98
Jeb Dunnuck Tasting Note
The Grand Vin 2020 Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse De Lalande checks in as 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc that was raised in 60% new French oak. It has classic Pauillac character in its red, blue, and black fruits as well as graphite, cedar pencil, violet, and flower nuances. Seemingly from a cooler vintage with its purity, vibrancy, and focus, it nevertheless is concentrated and has ripe, gorgeous tannins, a great mid-palate, and a finish that keeps you coming back to the glass. A deep, concentrated, flawlessly balanced 2020 that's built for the long haul, it needs a solid decade of cellaring and will be a 50+-year wine. Of the recent trilogy of 2018, 2019, and 2020, director Nicolas Glumineau has been consistent in preferring the 2020, although I think at this point the nudge goes to the 2019. Regardless, these are all truly singular, magical wines that every reader will be thrilled to have in the cellar. It's a good time to be a Bordeaux lover!
100
Wine Spectator Tasting Note
An estate that has been on fire of late, the 2020 Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse De Lalande is another brilliant wine in a succession of brilliant wines. Revealing a dense purple hue as well as full-bodied aromas and flavors of blac currants, scorched earth, tobacco leaf, and violets, it hits the palate with an expansive, rich, yet pure, precise texture that carries fabulous tannins, perfect balance, and a stacked mid-palate. Based on 77 Cabernet Sauvignon, 17 Merlot, and 6 Cabernet Franc, it's an incredible wine that's going to flirt with perfection and is unquestionably one of the finest, if not the finest, Left Banks in the vintage. Bravo. Tasted twice.
97
Vinous Tasting Note
The 2020 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is an opulent, massively tannic wine that is going to need many years to come together. Waves of dark fruit, leather, dried flowers and chocolate emerge with great reluctance, framed by huge, insistent tannins that never let up. The 2020 is a wine for readers who can be very, very patient. I am not sure when the 2020 is going to be ready to drink, but it is not likely to be anytime soon. Tasted two times. Drink 2032-2060
97
James Suckling Tasting Note
This is extremely structured, but with a level of polish and refinement that highlights the excellence of the terroir. Very long and expansive on the palate, showing class and beauty. Powerful.
97
Wine Advocate Tasting Note
Deep purple-black in color, the 2020 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande begins on a single, well-defined, wonderfully pure note of ripe blackcurrants, opening out to a melody of redcurrant jelly, kirsch, ripe blackberries and tar, with emerging suggestions of dark chocolate, cardamom, ground cloves and violets, with a waft of black truffles. Medium-bodied, tightly wound and with loads of fantastically nuanced black fruit layers, it has a rock-solid frame of finely grained tannins and bags of freshness, finishing long and mineral laced. The blend this year is 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc. Drink 2026-2050
