2010 Château Pichon Lalande

Remains a little reserved on the first nose, suggesting it could do with a few more years in bottle, but this is fabulous quality. Intense black pepper spice, blackberry and damson fruits layered between silky tannins, waves of rosemary, olive tapenade cigar box, graphite and charcoal, mouthwatering and intense. Great stuff, but go with the 2009 Comtesse for the next few years - this is still to recapture the 100 points I have given it in the past, and needs time to reopen. Last year with Thomas Do-Chi-Nam as technical director. 3.6ph, harvest September 27 to October 13.

Powerful chocolate-laced fruit aromatics, with a full Pauillac punch straight off the bat. Nuanced, deep, richly textured, with bilberry/cassis fruits compared to the raspberry/black cherry of the 2009, along with black olives, graphite and truffles. A clear grain to the tannins, tugging you back and slowing your progress through the palate. This has closed down more tightly than it had on my last tasting in January 2020 (when I gave it 100 points) and needs another five years I would say to regain that full magic but this is awesome, where you feel the architecture, the careful construction and the purity of the fruit exactly as you did right at the very beginning of the En Primeur season. Last year with Thomas Do-Chi-Nam as technical director. 3.6ph, harvest September 27 to October 13.

The 2010 Pichon-Lalande has a very beguiling bouquet with a very expressive Merlot at the moment. There is a sense of warmth coming through, touches of liquorice and allspice, although it remains delineated and intense. The palate is medium-bodied with those subtle marine influences that I have observed in previous bottles. I was maybe expecting a little more precision and grip on the finish, but it remains a gorgeous Pichon-Lalande, even if it has been surpassed by subsequent vintages like the 2015 and 2016. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the BI Wines & Spirits 10-Year On tasting.