Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has been owned by the Rouzaud family since 2007, who also own Louis Roderer champagnes.

Since the arrival of the Roederer family at the head of the estate, major restructuring work has been undertaken in the vineyards. Close to the river, the 78 hectares of vines cross the jalle de Saint-Julien to approach the Léoville plateau, before extending onto the large Pichon Longueville plateau to the south of the Pauillac appellation. The exceptional richness of the Pauillac appellation is the result of poor, stingy soil. The hilltops are made up of gravel on clay, a composition that favors excellent drainage. These gravels, from the Quaternary era, are known as Garonne gravels.

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande remains faithful to the tradition of hand-picking. Every year, more than 100 people - often the same families from Andalusia - pick the estate's grapes, depending on the degree of ripeness and age of the plots: Merlot, an early variety, opens the harvest, Cabernet and Petit Verdot, late varieties, close it. The grapes are rigorously sorted in the vineyard and on arrival in the reception container.

The variety of the plots, due to the soil's constituent elements and their grape varieties, explains the complexity of the personality of Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande wines. On the palate, the well-presented tannins appear ripe and mellow, revealing an assertive structure, astonishing suppleness, perfect harmony and long persistence. When young, the wine is seductive, without prejudging its longevity. La Réserve de la Comtesse is equally round and delicate, with its red fruit aromas and delicate woodiness.