Pichon Comtesse de Lalande

Vinous

90-90

byNeal Martinthe2/28/2025

The 1998 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande shows better than expected. This is a vintage that I have not encountered for four or five years. The palate remains fragrant with black fruit, melted tar and a light marine influence that seems to have usurped the cedar aromas. It's just a little dry on the entry, but it reveals lovely red and black fruit, firmly structured with a slightly spicier finish than I recall. I would drink bottles over the next decade.

Vinous

90

byNeal Martinthe9/24/2024

The 1998 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande shows better than expected. This is a vintage that I have not encountered for four or five years. The palate remains fragrant with black fruit, melted tar and a light marine influence that seems to have usurped the cedar aromas. It's just a little dry on the entry, but it reveals lovely red and black fruit, firmly structured with a slightly spicier finish than I recall. I would drink bottles over the next decade.

Jancis Robinson

16,5

byJulia Harding MWthe12/1/2009

55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, no Petit Verdot. First wine showing some age at the rim, just a little pinky brick around the garnet. Intensely cedary nose. Leafy verging on green and a note of spring blossom, herbal. Dry, tight and somewhere between taut and elegant. Chalky tannins, fresh and moreish, lacks the richness of earlier vintages tasted but quite refined. Cassis leaf on the palate, classic cigar box. Julia Harding MW

Wine Advocate

88

byRobert Parkerthe4/30/2001

Aromas of tobacco smoke, cedar, cherries, and black currants emerge from the moderately intense, complex bouquet. This wine has evolved nicely, revealing less austerity than it did last year in its medium-weight, delicate personality. Drink it over the next 15-16 years.

Wine Spectator

86

byJames Sucklingthe1/31/2001

Slightly herbaceous on the nose, with roasted bell pepper and berry. Full-bodied, with silky tannins and a medium finish. Nice palate. Just as I remember from barrel. Best after 2005.

Wine Advocate

87-88

byRobert Parkerthe4/30/2000

The 1998 Pichon-Lalande was revealing more depth and sweeter tannin than it did last year. A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 15% Cabernet Franc, it reveals herbaceous cedary notes, along with red and black currants. Black fruits are attractive on the attack, but the wine narrows in the mouth, exhibiting a monolithic style and dry, hard tannin in the finish. It is a Pichon-Lalande with grip, structure, and obvious aging potential, but will it ever reveal the charm and succulence this classified growth generally achieves? Anticipated maturity: 2005-2018.

Wine Advocate

85-88

byRobert Parkerthe4/30/1999

Fifty percent of Pichon-Lalande's production went into the grand vin, which includes 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 15% Cabernet Franc. This is hardly an inspirational Pichon-Lalande. The color is a medium deep ruby. The nose offers up notes of herbs, black currants, and toast. On a positive note, it is elegant and soft, but not particularly concentrated, with medium body, and an abrupt finish. It will be good, possibly very good, but it is not an exciting effort. Anticipated maturity: 2001-2010.