Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2018

Blend: 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot

98 Points – Wine Spectator

Offers a deep well of dark currant, blackberry paste and plum preserves fruit that needs time to unwind fully, as its shrouded in warm earth, tobacco, singed cedar, sweet bay leaf and savoury notes. A ramrod of graphite adds to the strident, structured feel. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2030 through 2050.

97+ Points – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

The 2018 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot with a pH of 3.85, an IPT (total polyphenol index) of 87 and 14% alcohol. The grand vin represents 50% of the crop this year. Deep garnet-purple coloured, it charges out of the gate with bold scents of baked plums, ripe blackcurrants and wild blueberries, followed by hints of cedar chest, pencil lead, bouquet garni and charcuterie, plus a waft of lilacs. The medium-bodied palate is beautifully crafted with its seamless freshness and firm, grainy tannin’s supporting the compelling, finely knit black fruits and savoury nuances, finishing on a lingering fragrant-earth note. This will need a good 5 years to come around and should easily cellar for another 30 years or more.