Chateau Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - Pauillac Grand Cru Classe 2007

Wine Region: Bordeaux - France (Second Classified Growth)

Grape: Cabernet-Sauvignon (45%), Merlot (35%), Cabernet Franc (12%), Petit Verdot (8%)

Tasting notes: This Château Phélan Ségur 2012 has a deep color, ruby, notes of sweet fruit, blueberries and blackcurrant, and spices. The tannins are moderated velvety, it is a large Saint-Estèphe balanced, not too full-bodied. A nice wine ready to drink.

Expert Ratings:

91/ 100 Wine Enthusiast 

"Soft wine, the Merlot in the blend giving a round character to the texture. It is juicy, fruity, a gentle, mellow wine that seduces by its delicious ripe berry fruits. Its aging potential is there in the band of Cabernet tannins, but it's not a long-term wine."

92/100 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"Pichon Lalande 2007 is a seductive, dark ruby/plum-tinged wine displaying sweet cocoa, white chocolate, black currant, and forestry notes, medium body, a velvety texture, and a delicious style. The final blend is 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Drink it over the next decade."

91/100 Wine Spectator

"Fresh and fruity, offering berry and floral aromas that follow through to a medium-to-full body, with slightly chewy tannins that are polished and attractive."

91/100 Vinous 

"Another surprise in this part of the tasting, the 2007 Pichon Lalande is an excellent choice for drinking now, as the aromatics have started to open up nicely. Hints of sweet tobacco, sage and herb all lift from the glass. There is more than enough depth to support another 15-20 years of fine drinking. The 2007 is not a big wine, but instead makes a compelling case for itself with striking aromatic intensity, silky tannins and that most elusive quality of all: balance. This is very nicely done, especially within the context of a year marked by a cool and wet summer."

About the Winery:

The history of this estate began in 1686, when Pierre de Mazure Rauzan, rich merchant and bourgeois of Bordeaux, bought parcels of vines near the seigniory of Latour and created a vineyard, the Enclos Rauzan. A little later, his daughter receives him as a dowry for his marriage to Jacques François de Pichon Longueville, President of the Parliament of Bordeaux. Thus begins the story of one of the largest vineyards in Bordeaux, kept in the same family for more than 250 years.

In 1855, the quality of the wines was rewarded because the Château reached the rank ofSecond Classified Growth. In those same 1850s, Virginie Comtesse de Lalande took the lead of the estate and asked the Bordeaux architect Duphot for a residence inspired by the Hôtel de Lalande in Bordeaux where her husband had spent his childhood. Her passion for the vineyard as well as the quality of her management make her a remarkable personality who will leave to the domain and style attached to her name.

Unfortunately, after his death, began difficult years marked by a vineyard devastated by powdery mildew, mildew, fraud, then the Great War that dealt a fatal blow to the wine economy. The price of wine is inexorably going down, barely covering operating costs. The heirs of the Countess must then resolve to sell the vineyard and the owners who will follow will thus relentlessly to the revival of the vineyard.

In 2007, it will be the turn of the Champagne House Louis Roederer to ensure the good continuity of this property once again became, since the 1950s, one of the most renowned vintages in the region. In-depth studies of soils and subsoils have resulted in a very precise mapping of the many plots and a better knowledge of the terroir.