Showing a virtuous depth of color, the wine opens with notes of lead pencil, truffle, smoke, tobacco leaf, vanilla and dark red fruits. The tannins are silky, polished, salty and creamy. The wine is full bodied, velvety and long, delivering complexity, sweetness and length. This a very sensuous wine that comes from blending 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The wine reached 13.1% alcohol with a pH of 3.78. The harvest took place from September 7, ending October 1. Tasted April 2018

Composed of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2017 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and is a little closed to begin, soon revealing floral notes of lilacs and lavender over a core of black raspberries, warm blackberries and forest floor plus touches of star anise and stewed black tea. Medium-bodied, the palate is a bundle of energy and tension with softly played tannins and beautiful floral and black fruit layers, finishing with a long-lingering whisper.

Tasting in a blind lineup across Pauillac, it is instantly clear that what you get in this glass is better clarity of fruit, a darker and more serious texture across the palate and some lovely saffron and cinnamon notes to fill out the body. This feels like a Pauillac and even though it doesn't have the concentration of bigger years, there is a lot to be delighted about here. Silky tannins, burnished confidence, well-handled oak. Wait just another five years then ready to go with a carafe. Drinking Window: 2022 - 2048
Tasted by: Jane Anson (at Mouton, 21 Nov 2019)
Part of Médoc grand cru classé 2017: panel tasting results

Pure elegance and class, the 2017 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse De Lalande checks in as 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot (representing just 50% of the production) that spent 18 months in 60% new barrels. Nicolas Glumineau has done an incredible job at this estate and this wine is consistently one of the classiest, most elegant wines in just about every vintage. Pure Pauillac notes of creme de cassis, lead pencil, green tobacco, and gravelly earth give way to a medium to full-bodied, soft, supple, flawlessly balanced 2017 that shows the more straight, classic style of the vintage. It needs 4-6 years of bottle age and will evolve gracefully for 25+ years or more. Tasted twice.

From its vineyards bordering Chateau Latour, Pichon Lalande is usually a more restrained, silky and perfumed wine than its namesake Pichon Baron. Really fantastic fruit purity, density, class and finesse. Excellent texture, supple and plush, but still with so much drive and focus. Delicious. - April 2018

The 2017 Pichon-Lalande has closed down a little on the nose since it was bottled late June. But it is still very well defined, quite Cabernet-influenced with cedar and graphite aromas emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins. It is a very lithe Pichon-Lalande that in some ways harks back to the fleshier vintages of the past. There is something "sedate" and self-effacing about this 2017, and that is meant in a good way. Harmonious, refined, almost effortless and probably medium rather than long-term drinking. www.vinous.com

A tight, compact young Bordeaux with medium body, polished and round tannins and a medium finish. Not a big wine, but some very classy currant and raspberry character and just a hint of lead pencil and polished structure.

The 2017 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is a dark, powerful, somber Pauillac. Dark fruit, grilled herbs, smoke and licorice add to its distinctly brooding personality. In multiple tastings the 2017 has been incredibly tight and shut down. Readers will have to be especially patient. Estate Director Nicolas Glumineau has overseen a number of showy, majestic wines since he arrived at Pichon Comtesse in 2013. The 2017 appears to be cut from a different cloth, as it is incredibly reticent in the early going.

Solid, with a rounded, enticing core of plum and black currant preserve flavors supported by savory and tobacco notes. Has sleek tannins and fresh acidity for ample length and a nice graphite edge at the end. - James Molesworth, winespectator.com, April 2018

Dark crimson with soft pink rim. Lightly leafy dark fruit. Super-smooth texture and some fruit sweetness on the mid palate. Firm, dark and elegant on the finish. Sinewy and quite supple and long even without huge intensity, showing the charm of Comtesse and still clearly revealing its Pauillac origins. A smart, elegant wine reflecting the vintage. Tannins are tender – if more serious than on the Réserve de la Comtesse – and fruit just right. - Julia Harding, jancisrobinson.com, April 2018