Chateau Pichon Comtesse de Lalande 2015

WEINWISSER: "Lalande: 68 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 29 % Merlot, 2 % Cabernet Franc, 1 % Petit Verdot. Extrem dunkles Purpur mit lila und violetten Reflexen. Reifes, komplexes Bouquet, das mit vielen dunklen Beeren und mit schwarzen Schokonoten unterlegt ist. Im zweiten Ansatz einen ganz minimalen Hauch von Dörrfrüchten, erste Zedernund Tabaknoten zeigend. Im Gaumen füllig mit einer reifen, intensiven Adstringenz, dazu Noten von Heidelbeeren und schwarzen Johannisbeeren, unglaublich viel Aromendruck im schier bulligen Finale vermittelnd. Mit Lafite der beste Pauillac! Also verdient auch er, wie im letzten Jahr, die Maximalnote. Damit ist Pichon-Lalande auf absolutem Höhenflug. Das Ding hat mich schier umgehauen. Am anderen Tag habe ich ihn nochmals auf dem Gut nachverkostet. Da ist unglaublich viel Aromatik und Potenzial drin."

ANTONIO GALLONI: "The 2015 Pichon Comtesse is a towering wine, as it has always been. Rich, sumptuous and totally hedonistic, the 2015 melds together intense fruit with structure. Far from an easygoing wine, the 2015 is going to need a number of years and will then drink well for several decades. Grilled herbs, smoke, new leather and licorice are some of the many notes that are layered into the dark-fleshed fruit for complexity. As good as the 2015 is today, it also has room to grow. Technical Director Nicolas Glumineau has done a tremendous job with the 2015s at Pichon Comtesse. The blend is 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, aged 18 months in oak, 55% new."

WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "It is the overtly sensual character that rocks this wine. The nose, with its truffle, olive, cigar wrapper, smoke, espresso, and dark red berries is attention seeking. But it is on the palate, with its velvety textures and layers of fruit that grabs all the attention."

DECANTER: "Beautifully extracted, this is rich, ripe and layered. It is utterly gorgeous and has real precision and tension. It delivers its Pauillac swagger with the most gentle of hands - the tannins are fine, layered-up and building their defences without imposing too heavily on the succulent black fruits. It judges the vintage extremely well and is the best in this line-up for me. 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 60% new oak."

DUNNUCK: "I tasted the 2015 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande on three separate occasions rating it 97 twice and 98 once. Checking in as a final blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this is a nuanced style of wine that grows on you with time in the glass, and the larger Merlot component always gives it a more supple, seductive texture. Crème de cassis, black raspberries, spring flowers, leafy herbs and lead pencil notes all flow to a full-bodied, ultra-pure, seamless beauty that builds on the palate, has fine tannin and a great, great finish. As classy as they come, it will continue to impress for two to three decades."

JAMES SUCKLING: "This is absolutely beautiful with super tannin quality that gives you the most silky texture. Precise. It goes for minutes. Full and concentrated yet all in balance."

WINEADVOCATE: "A blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot aged for 18 months in barrels, 60% new, the 2015 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande displays a medium to deep garnet-purple color and is elegantly fruited with crushed red currants, black raspberries and cassis with touches of lavender, rose hips, tilled soil, fungi and charcuterie. Medium-bodied, finely crafted, remarkably pure and beautifully poised, it has a firm frame of very fine-grained tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing on a lingering mineral note."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "This is the new taste for this estate: richly endowed while remaining elegant and suave. Certainly, there is great concentration here as well as rich black fruits. But they are given a sense of style and poise that will remain with this wine as it ages. Drink from 2026."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Attraktives dunkles Beerenkonfit, feines Cassis, etwas Nougat, dezente Edelholzwürze. Komplex, saftig und elegant, wieder reife Kirschfrucht, integrierte Tannine, mineralisch und anhaftend, feiner Schokoladetouch im Nachhall, gut entwickelt, sollte dennoch noch einige Jahre reifen dürfen."

ROBINSON: "Tasted blind. Meaty, polished, sweet and glamorous. Racy and well put together. Masses of pleasure. Very long. Seriously intense. Very successful in this vintage."