1996 Chateau Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Pauillac 1,5 l
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Tasting notes
The 1996 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is really beginning to drink with style, wafting from the glass with an inviting nose of blackberries, cassis, cherries, rich soil tones, Cuban cigar and subtle hints of mint and bergamot. Medium to full-bodied, rich and fleshy, with an expansive, sumptuous core of fruit that's underpinned by ripe acids and ripe, powdery virile tannins, it concludes with a long, penetrating and sapid finish. This unusually Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated vintage was tightly wound for its first two decades, but as time passes it's the château signature that's dominating the cépagement. It's one of the wines of the vintage in 1996.
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
I have been lucky enough to have this vintage of Comtesse three times in the past year, and two of the three bottles (including this one) have been brilliant. Considered one of the wines of the vintage at the time, this is packed full of signature Pauillac but also signature Comtesse. Silky seductive tannins at this point, powerful but with delicacy, soft saffron and cedar notes, with a smoked campfire finish. A higher proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the bottle than in most years, and it has helped it to remain enticingly firm. 50% of production went into the first wine.
The 1996 Pichon-Lalande has long been one of my favorite wines from this period. A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot, it has a quintessential Pauillac nose: very intense, brilliant and delineated, with pure blackberry, graphite and mint aromas bursting from the glass. The palate seems to have softened just a little over the last couple of years, and there is great depth here. Dense black fruit, laced with cedar, hints of espresso and leather, fans out toward the grippy finish, which is just beginning to entertain more secondary aromas of sage and spice on the aftertaste. In many ways the '96 presages the style of wine that Nicolas Glumineau pursues today. Brilliant. (NM)