Made from a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot, this spectacular 2003 hits all the sweet spots on the palate. A glorious bouquet of cedarwood, jammy black currants, cherries, licorice and truffle is followed by a dense, opulently textured, full-bodied wine with terrific purity and freshness as well as deep, velvety textured tannins. Enjoy this beauty over the next 10-12 years. Drink: 2014 - 2026.

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #214, Aug 2014)

This has very ripe fruit, but not overripe. Hints of prunes but mostly currants and spices on the nose, mainly cinnamon. Full-bodied with firm tannins yet polished and velvety. It still has an incredible freshness. I love it. Try it after 2015, but enjoy this now if you cannot wait.

Just about, or at full maturity, the wine is lush, opulent, silky, sweet and long, with a core of earthy, spicy, blackberry, black currant and tobacco-tinged fruits. Full-bodied, rich and sensuous, with no touch of heat, or jam, this is a solid vintage for Pichon Lalande. Not decanted, just popped, poured and savored. Tasted Feb 2022

One of my favorite estates, Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande have turned out a beautiful 2003 that shows none of the negative characteristics of this dry, incredibly hot vintage. Cassis, cedar wood, lead pencil and loads of spice give way to a full-bodied, surprisingly elegant, ethereally textured beauty that has notable purity and balance. It’s drinking great today and will keep for at least another 10-15 years.

The real surprise for me in this lineup, with clear sweetness to the fruit. It is ripe in character, reflecting the heat of the vintage, touches of fig and prune, a ton of chocolate and cinammon spice layering on the gourmet appeal. Less grip than many of the vintages on display here, with a softness to the tannins and cured leather notes that suggest it is ageing relatively quickly, but still alive and kicking and giving pleasure right now, and they have teased crushed mint leaf out of the finish. Drink now, or within next five to 10 years. Slight VA on the nose as it opens. Harvest September 10 to 26. 3.77ph.
Tasted July 2021 - Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux

Very pretty aromas of plum, blackberry, chocolate, espresso and cherry follow through to a full-bodied palate, with ultrasilky tannins, refined fruit and a long, caressing finish. This is fine and refined with a wonderful texture. Not quite the 2000, but excellent. James Suckling

Good deep red. Flamboyantly expressive aromas of raspberry, currant, earth, smoked meat, chocolate and pepper. Fat, full and voluptuous yet somehow light on its feet. This has a texture of liquid velvet. Wonderfully opulent wine with considerable inner-palate flavor complexity: raspberry, game, leather, mocha and chocolate. Finishes with very fine-grained tannins that coat the entire palate. A wonderful success for the year, and a wine that can be enjoyed already, even if its sheer material promises 15 to 20 years of life in bottle.

The 2003 Pichon-Lalande is a decent if not exceptional wine. I found it horrendously inconsistent just after bottling, swinging from excessively ripe to green within the space of two bottles; it has since settled down. The nose of black currant and crème de cassis is a little smudged but offers satisfying purity and not too much warmth. The palate is rounded in texture, presenting fleshy dark plum and fig notes and commendable acidity given the growing season. The harmonious finish is starting to become a little ferrous with age. Tasted at a private lunch in London.

Quality 821 | Brand 992 | Economics 918 |
Quality: Above the average quality score of its peer group for the 2003 vintage, 663 Brand: Strong restaurant presence, featuring on 36 of the world's top wine lists, including Amber - Mandarin Oriental Economics: Below its peer group average price of £114 for the 2003 vintage Production: Lower production than its peer group average of 151,058 bottles

- www.wine-lister.com June 2017