Mike Saviage

9.6

Tasted blind. Medium gold. Notes of lemon, dirty white stones, marzipan, some honey. Floral. In the mouth it shows its intensity with great fruit to match. Fine grained acidity. Memorable finish. Memorable wine. — 5 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.5

High fill. Straw gold, noticeably lighter than the 90 Dauvissat Clos. Notes of pit fruit, white soil, white stones, some spice - and with several all hours of air, the honey notes appeared. Started out strong, then went into a funk and was quiet. But returned late in the evening for a solid finish with nice old Chablis fruit and memorable acidity. (Bday dinner 3/13) — 6 years ago

Chris McClellan

9.0

Excellent example of Chardonnay. High altitude well maintained acid, lemon/limes, lemon curd, slight tropical. — 7 years ago

Galen Hasler

9.2

Classy subtle oak. Moderate acidity. Beautiful balance and richness — 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

Justin Madol

9.0

Ripe cassis and black berry with bitter chocolate and hints of green pepper. The palette here is nicely balanced between plump cassis, stones, and spice. Well made with excellent integration. Excellent now, better in 8-10 years. — 11 years ago

Lynn Penner-Ash

Owner/Winemaker Penner-Ash

8.9

Balanced. Good fruit density and structure — 11 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.4

Medium gold, nice heavy weight in the glass. Steely, fruity nose. Notes of Meyer lemon, wet river stones, tan spice, rocky soil, some tangerine and some ripe apricot. Rich and powerful in the mouth. Great overall structure and balance. This is playing up a weight class or two. Feeling Cochey! — 5 years ago

Jodi Jennings

9.5

Cherry pie delight! Decanter for an hour and it was delectable. — 7 years ago

Michael T McAlhaney

8.9

A mammoth wine with dark berries and ripe bramble fruit. — 7 years ago

Joseph Barsky

9.5

2004 Vintage. This needs to be served at cellar temperature vs refrigerator temp and kept opening until last sips at almost room temp. Citrus and stones with acidity still to balance the honey notes from 14 years aging. — 7 years ago

Chris England

9.3

Off year Pape Clement @ £76 but one of the best in 07 😁 & drinking lovely today 👍

🍇 51% Cab S, 46% Mer, 2% Pet V & 1% Cab F

🍷 Opaque ruby

👃 Flinty mineral & gravel stones oozing through crushed pencil lead in dirty blackcurrant & dark mashed plum w/ soggy earth, farmyard & soft oak

👄 Med body of rich ripe blackcurrant & dark plum in earthy mocha & liquorice infused with crushed mineral rocks

🎯 Med+ dirty dark fruits surrounded with mocha, liquorice & minerals — 8 years ago

Richard Steinberg

9.9

For the love of God. Enough said. I can't thank Larry enough for his vision and generosity in pouring this for us. A special wine. — 8 years ago

with Jeannine and Dan

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

Darker and more exacted for a typical a LB. Ripe blackberries, dark cherries, big strawberry finish, dusty brown soil, dry stones, leather, steeped tea, coffee grounds, nice acidity and delicious finish. — 9 years ago

Mike Wolf

9.2

Outstanding Bordeaux blend from the relatively unknown Similkameen valley in BC. Dark fruits and an interesting underlying smokiness that lasts in the mouth. Drinking nicely now and will stand up to a few more years in the cellar. — 9 years ago

with Jennifer

Denise Furtick

9.0

Amazing taste, a little oak-like finish. I don't taste the grapefruit like I do with other Sauvignon blanc from this region — 10 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.6

Light to med gold in the glass. Apricot and honeysuckle in the nose with stones. Huge in the mouth. Very rich. Best Niellon I've had. — 10 years ago

Semyon Nebolsín

8.9

Needs decanting — 11 years ago

Austin Beeman

9.1

A spicy stony nose of red fruit. Rich and delicious fruit jelly with ultra ripe blackberry. Mint herbs and stones. $90 — 11 years ago

with Jim

Josh Weinstein

9.2

Time exposed to some O2 helps quite a bit. Tons of fruit left. — 6 years ago

with Kristen

Mike

9.4

Staying with the 🇮🇹 - Sassicaia means “place of many stones”. Roger that. Star anise, cherry and hints of raspberry. 💣🍷 — 7 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.5

Medium gold color. Nice energy and bubble intensity. Notes of lemon, stones, crisp red apples. Expansive in the mouth. Toasty. More developed and complex than the 96 next to it. BDay dinner 1/12. — 7 years ago

Justin Hart

9.4

Ah, the Rocks at Milton-Freewater produce such remarkable and distinctive fruit. Morgan Lee’s take on the Stoney Vine Syrah is outstanding. Earthy, gamey, succulent, dark and full stone fruit (plum) that just keeps going. This is good for another 5 years I think. — 8 years ago

with Cherish and Jen

Rob Sternthal

9.5

2011 what???? Wow. From the nose to the finish this is a phenomenal wine. — 8 years ago

with Daniel

Sarah Milsow-Guenther

9.4

Love this Syrah. Nice long finish on this one. Young but still fairly smooth. — 8 years ago

Robert Smith

9.1

Smooth and spicy. Great with a steak and chimichurri Sauce. Affordable. Dark currant and tobacco. Let it breathe. — 9 years ago

Rich Cocuzzo

9.0

Wow and it's an '11! — 10 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

Not quite as sensational as our bottle in February due to storage differences. Cooked fruit of; rhubarb, raspberries, strawberries, dusty crush stones, leather, dark vanilla barrel toast, black earth and pebbles, black tea, hint of mushroom. Finishes soft and elegant with just a touch of funk. Hope you all enjoyed Christmas!!! — 10 years ago

Ira Schwartz

9.2

Slow to open but when it does you know you have your nose in a glass containing Chablis. Lovely combination of lemons and stones. Could use a little more acid but definitely not clumsy. All about minerals and chalk in the mouth. — 10 years ago

Mark Lindzy

9.3

Classic Chinon Rouge. Black cherry and damp stones. Alive and kicking, many years ahead of it. — 11 years ago

with Josefa