Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2eme Cru 2010

-- Internet: -- NM: A blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. Tasted at the château as part of a private vertical. The 2010 Pichon-Lalande is going to be a modern day benchmark and in many ways, surpasses even the great wines such as the 1982, 1986 and 1996. It has a stunning, intense blackberry, mineral-laden nose that is suffused with great tension and vigour. The palate is medium-bodied but do not let that full you. Here is a Pauillac brimming with tension and focus, the wine achieving tremendous precision on its long and persistent finish. Outstanding. Tasted March 2014. 97/100 -- PM: Sehr dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, frische schwarze Beeren, ein Hauch von Cassis, zart nach Milchkaramell, feine Gewürznote, facettenreiches Bukett; saftig, eher rotbeerig, extraktsüß, wirkt fast leichtfüssig, frisch, finessenreicher, seidiger Wein, reife Herzkirschen im Abgang, extraktsüß und anhaltend. 94-96/100 -- Parker: The 2010 Pichon Lalande is performing extremely well and at the top of the range I predicted several years ago. A final blend dominated much more by Cabernet Sauvignon than usual (66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot), the wine is a tighter, more tannic and structured version of this famed Pauillac, which often tends to have more of a St-Julien-like personality than most Pauillacs. Structured, backward and tannic, yet showing a fat mid-palate that is more savory, broader and more expansive than I remember from barrel, this wine is somewhat reminiscent of the 1986, given the Cabernet Sauvignon domination of the blend. Full-bodied, impressively endowed, and less sexy and velvety than normal, this is a somewhat different style of Pichon Lalande than most readers have been used to. Whether you like it more or less will depend on your point of view, but this wine, unlike most Pichon Lalandes, needs a good 5-7 years of cellaring and should keep for 30+ years. 95+/100