Pichon Lalande 2020 (375ML)

99 VM / 99 WCI / 98+ WI / 98 DE / 98 JD / 98 JS / 97 JA / 97 WS / 97 WE / 97 FS / 95 WA / 17.5 JR

#3 Vinous Top 100 2024
#82 James Suckling's Top 100 Wines of France 2023

The 2020 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has one of the more opulent aromatic profiles amongst the flight of Pauillac wines, displaying black cherries, cassis, graphite and cedar. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins and a silver bead of acidity. Silky smooth in texture, this retains impressive composure toward the finish, handling the weight of fruit with class. It improves with each swirl, though the bottle I tasted just after bottling had a touch more precision. Nevertheless, this a fabulous Pauillac that flirts with perfection. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

The 2020 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is made from 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs considerable swirling to bring out fragrant scents of lilacs, tilled soil, rosehip tea, and Sichuan pepper, giving way to a core of cassis, black raspberries, and cedar chest with emerging iron ore and charcoal scents. The medium-bodied palate is so tightly knit, with firm, grainy tannins and lovely tension, finishing long and minerally. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent

Smooth, seductive and finely textured, this is both sleek and strict, with a savoury, crushed stone saline tang alongside tobacco, tar, ripe black cherries and soft floral scents; the Cabernet really makes its mark. Sexy and rich, less immediately charming than the 2019 was at this point - it’s more restricted and coiled but more sophisticated, elegant and refreshing - a wine you want to sit and think about while the aromas and flavours open and evolve. Lovely definition, weight and texture overall. A clear stand out.--Georgina Hindle, Decanter

The Grand Vin 2020 Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse De Lalande checks in as 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc that was raised in 60% new French oak. It has classic Pauillac character in its red, blue, and black fruits as well as graphite, cedar pencil, violet, and flower nuances. Seemingly from a cooler vintage with its purity, vibrancy, and focus, it nevertheless is concentrated and has ripe, gorgeous tannins, a great mid-palate, and a finish that keeps you coming back to the glass. A deep, concentrated, flawlessly balanced 2020 that's built for the long haul, it needs a solid decade of cellaring and will be a 50+-year wine. Of the recent trilogy of 2018, 2019, and 2020, director Nicolas Glumineau has been consist in preferring the 2020, although I think at this point the nudge goes to the 2019. Regardless, these are all truly singular, magical wines that every reader will be thrilled to have in the cellar. It's a good time to be a Bordeaux lover!-Jeb Dunnuck

The 2020 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has a very intense bouquet with layers of black fruit, hints of seaweed/brine, crushed stone, and perhaps less mint than it displayed from barrel. This possesses stunning delineation, like a perfect C major chord echoing around an empty cathedral. The palate is very well balanced, much more classic in style than its barrel showing, saline to its core, with hints of brine. A Pauillac where you can really sense the Gironde estuary flowing through its veins. Nicolas Glumineau has one of his finest creations on his hands, and when it grows up, it will be challenging First Growths.- Neal Martin, Vinous Media

Aromas of blueberries and blackcurrants with some stone and sandalwood undertones. Medium-bodied with a solid core of fruit and a fresh and delicious finish. Classy tannins that are fine and textured. Such sophistication. Drink after 2027 and onwards. -JamesSuckling.com

Espresso, cocoa beans, powerfully ripe black damson, blueberry and cassis fruits. A ton of personality and a delicious wine with tension, a real sense of seductive charming tannins, full of promise. One of the best of the appellation, with finessed tobacco, heather and campfire smoke as it opens, expertly managing the low 30hl/ha yield. 60% new oak, harvest September 9 to 29. Tasted twice.-Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

A wow wine. This is packed with cassis, loganberry and mulberry flavors that hint at the vintage's warmth, but this stays poised and fresh, with a sleek structure built on graphite and iron. Offers violet and lilac lift in the background and a groundswell of sweet tobacco, savory and singed cedar details that emerge through the finish, all with a fine-grained and rather luxurious feel. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2030 through 2045. From France. —James Molesworth, Wine Spectator

Tannins and fruits march in step with each other to give this wine style and elegance. The structure is supple and the tannins smoothing, while still keeping great aging potential. Drink the wine from 2027. - Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast

he 2020 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is very demonstrative out of the gates, bursting from the glass without any coaxing to exhibit aromas of sweet cassis and blueberries mingled with notions of clove, violets and lilac. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and polished, with a seamless, charming profile that exhibits no hard edges, it concludes with a nicely defined, spice-inflected finish. It's a superb exercise in haut couture winemaking, even if, to my palate, the 2019 offers a deeper dive into the estate's D.N.A.-William Kelley, Wine Advocate

Tasted blind. Black core with crimson rim. Sweetly fruited and toasty on the nose with masses of charry oak but also the pure, dark character of Pauillac underneath, hints of tea leaf. A big, dense, powerful but harmonious wine.-Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson