Community Tasting Note

Cailles wrote:

Wednesday, June 23, 2021 - 24 Vintages of Pichon Lalande: All wines tasted blind. A few general observations: 1) Most wines showed the typical Pichon Lalande elegance. This is certainly one of the more delicate and elegant Paulliacs. 2) The relatively high Merlot content (often 20-30%) showed in many wines with fine, fresh rhubarb, rosehip and floral aromas I wouldn’t necessarily associate with a Medoc - all adding to the sensuous quality of the wines. 3) A few vintages showed the very sexy burnt sugar/coffee notes you associate with the 1982 Lalande or a Mouton or a Cheval Blanc - unfortunately, not to an extent and with an intensity to truly excite. 4) Following the legendary 1982 and until the most recent vintages (starting with 2014 but especially with 2016) there are three decades of pleasant Pichon Lalandes but hardly any vintage has the depth and length of truly great wines. The best wine tonight was the 2009 (rated 95+ points) with many more in the 92-94 point category.

TN: Surprisingly, this was one of the wines of the tasting and almost on par with the 1996 (which has a higher precision but is a touch less sexy). This bottle showed quite expressive and intense with very ripe dark red berries, burnt sugar and coffee. On the palate it had lots of pure sweet strawberries, along with some cherries and darker berries, herbs, minerality, burnt sugar. Round structure, light and airy, the right amount of creaminess and freshness. At first I scored this 96+ point but that first boom quickly faded away and the wine became more pedestrian. Still 94 points are well deserved here. Given this experience, I would not decant the wine.

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