Wine Advisor
Pichon Lalande 1996
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Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the Chapon Fin restaurant in Bordeaux. This remains my benchmark Pichon Lalande in recent years. It is that essence of untrammelled Cabernet Sauvignon that governs the bouquet: blackberry, cigar box, cedar and a touch of mint – pure Pauillac heaven. The palate is a little foursquare on the entry, but there is also an unerring symmetry that is utterly captivating. What is more, one feels that it has barely started to flex its “muscles”. Tasted September 2011.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 1996 Pichon-Lalande is just as awesome from bottle as it was from multiple cask tastings. For Pichon-Lalande, the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon is atypically high. This wine normally contains 35-50% Merlot in the blend, but the 1996 is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot. Only 50% of the estate's production made it into the grand vin. The color is a saturated ruby/purple. The nose suggests sweet, nearly overripe Cabernet Sauvignon, with its blueberry/blackberry/cassis scents intermixed with high quality, subtle, toasty new oak. Deep and full-bodied, with fabulous concentration and a sweet, opulent texture, this wine was singing in full harmony when I tasted it in January. Given the wine's abnormally high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon, I would suspect it will close down. It possesses plenty of tannin, but the wine's overwhelming fruit richness dominates its personality. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2025.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 1996 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is really beginning to drink with style, wafting from the glass with an inviting nose of blackberries, cassis, cherries, rich soil tones, Cuban cigar and subtle hints of mint and bergamot. Medium to full-bodied, rich and fleshy, with an expansive, sumptuous core of fruit that's underpinned by ripe acids and ripe, powdery virile tannins, it concludes with a long, penetrating and sapid finish. This unusually Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated vintage was tightly wound for its first two decades, but as time passes it's the château signature that's dominating the cépagement. It's one of the wines of the vintage in 1996.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 1996 Pichon-Lalande has long been one of the high points of this Pauillac estate and now at 20 years of age it is firing on all cylinders. You cannot have any complaints against the nose: intense blackberry, cedar and graphite, all beautifully delineated, demand your attention. The palate offers exquisite balance, refined and yet intense, the Cabernet Sauvignon clearly in the driving seat but assisted by the Merlot that imparts the crucial fleshy texture on the finish. Red berry fruit, cigar box, mint, juniper berries ... this is a complex and riveting Pauillac wine that is going to cruise along its drinking plateau for many years. This is outstanding. Tasted July 2016.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the Fine Wine Experience’s Pichon-Lalande vertical in London. A clear garnet core with deep brick rim. It has a glorious nose, blackberry, cedar, sous-bois, smoke and tar: very masculine, classic Pauillac 1996 really with great definition. The palate is medium-bodied, very well balanced with good acidity with blackberry, cedar, citrus fruits, quite attacking and still rather linear with a very cedar infused finish. Very good length with a touch of tar on the aftertaste. A long future beckons, so patience is needed. But it will be worth the wait. Drink 2012-2035+ Tasted December 2008.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted several times, last at Farr's blind horizontal. A distinct menthol note on the nose mixed in with sweet black fruits. High extraction on the palate, liquorices, black cherries and hoi sin infused with a lot of. Moderate acidity, chocolatey, almost Coonawarra like finish. Decadent but delightful. Tasted September 2006.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 1996 Pichon-Lalande exhibits extraordinary sur-maturite due to the exceptional ripeness the Medoc's Cabernet Sauvignon achieved in this vintage. The wine has tightened up since my tasting in the spring, but it remains an opaque purple-colored example with a smoky, blueberry, blackberry, and cassis-scented nose that is to die for. Medium to full-bodied, with huge extract as well as extraordinary elegance, and a perfect marriage between new oak, fruit, and tannin, this is one of the more structured and tannic Pichon-Lalandes I have ever tasted, yet the wine's triumph is a result of its sweetness of tannin. As I indicated in my earlier review of the wine, an atypically high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (75%) was used in the blend, with an abnormally small percentage of Merlot (5%). In most vintages Pichon-Lalande contains 30%-40% Merlot, so the 1996 may be the most Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine made at this estate in memory. A profound success, the 1996 is one of the finest examples made under the regime of Madame de Lencquesaing. