! — 9 years ago

Mario Vaillancourt

8.9

The colour is fairly dark and pronounced which shows a little bit the amount of new wood more so then premox. The nose is very aromatic, caramel, some ripe yellow fruit. The palate follows the same path, ripe and still oaky, acidity on the low side slightly that makes it a bit too heavy at this stage. En Caillerets is a great Terroir that needs time, but in this case I had more fun with the 2014’s from this producer. 88-89 pts for me

Couleur prononcée qui démontre plus le style boisé du producteur à cette époque que de l’oxydation prématurée. Le nez fait boisé, caramel et fruits jaunes très murs. La bouche est sur le même registre, riche et ample, un peu lourde manquant un peu d’acidité à mon sens. En Caillerets est pourtant un grand terroir qui demande du temps, mais j’ai eu plus de plaisir avec les 2014 du domaine dont le style aurait aussi changé un peu. — 5 years ago

Lindsay Herron

9.4

2016 vintage — 6 years ago

Geoffrey King

9.6

Loved this champagne NYE 2018 — 7 years ago

K ITO

9.3

2017 best for me. nice smell, very well balance mediun body and taste that can be made only from france!
— 8 years ago

Simon Lowzy

9.0

Tamarind, pepper, fruit leather, tobacco and fresh! Touch of VA. Day 2 and the mouse kicks in big time! Delicious! — 8 years ago

Matthieu Bordes

9.1

Dans le style du millésime, des tanins encore ferment pour ce 2011. Un manque d'élégance à mon sens on est loin du fabuleux 2009. A garder quelques années encore en espérant que l'ensemble s'harmonise. — 8 years ago

Charles Saumade

8.9

Ce vin à la robe sombre s'ouvre sur un nez aux arômes de fruits rouges et de café. En bouche, ce sont plutôt les fruits noirs et le chocolat qui sont présents. Une très belle Syrah, bien concentrée ! Je sens tout de même une pointe d'arômes animaux, mais cela se dissipe après oxygénation. — 9 years ago