Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2eme Cru Classe, Pauillac 2015

The 2015 Pichon Comtesse is a towering wine, as it has always been. Rich, sumptuous and totally hedonistic, the 2015 melds together intense fruit with structure. Far from an easygoing wine, the 2015 is going to need a number of years and will then drink well for several decades. Grilled herbs, smoke, new leather and licorice are some of the many notes that are layered into the dark-fleshed fruit for complexity. As good as the 2015 is today, it also has room to grow. Technical Director Nicolas Glumineau has done a tremendous job with the 2015s at Pichon Comtesse. The blend is 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, aged 18 months in oak, 55% new.

This shows spices, pepper, blueberries and blackcurrants on the nose. Full body, very polished tannins and a long and beautiful finish. Shows such gorgeous texture. Precise and transparent. Try in 2022.

I tasted the 2015 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande on three separate occasions rating it 97 twice and 98 once. Checking in as a final blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this is a nuanced style of wine that grows on you with time in the glass, and the larger Merlot component always gives it a more supple, seductive texture. Crème de cassis, black raspberries, spring flowers, leafy herbs and lead pencil notes all flow to a full-bodied, ultra-pure, seamless beauty that builds on the palate, has fine tannin and a great, great finish. As classy as they come, it will continue to impress for two to three decades.

A blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot aged for 18 months in barrels, 60% new, the 2015 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande displays a medium to deep garnet-purple color and is elegantly fruited with crushed red currants, black raspberries and cassis with touches of lavender, rose hips, tilled soil, fungi and charcuterie. Medium-bodied, finely crafted, remarkably pure and beautifully poised, it has a firm frame of very fine-grained tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing on a lingering mineral note.

Stately, slow release of dark berry fruits, textured and confident architecture, not the muscle of the 2016 but exceptional quality, rose buds, crayon, cedar, cassis. Seems to be a little subdued at the ten year mark, but the complexity comes in the waves of fragrant floral aromatics through the palate. 60% new oak for ageing, Nicolas Glumineau director.

The 2015 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has an exquisite bouquet with blackberry, mint, meat juice and sage. It's perhaps not as noble as Pichon Baron at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy red berry fruit and a killer line of acidity. This is slightly more savory than the Pichon Baron due to the higher percentage of Merlot. Utterly delicious with a long and tender finish, there is a tingle of black pepper that lingers on the aftertaste. Superb.

Fragrance and depth on the nose but a sense of over-ripeness puts it out of step with the vintage at the moment – even with the Comtesse lift and freshness. But time will probably be on its side.
Drink: 2022-2035