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2025. The 1995/1996 vintages are two of the greatest back to back efforts Pichon-Lalande has ever produced, including the 1982/1983 vintages.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Tasted three times, each time utterly spectacular, 1996 may be Pichon-Lalande's greatest effort since their legendary 1982. Keep in mind, the 1989 is a fabulous wine at this estate, and Pichon-Lalande also produced a thrilling 1994, as well as a prodigious 1995! What is interesting about the 1996 is that the blend used for the grand vin (only 55% of the crop was utilized) is unprecedented as there has never been such a high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon included. The final blend was 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and 15% Cabernet Franc. The wine reveals a spectacular thick, black/purple color, an unctuous texture, rather remarkable in view of how much Cabernet Sauvignon is in the blend. The Cabernet was extraordinarily ripe, with unequaled levels of sugar. The nose soars from the glass, offering up spicy vanillin, and lavish quantities of jammy blackcurrant fruit, licorice, and Asian spices. Unctuously-textured, with layers of fruit, this is one of the most spectacular young wines I have tasted. It is a must buy for both Bordeaux wine lovers and Pichon-Lalande aficionados. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2020. P.S. I also thought the second wine, the Reserve de Pichon, is the finest second wine they have yet produced. It merits close to a 90 point score. That wine is even softer as it is a blend of 69% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 1% Cabernet Franc.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
What a treat it is to taste these two Pichon Lalandes straight from the chateau’s cellar. The 1996 Pichon Lalande is stratospheric from the very first taste. The deep, layered bouquet alone is deeply transfixing. Smoke, mocha, dark spices, lavender, crème de cassis, a host of dark-fleshed fruits and a touch of warm, resonant sweetness from the French oak draw me in. All of those sensations follow through to the palate, where the wine is massive, intense and totally enveloping. Time has softened the tannins to the point the 1996 is ready to drink, but there is enough sheer concentration here to support another 20-30 years of exceptional drinking. I am not sure I possess the vocabulary to describe just how captivating the 1996 is, but I do know this: If I had an opportunity to pick up a few well-stored bottles I would take it in a nanosecond. Readers holding the 1996 should be thrilled. The 1996 Pichon Lalande is a magnificent wine with plenty of upside. In word: fabulous.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 1996 Pichon-Lalande has long been one of my favorite wines from this period. A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot, it has a quintessential Pauillac nose: very intense, brilliant and delineated, with pure blackberry, graphite and mint aromas bursting from the glass. The palate seems to have softened just a little over the last couple of years, and there is great depth here. Dense black fruit, laced with cedar, hints of espresso and leather, fans out toward the grippy finish, which is just beginning to entertain more secondary aromas of sage and spice on the aftertaste. In many ways the '96 presages the style of wine that Nicolas Glumineau pursues today. Brilliant. Tasted at a vertical tasting at the château.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Deep ruby-red. Very sexy aromas of currant, blackberry and brown sugar, all lifted by an ineffable floral quality from the thoroughly ripe cabernet sauvignon that comprises three-quarters of the blend. Dense, fresh and thick with extract; a wonderful combination of texture and guts. Has a core of steel and a powerful structure I haven't found in more recent vintages from this chateau. A very serious style of Pichon-Lalande, with much less merlot than usual. Finishes with terrific length and grip. Drink between 2005 and 2025.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Good bright ruby color. Compelling, thoroughly ripe aromas of blackcurrant, black raspberry, roast coffee, dark chocolate, tobacco, cedar and smoky oak. Thick, silky and mouthfilling; a slight gamey richness contributes to the wine appeal. Extremely suave. Finishes with superb length and complexity, and perfectly embedded, ripe tannins. Who needs merlot when one can get perfectly ripe cabernet sauvignon on the right soils?
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Saturated ruby-red. Explosive, superripe aromas of currants, leather, game, chocolate, pepper and tobacco. Sweet, sappy and very dense in the mouth, with terrific intensity and depth of flavor. Classy and suave; remarkably pliable for a wine at this stage of its development. Extremely long on the finish, with very ripe tannins coating the entire mouth, and a finishing burst of chocolate. A brilliant showing, and a prime example of how thoroughly Medoc cabernet was able to ripen in this vintage.
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)1979(1)1981(1)1982(4)1983(2)1985(3)1986(5)1988(5)1989(5)1990(3)1993(1)1994(3)1995(2)
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