Wine Advisor
Pichon Lalande 1979
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Last Tasted 8/92 Fully mature, this dark ruby-colored wine displays a fragrant nose of cedar, currants, vanillin, and spices. The wine is medium-bodied, with gorgeous levels of rich fruit, adequate acidity, and a long, soft finish. Beautifully balanced, it should continue to drink well for another decade.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
One of the vintage's high points is the 1979 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, a superb wine that wafts from the glass with notes of blackcurrants, cigar box, loamy soil, truffles and dried herbs. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and enveloping, with a fleshy core of fruit, melting tannins and lively acids, it's a fully mature, beautifully savory Pauillac that shows no signs of decline from a good cellar.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the Chateau. This has a deep garnet core. The nose has a deepness to it, a decayed richness that is very enticing, and a decayed, slightly leafy richness. Cooked meats, allspice a lot of cedar. Beautiful. The palate is very finely balanced and the tannins are showing so much finesse. There seems to be a lot of Merlot here, but such a silky texture that this might be the most alluring of all the late-1970s vintages. It has a lacy finish, slightly leafy with vestiges of richness underneath. It becomes spicier with time, very smooth and harmonious and yet returning after an hour it is running out of breath and lost its precociousness, so I would refrain from decanting or allowing too much aeration. Drink now-2015. Tasted June 2009.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Undoubtedly a top success for the vintage, Pichon-Lalande's 1979 exhibits a dark garnet color with some amber at the edge. It offers a fragrant, cedary, roasted herb, and cassis-scented nose. Rich, with medium body, well-integrated tannin, and some acidity, this is the quintessentially elegant style of Bordeaux that is found nowhere else in the world. Anticipated maturity: Now-2004. Last tasted 6/97
About the Producer
Pichon Lalande is arguably the best known Super Second Pauillac for its quality consistency and quintessential Bordeaux claret expression. Neighbouring Chateau Latour and lying just right opposite Chateau Pichon Baron, Pichon Lalande, as its name suggests, has long seen extended female owner influence since the 1850s. Back in the 1850s, the original Pichon Lalande got broken down into two-fifth being renamed as Pichon Baron and three-fifth remaining as Pichon Lalande upon the passing of Baron Joseph de Pichon Longueville. The three-fifth was run by the three daughters of the Baron himself and over the course of a few years, Pichon Baron and Pichon Lalande took on distinctive styles - with the former being more a masculine expression and the latter, feminine. Female ownership and influence continued, with little interruption, till the modern days. Pichon Lalande's string of female leaders have contributed to the continuous modernization of Pichon Lalande's vineyards and cellars; as well as the doubling of vineyard area during the 1970s - 90s. Today, Pichon Lalande's feminine expression continues to prevail - whilst the team is placed under the leadership of a former opera singer turned winemaker gentleman named Nicolas Glumineau. Conversion to biodynamic viticulture (fully by year 2021), continuous investments in precision winemaking facilities see Pichon Lalande continue to be revered among leading critics. Pichon Lalande is planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. It is the predominant Cabernet Sauvignon presence in Pichon Lalande's wines that make this wine such a capable representation of Pauillac's deep gravelly terroir.
1928(1)1970(1)
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