Château PICHON LALANDE 1973
Pauillac
“A First Class Second Cru”… What better formula than that of Wine Spectator magazine to designate Château Pichon Lalande! The latter came from the division, in 1850, of the original Château Pichon Longueville, when the owner established the inheritance of his children: his son took over the current Pichon Longueville Baron, while his daughter Virginie, married from the Comte de Lalande, receives the other part of the property, hence the ending: “Comtesse de Lalande”. A woman of authority, passionate about wine, Virginie carries at arm's length the development, then the consecration of the estate. The latter remained within the founding family until 1925, when it was bought by Edouard and Louis Miailhe.
From 1978 to 2007, another great lady held the reins: May-Eliane de Lencquesaing, daughter of Edouard Miailhe. Grand Chancellor of the Bordeaux Wine Academy, she is nicknamed “the General”, given her husband's military background. The feminine imprint left by the Countess a century earlier could not have found a better echo ... Moreover, the passionate journey to which Pichon Lalande testifies is far from being foreign to the tenderness and affection that wine lovers have always shown for wines from the field. The property was bought in 2007 by the Rouzaud family, owner, among others, of the house of Champagne Roederer.
Of the property's 75 hectares of vines, 11 are located in the town of Saint-Julien, resulting in wines of unusual elegance in Pauillac. In addition to a majority proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon, a guarantee of longevity, the grape variety offers an unusual place for Merlot (35%), promising the wine remarkable flexibility.
The red wine Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande reflects an elegance, a harmony of powerful and velvety tannins, then a persistent and fleshy length in the mouth. It is the king of value for money in Bordeaux and in France.