Wow. This is really excellent, with superb finesse and focus. It has tight density that is almost diamond-like in its brilliance. Medium to full body, with a quality of tannin that is incredibly seamless. Like silk in texture. A top Pichon Lalande. From organic and biodynamically grown grapes. 80% cabernet sauvignon, 17% merlot and 3% cabernet franc. May be better than 2022.

Intense and luxurious, with wonderful balance and grip, has the old school feel of a powerful, structured but effortlessly drinkable Pauillac with the precison and sculpted fruit quality of recent vintages at this exceptional estate. A gorgeous mix of cassis, cocoa bean, espresso, squid ink, graphite, pencil lead and gunsmoke. A wine you will want to drink and share, and one that is fully at the top of the vintage. 14.7% press wine, 60% new oak, final year of conversion to organics. Nicolas Glumineau director. Tasted twice.

This smells divine, lovely lush blackcurrant and black cherry characters on the nose with pencil led, graphite, liquorice and menthol elements - very Pauillac on the nose. Gorgeous weight, supple and agile, great movement and energy to this. Acidity makes this buzzy, tangy and bright but not over the top, this keeps its structure and retains a serious directness from start to finish. Generous licks of minerality adds some cool classicism to it. Sleek and refined, precise and very drinkable. One of a number of brilliant Pauillac wines in 2023. Winemaker Nicolas Glumineau wants it to be racy and it’s certainly racy. 50% grand vin production, 50% second. 3.67pH, 14.7% press wine only Cabernet. Ageing 19 months, 60-65% new oak and then one wine barrels.

The 2023 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is a brilliant wine that will be worth a special effort to track down. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of wild berries and cassis mingled with licorice lilac iris root violet burning embers and pencil shavings it's medium to full-bodied seamless and complete with a deep layered core of cool fruit that largely conceals it's ultra-refined structuring tannins. At a very measured 13% alcohol and 3.67 pH it unites all Pichon Comtesse's sensuality with unimpeachable Pauillac classicism. The 2023 is a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon 17% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc.

Based on 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc and aged in 60% new French oak, the saturated purple-hued 2023 Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse De Lalande offers darker currants, violet, smoky tobacco, lead pencil, and graphite on the nose, all intermixed with the classic Comtesse floral and violet nuances. It's medium to full-bodied and has a pure, layered, graceful mouthfeel, polished yet building tannins, and outstanding length. It's going to be an absolutely classic wine from this address that will have 40 years of prime drinking. Drink 2027-2067.

The 2023 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is showing a more brooding, serious profile in bottle than it did from cask, unwinding in the glass with notes of blueberries, blackberries and plums mingled with hints of pencil shavings, violet and crushed mint. Medium- to full-bodied, deep and dense, with a nicely integrated chassis of sweet structuring tannin, it's classically proportioned, with a long, penetrating finish. This blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc checks in at 13% alcohol.
  

The 2023 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande was picked from September 6 until 29 with some rain on September 20 in the middle of Cabernet picking. But Nicolas Glumineau remarked that the vineyard/fruit was in good condition; one day of rain did not affect the quality. The 2023 has a quintessential Comtesse bouquet displaying pure and expressive black fruit laced with violet and graphite delivered with impressive delineation. The palate is very refined on the entry. This is armed with beguiling symmetry—poised yet intense on the finish. It doesn’t exert huge grip because it knows it doesn't need to and it fans out gloriously. Outstanding.

The 2023 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande marries elegance power and sophistication. Soft ripe tannins wrap around a core of inky dark fruit licorice spice pencil shavings lavender and menthol. Bright acids pull it all together on the finish. In 2023 Pichon Comtesse blends Merlot picked early for freshness and Cabernets picked later for tannin ripeness and flavor complexity. Readers will have to be patient but the 2023 holds considerable promise for those who can wait. This is another stellar effort from the team led by General Manager Nicolas Glumineau. Tasted three times.

80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. Cask sample. Seductive, elegant aroma. Dark fruit with a touch of zest and spice. Lovely texture of tannin, the palate fresh but suave and aromatic. Tannins present but very, very fine. Elegance and power combined. Bravo. (JL)