Andy Rykowski

9.2

30 mins after opening I was drinking a Chianti... vacuumed it and revisited the next evening and found myself drinking an exquisite Chianti! It become dynamic and as such, I recommend this wholeheartedly especially if you’re staring down a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs with your homemade red sauce. — 4 years ago

Jordan Wardlaw

9.0

Toasty, lush, virile and opulent. Manages to retain some acidity despite the hot vintage, but overall I found this far too young to enjoy thoroughly. The oak is rather dominant. — 6 years ago

Matt

9.1

Animal, leather, dried cherry, violets, sandalwood and black pepper. Very savory and rustic at first, with air it really transformed, showing the elegant and polished side this wine has. This had a richness to it that I found really appealing, a heftier expression of CC, vintage perhaps? Only regret was not enjoying this with a piece of lamb/beef 😭 — 6 years ago

Jamie Michelson

9.7

Found cellar notes. Bought for $25 in 1990 in NY for New Years Eve dinner. Still memorable. — 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

Sipping Fine Wine

9.5

Found another one of these ‘09 beauties. Deep ruby with aromas of coffee and chocolate wrapped in dark fruits. On the palate well pronounced pleasant flavors of black fruits, blackberry and ripe cherry, cassis, espresso and bittersweet cacao. The wine had plenty of oak and well-structured tanins. This wine should continue to age well. WOW! — 5 years ago

Joey Kee

9.2

Ha! The comments on this wine are amazingly varied. I found it very overt on a chocolate tip, and more robust on the fruit side than your usual PINOT...but I really enjoyed it, would buy again.... — 6 years ago

Heather Camm

9.0

Friendsgiving wine — 6 years ago

Natalya Pemberton

9.0

A little too much vanilla for me, but it was beautifully balanced by the acidity. Very delicious wine. — 7 years ago

Ben Franco

Owner Winedown cafe & wine bar

8.9

Strawberries cranberry and raspberry are dominate beautiful acidity and med soft tannin... — 8 years ago

WineMascot

9.0

I forgot to take a picture so I found a stock photo, the 2014 proves again that Juvenile is consistently a great Zin. blue fruit, hint pepper and the brabmbly finish — 8 years ago

Carl Lovejoy

9.5

I may have found my new favorite. A treat for the palate, and at under $20, it's a good value, too. — 8 years ago

Casey Stringer

9.4

I just found this for a ridiculous price at a sort of out of the way liquor store on my way home from the dentist. $60! Had to take a flier on it for that price. The wine is excellent. Darker than expected. Silky tannins with notes of sandalwood and tart cherry. Years of good drinking ahead on this one. — 9 years ago

Stephen Osgood

9.9

found it at #costco #costcowines — 5 years ago

Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

9.1

Best LF wine I’ve had to date 👏 — 6 years ago

Ming L

9.2

2011 was the last less than ideal vintage with cool summer and rainy fall before a run of consecutive great vintages, but I found the 2011 has the added layer of freshness with a bit more herbaceous and green note. And maybe that’s where one can find value (at least relatively for an insignia).
— 6 years ago

Hector GMW

9.3

A family favorite! Our champagne of choice. We've been drinking this awesome bottle for special occasions for more than 15 years. It keeps surprising us every time. Medium body. Golden apples, hazelnuts and buttered toast can be found on the nose. Creamy, tart and tasty on the palate. Very long finish. Excellent! — 7 years ago

Matt

9.5

This was a hit. Velvet and finesse. Mature and drinking fabulous this had depth and layers that I found captivating. Classic sweet core of dried cherry and plum fruit, shiitake, cigars, red apple skin, autumn leaves, rose petal, exotic spice, sarsaparilla. Savory elements are in harmony with the fruit. Texturally round and harmonious. Great bottle — 8 years ago

Norman Gennaro

9.6

Second one with a better fill. Amazing that is still alive. Super enjoyable and really fun to try. This night made me really appreciate French wine. I had found myself earlier this year preferring big CA Cabs from the Pinots I had been enjoying. The Bordeaux's however were so fantastic I might have changed again. — 8 years ago

with Jason, Gunja and 2 others

Matt Jernigan

9.4

We found this vintage at our local Walgreens. The majority is 2014, but the 2 bottles of 2012 were a wonderful find. — 8 years ago