Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2020

The 2020 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is made from 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs considerable swirling to bring out fragrant scents of lilacs, tilled soil, rosehip tea, and Sichuan pepper, giving way to a core of cassis, black raspberries, and cedar chest with emerging iron ore and charcoal scents. The medium-bodied palate is so tightly knit, with firm, grainy tannins and lovely tension, finishing long and minerally.

• Drinking Window: 2027 - 2062
• Reviewer Name: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
• Review Date: November 2022

Aromas of blueberries and blackcurrants with some stone and sandalwood undertones. Medium-bodied with a solid core of fruit and a fresh and delicious finish. Classy tannins that are fine and textured. Such sophistication. Drink after 2027 and onwards.

• Reviewer Name: James Suckling
• Review Date: May 2023

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 consist 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!

• Drinking Window: 2031 - 2073
• Reviewer Name: Jeb Dunnuck
• Review Date: March 2023

Smooth, seductive and finely textured, this is both sleek and strict, with a savoury, crushed stone saline tang alongside tobacco, tar, ripe black cherries and soft floral scents; the Cabernet really makes its mark. Sexy and rich, less immediately charming than the 2019 was at this point - it’s more restricted and coiled but more sophisticated, elegant and refreshing - a wine you want to sit and think about while the aromas and flavours open and evolve. Lovely definition, weight and texture overall. A clear stand out

• Drinking Window: 2029 - 2058
• Reviewer Name: Georgina Hindle
• Review Date: January 2023

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.

• Drinking Window: 2032 - 2060
• Reviewer Name: Antonio Galloni
• Review Date: February 2023

77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc. Cask sample. Bright crimson hue. Generous, vineyard-nuanced fruit on the nose with complex cassis and graphite notes. Fruit equally generous on the palate, backed by an abundance of fine tannin. Lots of drive and persistence. Punchier and more masculine in style than 2019. Definitely one for the cellar. (JL)

• Drinking Window: 2028 - 2045
• Reviewer Name: James Lawther MW
• Review Date: April 2021

The 2020 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is very demonstrative out of the gates, bursting from the glass without any coaxing to exhibit aromas of sweet cassis and blueberries mingled with notions of clove, violets and lilac. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and polished, with a seamless, charming profile that exhibits no hard edges, it concludes with a nicely defined, spice-inflected finish. It's a superb exercise in haut couture winemaking, even if, to my palate, the 2019 offers a deeper dive into the estate's D.N.A.

• Drinking Window: 2022 - 2045
• Reviewer Name: William Kelley
• Review Date: April 2023