2009 Pichon Comtesse Reserve
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Tasting notes
Black red, big smoky wild violets nose, seductive fruit , fleshy and lifted, a really lovely Saint-Julien style Pauillac, all of a piece. Drink 2014-22.
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More reviews and scores
Currants and flowers on the nose. Dried spices as well. Full-bodied, with silky yet chewy tannins and a long finish. Dense and solid. Second wine of Pichon-Lalande
For the vintage, this Reserve as an exuberant, most approachable nose with red-berries, kirsch, graphite, sous-bois and cigar box. Very Pauillac. Moderate definition, actually closing up a little in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, lots of tobacco/cigar box flavours infusing the black, dusky fruit. Nicely balanced, if just a little too conservative towards the austere, smoky finish. Tasted March 2010
Made from a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc, the second wine, the 2009 Reserve de la Comtesse, exhibits notes of forest floor, white chocolate, licorice, black currants and vanillin-infused black cherries. It possesses a sweet, round, generous style given its high glycerin. Both the Reserve de la Comtesse and Pichon Lalande have about 13% alcohol, slightly lower than most Pauillacs achieved in 2009. Drink it over the next 10 years. Dec 2011, www.robertparker.com
About the producer
Ch. Pichon Comtesse is one of the stars of Pauillac, and one of the original "Super Seconds" in Bordeaux. Classed as a Deuxième Cru Classé in the 1855 Bordeaux classification, it is widely recognised that Pichon Comtesse can not only match First Growths, but occasionally outperform them.