Réserve de Pichon Comtesse 2020

This has a dark core packed with currant and blackberry, supported by a racy graphite spine that runs from start to finish, adding energy and cut. Shows hints of sweet tobacco, chestnut and tar on the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2025 through 2035.

Dark bramble berries with lots of perfumed aromas; purple flowers, iris and violets with blueberries and pomegranates as well as some earthy notes. Rich and seductive, this has immediate weight in the mouth—opulent, with structure and thickness to the tannins even though they are fine; this has weight and density. Lots of liquorice and blackcurrant, but well integrated. It’s smooth, with a soft, juicy core, and a slow expansion of the elements. Definitely concentrated, intense and powerful, yet poised and driven. Generous and friendly. pH 3.8. Aged 12 months, 50% new, 50% one-year-old barrels.

Love the lead pencil, blackberry and graphite aromas and flavors with iron shavings. It’s medium- to full-bodied with very fine and polished tannins that are poised and balanced. Classy. Almost drinkable but better in four or five years.

Tasted blind. Very dark greyish crimson with a purplish rim. Fragrant, spicy dark fruit. Deep and chewy, but with fruit at the core to keep the tannins apart. The tannins are firm and smooth. (JH)

The 2020 Réserve de la Comtesse is a big, big wine. Black cherry, grilled herbs, lavender, licorice and smoke are some of the many notes that add to an impression of brooding intensity. This is a very serious second wine. Maybe too serious. Then again, Estate Director Nicolas Glumineau is quite clear in his ambition to want to make 100% Grand Vin. The inclusion of 10% Petit Verdot in this year's blend is felt in both the wine's flavor and structural feel.

The attention‑seeking bouquet pops with notes of flowers, tobacco leaf, spearmint, cocoa and sweet, ripe red fruits. The wine is elegant, refined, soft and complex, with a finish that is long, refined, complex and gentle. This is a fabulous example of a baby Pichon Lalande that will drink beautifully on release, while offering pleasure for up to two decades. As the quality here keeps jumping in class every year, this is becoming a true Pauillac brand, instead of a second wine. Drink from 2023–2040.

The second wine from this talented team, the 2020 Pichon Comtesse Reserve, is worth seeking out. I always find this wine to offer loads of pleasure. Possessing the elegance and purity of the vintage (as well as of this estate), it has a pretty perfume of red and blue fruits, some spring flowers and graphite on the nose, ultra-fine tannins, and an already accessible, delicious profile. It's perfect for drinking over the coming 10–12 years.

47% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot. Deep purple with an opaque core, violet highlights and a brightening rim. Intense blueberry-driven bouquet with bilberry, elderberry jelly, and a delicate violet scent. On the dense palate, soft texture, wonderful extract richness, and medium body. Aromatic finish with Dominican tobacco, noticeable barrique toasting, and sloe juice. Among the best second wines of the year and a safe Best-Buy recommendation!

A blend of 47% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Petit Verdot, the 2020 Pichon Comtesse Reserve is deep garnet-purple in color. It soars with expressive notes of cassis, wild blueberries, and chocolate-covered cherries with exotic hints of cardamom, cumin seed, and star anise. The medium-bodied palate features fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness to support the elegant fruit layers, finishing spicy.

A wonderfully tender, appetizing nose of freshly opened flowers. A giant step for this second wine from Pichon Lalande, with a generous, fleshy palate and cheerful tobacco notes on the finish. Bravo!

The nose is fruity, fresh, elegant, finely tight and offers a certain refined richness. It reveals notes of ripe wild blackcurrant, ripe small black fruits and, more subtly, graphite, combined with hints of camphor and spices, as well as fine touches of black tea, racy gravel, a subtle hint of nutmeg, grey pepper, cornflower and gladiolus. The palate is fruity and racy, offering juiciness, freshness, good definition, indulgence, a tangy backbone, delicacy, power, complexity, an airy feel, a lovely grain and a certain delicacy within its power. On the palate, the wine expresses notes of wild small black berries, pulpy blackcurrant and, more slightly, pulpy/juicy black plum, combined with touches of vibrant cherry and raspberry, as well as hints of camphor and black tea, with fine notes of racy, almost saline minerality and delicate touches of cocoa. The tannins are precise, well-handled and very finely plush. Good length. A subtle hint of caramelisation as well as a fine saline note appear on the finish/persistence. Lovely persistence and indulgence.

Ripe black fruits and rich tannins are piled high in this wine. It shows finesse in the tannins and in the blackberry flavors. This second wine is likely to age well. Drink from 2026