The Grand Vin from this reference point Pauillac château, the 2024 Château Pichon Longueville Comtess De Lalande checks in as 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc hitting 12.7% alcohol with a pH of 3.7 and an IPT of 70. Beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon notes of cassis, graphite, freshly sharpened pencil, and crushed stone all define the aromatics, and it hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, a concentrated, layered, wonderfully textured mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and outstanding length.

The 2024 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is plush, sensual and inviting. Succulent dark-toned fruit, sweet spice, new leather, mocha, chocolate and lavender build nicely. Here, too, the tannins are so polished, so refined. The 2024 is an especially elegant Pichon-Comtesse. It’s also very clearly one of the wines of the vintage. Bravo. Tasted four times.

Fragrant cassis bud, rose petals, and peony. Great definition, mouthwatering on the finish, savoury blue and black fruits, less concentration than the past few vintages, but this uses slate textured tannins, cold ash smoke and well-judged salinity to compensate and build interest and engagement. Harvest September 22 through to October 9. 66% new oak. Low yields of around 30hl/h. 16% press wine, 52% of the overall production (with the rest in Pichon Comtesse Reserve, no 3rd wine). 3.7 pH. IPT 70,

Bouquets of flowers, Cuban cigars, blackberries, black cherries, plums, smoke, cassis, and truffle aromatics capture your attention. On the palate, the wine is elegant, silky, vibrant, and graceful. The fruits provide purity, length, and freshness. The layers of licorice-infused cherries, plums, walnuts, chocolate, and black plums on the medium-bodied palate are supple, silky, and as generous as the vintage allows, finishing with more of those sweet, juicy, vivacious plums. The wine promises sublime pleasure with just a few years of age and will evolve for 2-3 years decades. The wine blends 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc. 12.7% ABV. 3.7 pH. The harvest took place September 23 – October 9. Yields were a paltry 20 hectoliters per hectare. Only 50% of the harvest went into the Grand Vin. Drink from 2028-2047.

The 2024 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande offers up attractive aromas of cassis, burning embers, tobacco leaf and fresh mint, followed by a medium to full-bodied, ample and polished palate that's seamless and suave, concluding with a moderately persistent finish. A blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc that attained 12.7% alcohol, it's a charming effort that will offer a broad drinking window.

The 2024 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is clearly driven by Cabernet Sauvignon on the nose. Predominantly black fruit, freshly rolled tobacco and light cedar scents unfold in the glass, resolutely classic in style, strict yet focused and defined. The palate is medium-bodied with light tannins, evidencing the much lighter extraction exacted by Nicolas Glumineau. This results in an impressively balanced Pichon-Comtesse, lightly spiced with hints of cracked black pepper towards the finish, dare I say, cut in a "Lafite" style. Though without the ambition of the '22, this keeps within the limitations set by the growing season. I can imagine this Pauillac slipping down the throat with ease in its flush of youth.

83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. Cask sample.

Bright and fresh on the nose. Refined texture and tannins. Juicy fruit with adequate freshness. Firm and long on the finish. Structured, if a little light on the mid palate. (JL)

13% Drink 2032 – 2050