Shiny and striking, this delights from the first sip giving a burst of strawberry and citrus acidity before salty minerality comes in the form of chalky tannins, graphite, pencil lead and slate. Really quite mineral. It's sleek and classically styled, no overt ripeness of fruit although there's concentration in the frame and power that thrusts the flavours forward. Detailed and joyous, it's pent up with muscles and tension but where other wines are showcasing that brawn now, this also delivers a ton of juicy acidity and lift which makes this so joyful. I love it. 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc.

I love the aromatics here with botanicals as well as currants, blackberries and oranges. Full-bodied with incredible tannins that build on the palate with finesse and focus. Featherlight but always there. Stealth in structure. Very vertical. Savory. Superb. 78% cabernet sauvignon, 17% merlot and 5% cabernet franc.

Exceptionally well controlled, delivering grip and tension alongside the creamy ripe blackberry, cassis and raspberry puree fruits, studded with cloves, cocoa bean, violet, iris, wet earth, heather, mandarin, orange zest, slate. Another exceptional vintage from a property that is delivering at the top of its game, this impresses without seeming to try too hard. Precision winemaking also, with very low pumpovers, reduced by half from a decade ago, and no added sulphites until putting the wine into barrel. 3.65ph, 31h/h yield, with around 50% of production split between this and Reserve.

As ever this stands out from the pack. Elegant, finessed, deep diving into bitter black chocolate, mandarin rind, liquorice bud, anis, fennel, crayon, graphite and slate, with opulent depths to the blackberry and damson fruit, so many textural components to the construction of the wine, clever winemaking, love the gentlest wash of clove spice on the finish that speaks to the conditions of the vintage without ever overpowering. Great stuff, this will age for many years, but no need to wait as long as with vintages such as 2016, even 2020 - I suggest five to eight years here.

The 2022 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is one wine where a comparison with this estate's magical 1982 doesn't appear to be far-fetched. Wafting from the glass with deep aromas of cassis, plums, violets, rose petals, tobacco leaf and pencil shavings, it's full-bodied, supple and fleshy, with a layered, seamless core of fruit that largely conceals its chassis of powdery structuring tannin. Concluding with a long, expansive and beautifully perfumed finish, it's a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc that has the potential to equal or even surpass the 2019 and 2016 vintages at this address. It checks in at a very classical 13.6% alcohol and a rather high pH of 3.80.

One of the gems from Pauillac is unquestionably the 2022 Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse De Lalande, which is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. A hypothetical blend of the 2019 and 2020, it's a full-bodied, concentrated, opulent Comtesse offering beautiful blue fruits, some chocolate, leafy herbs, and undeniable minerality, ripe, velvety tannins, and a great finish. Despite the higher Cabernet Sauvignon component, this stays silky, expansive, and incredibly sexy. It's going to be drinkable with just 4-5 years of bottle age but should have a lengthy drink window. Hats off to director Nicolas Glumineau for another legendary wine from this château.

The 2022 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is magnificent. In recent years, Estate Director Nicolas Glumineau has pushed Pichon Comtesse to the limit. Maybe even a bit too far. But the 2022 is in the end a super-classic wine that emphasizes mid-weight structure, aromatic presence and persistence more than size. Sweet floral, savory and mineral accents run through a core of ripe, racy red-toned fruit. All the elements are so well balanced. Tasted four times.

The 2022 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande was picked 6 to 27 September at 30hL/ha, the drought chipping away so that one-third was eventually lost. This has 13.65% alcohol and pH of 3.80. There is 17.5% pressed wine, the highest ever. This has a subtle bouquet, not understated but it unfurls in the glass (unlike others that explode.) Blackberry and cedar, light touches of mint, a hint of dark chocolate. The palate is medium-bodied with a velvety texture with lovely balanced, gentle but insistent grip, slightly granular as it fans out with black fruit, cedar and light graphite notes. This is a very suave Pichon-Lalande that will age with style.

78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc. Sweet oak, juicy black fruit, graphite, smoke. Lots of primary impact which falls away quicker than the Pichon Baron of the same vintage. Elegant, finely tannic style with plentiful fruit. (RH)

The 2022 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has turned out even better in bottle than I anticipated, bursting from the glass with aromas of cassis and blackberries mingled with scents of licorice, violets and pencil shavings. Full-bodied, layered and enveloping, it's suave, seamless and complete, with faultless precision, pristine integration of tannin, controlled sweetness and a long, expansive finish. The 2022 manages to unite the sensuality that's the estate's calling card and the ripeness of the vintage on the one hand, with a sense of Pauillac classicism on the other, threading the needle to deliver one of the finest wines of the vintage and a benchmark Pichon Comtesse. It's a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc that spent 18 months in barriques (three months more than was formerly the case), two-thirds of which were new. As I wrote en primeur, there's more than a hint of the 1982 about this wine, and like the 1982, the 2022 will offer an exceptionally wide drinking window.