WTN: Pichon Lalande 1975 - 2007

Notes from a Pichon Lalande dinner.

Very interesting evening. I sat across the table from Gildas d’Ollone, the general director of the excellent second growth Pauillac, Pichon Lalande. He is also the nephew of May de Lencquesaing, the owner. He explained that the property was founded in 1689 and that it encompassed the area that includes Pichon Baron today. The properties were split in 1840 among 5 children, with the boys inheriting Pichon Baron and the girls, Pichon Lalande. We shared a wide ranging conversation about many wine and non-wine subjects. He is an excellent ambassador for the chateau.

We started with an NV champagne on its own followed by another one with a course of squid stuffed with lobster, in a lobster brandy sauce.

Moutardier Champagne Brut Rose – nice pink colour, a nose that included peach, crisp and clean. 80% pinot meunier, 20% chardonnay.

Boizel Champagne Brut Reserve - 30 % Chardonnay, 55 % Pinot Noir and 15 % Pinot Meunier. A nice clean citrus nose, clean entry, excellent acidity and crisp finish. Undoubtedly the better bubbly with the food.

Pichon bought Ch. Bernadotte a cru bourgeois in 1997 and carried out a badly needed restoration of the property in the ensuing years. The next course was accompanied by wines from that property. The course was a wild mushroom terrine.

2001 Bernadotte – good medium colour, a fair bit of vanilla in this nose, mellow and smooth in the mouth with soft tannins. A nice bourgeois.

2005 Bernadotte – less vanilla and more fruit on this nose, almost perfumed. Less bright on the palate, in fact almost a bit dull in comparison with lots of softening tannins. It needs time, which will hopefully bring it to life, but right now the 2001 drank much better.


The next course was a duck confit as we got into the grand vin.

1983 Pichon Lalande – many of the wines from this vintage are now going into decline, but the top ones are still in good shape with time to go. This was one of the best wine of the vintage, handily surpassing all of the first growths except Margaux. You get black currant and a hint of cedar in the nose, a sweet entry and long smooth journey over the palate and a nice long finish. No rush on this one.

1985 Pichon Lalande – another lovely nose with a bit more vanilla, but in the mouth, lower tannin and acidity. Very nice, but needs drinking. Do not hold.

Served as a mystery wine:

1975 Pichon Lalande – browning at the edges, and with nice garnet notes deep in the wine, this is now mature and has softened enough to enjoy, while retaining sufficient fruit to make it interesting. Leather and spice in the nose, the tannins still lurking, and decent acidity. Now a pleasant 1975. Do not hold.

With lamb chops:

2003 Pichon Lalande – an immediate impression of prune in this nose, very ripe, and a big sweet but well balanced wine with a certain earthy character. Not at this point an elegant wine, this should pick up some polish with a few more years in bottle.

2004 Pichon Lalande – a pleasant dark fruit nose with a hint of green and also of cocoa and a fair bit of tannin. Needs time to really evaluate – not drinking as well as the 2003 at this point.

Another mystery wine:

1986 Pichon Lalande – deep colour, medium to full weight, good acidity, an example of this firm vintage that I’d give more time, although I admit that it drinks pretty well now despite still significant tannin.
With cheese:

2007 Pichon Lalande – this one was quite dark with a big dusty earthy currant nose, lots of tannin and a slightly astringent note in the finish. needs time!

2006 Reserve de la Comtesse – I should explain that some chateau create second wines from young vines replanted in areas of their vineyards but too young to be used in the grand vin. This isn’t the case with Pichon – the grapes from the second wine come off the same vines as the grand vin does, but they are what is left after the blend for the Pichon Lalande has been finalized. Thus if it was a heavy cabernet vintage for the grand vin, the second wine will be the opposite, with more merlot. In this particular vintage, all the petit verdot and a lot of cab franc went into this and I think that was all to the good in terms of the aromatics, which showed a quite delightful spice/herbal aspect. Fairly tannin and with very good fruit levels, this warrants aging a decade or so to see what happens. Very nice.

With dessert:

2003 Ch. d’Armajan des Ormes – I knew nothing of this Sauternes house with the rococo label, but it turned out quite well. Decent shot of botrytis in the rather sweet nose, light lemon in colour, sweet in the mouth but reasonably well balanced a decent serviceable inexpensive wine.

Great event, and a lot of very good wines.

thanks for notes. '83 Pichon Lalande is a great wine. and though it has gone up in price has remained a relative bargain.

Thew price sure beats the cost of the Margaux!

I've been applying myself to drinking the 83s and find I only have a La Lagune, a Grand Puy and a Lynch Bages, all of which I should have opened 5-10 years ago. Damn!

I sat across the table from Gildas d’Ollone, the general director of the excellent second growth Pauillac, Pichon Lalande. He is also the nephew of May de Lencquesaing, the owner.

Nice notes, Bill. I wish I had more Pichon-Lalande in my cellar. It's one of my favourites.

I thought that the Lencquesaing family had sold the estate and a quick check on the the château website does confirm that the Rouzaud family of Champagne Roederer is now the owner. These are reliable hands, I think, so there should be no worries about future quality.

I've been applying myself to drinking the 83s and find I only have a La Lagune, a Grand Puy and a Lynch Bages, all of which I should have opened 5-10 years ago. Damn!

I don't remember ever having an 83 GPL, but I've had very good bottles of the La Lagune and Lynch in last year (and one bottle of the Lynch that seemed tired, despite good storage). My favorite 83s are the Cheval Blanc, Ch. Margaux, & Palmer, but Haut Brion, Rauzan Segla, Gruaud are all very good.

Yeah, I'm also surprised at the comments about your '83s Bill, as all of mine are still on the young side, to my tastes, and they haven't been really COLD stored either. My cellar is around 58 in the late Fall to early Summer, and then gradually goes up to about 64.

Yes, ,they are now in champagne hands but seem to retain involvement - not sure exactly what the arrangement is.

Paul, even in a cool cellar, the 83s are getting on, with a few notable exceptions. The 82s will generally far outlive them. I like them mature, but not in decline, if I can help it.

Dale - thanks for the comments on the La Lagune - I have to get that one out soon. Just one bottle left, so we shall see. It was quite decent last time I opened one. Noticed I have a half case of 1988 - have you had that recently? The 1982 drinks SO well now - am starting to get into that once in awhile.

I had the '88 La Lagune twice couple of years ago, nice wine, and surprisingly easy tannins for an '88. But those were current purchases, no knowledge of storage (they were cheap), so possible very cold storage might be less approachable.

(Edited to show I'm answering question re La Lagune, not Pichon Lalande)

Agree quite a few 83's are still hanging in there. My most recent bottle of 83 Pichon was simply awesome. Incredible purity, sweetness of fruit, sublime structure and wonderful length. Years ahead of it, too. Thanks for the great write-up.