Chateau Pichon Comtesse de Lalande 2008

LISA PERROTTI-BROWN: "In 2008 the blend for Pichon Lalande was 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot. It has a deep garnet-brick color and rocks up with ready-to-go scents of warm cassis, boysenberry preserves, and baked plums, plus hints of spice cake, Sichuan pepper, and cigar box. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegant and refreshing with fine-grained tannins and understated black fruit and savory layers, finishing long and minerally. It is drinking wonderfully now, in that sweet spot between fruitiness and maturity, however, it still has a good 15-20 years+ of cellaring potential."

WEINWISSER: "Aufhellendes Granat, reifer Rand aussen. Cassis und Karamell, Sandelholz, verführerisch und schon erotisch im Nasenansatz. Cremiger, süffiger Gaumen, elegante Adstringenz, braucht sicherlich noch ein paar Jahre zur ersten Reife, aber er macht jetzt schon irgendwie viel Spass."

DECANTER: "This displays real elegance without sacrificing power and impact. Flavours of damson, liquorice, charcoal and tobacco are layered, sexy and polished. I'm not going too far when I say that I love this. You can start drinking it soon, but it will stay on this current plateau for a good while."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Medium-bodied, bright, fresh, earthy and starting to unfurl its secondary notes, so now you find tobacco leaf, cigar wrapper, spice, smoke, cedar and an array of black and red currants. Fresh, crisp, crunchy red fruits with a peppery edge are found on the palate and in the finish. This is good now, but just another 2-3 years could add more softness to the finish."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "Stylish wine, balanced, intensely elegant. It has freshness and also weight, encased in a structure that is poised, beautifully integrating black currant fruit and chocolate flavors."

JEB DUNNUCK: "The 2008 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is a complex, elegant wine that offers pretty notes of blueberries, violets, plums, and flowers, with even a hint of menthol with time in the glass. Beautifully balanced, medium-bodied, and vibrant, with good acidity and moderate tannins, it shows the elegant, seamless style of the estate beautifully and can be drunk any time over the coming 20 years or more. The blend of the 2008 is 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot that represent a selection of 38% of the total production."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2008 is a beauty in the style of the 1988. Although not performing as well as I predicted last year, it is unquestionably an outstanding effort as well as one of the better values from Pichon Lalande in many years. Its dense plum/purple hue is accompanied by sweet aromas of red and black currants, charcoal, herbs, underbrush and a hint of truffles. This medium-bodied, rich, concentrated blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc is an elegant, supple Pichon Lalande that can be drunk now or cellared for 15-20 years."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Tasted blind. Some evolution evident at the rim. Round and winning. Polished and not exaggerated. Refined rather than concentrated. Not that long but a charmer."