1990 Pichon Lalande Pauillac

1990 Pichon Lalande Pauillac

BOTTLE PROBLEM?
I previously had a 1990 and was blown away by the content and compared it to an 89. But for the vertical tasting, I was slightly disappointed by the performance of this bottle. The nose had a lot of green notes and bell pepper, but still held some concentrated fruits such as plum with a smoky aroma. The palate was slightly flat and unexciting but with silky tannins to save it. Not what I was expecting but can’t judge it from 1 bottle!

10 Jan 2017
DISTURBED 2/2
I had a sip of this 90, immediately declared it as a somewhat weak vintage, perhaps a 96 or 98. I'd say give it benefit of doubt, let it open up in a decanter for half an hour. True enough, it was totally different! The content was almost on par with the 89! Now I was really disturbed by Parker's score of 79 for this 1990. I'd say they're probably a 96 (for 1989) and 95 (for 1990), definitely not a 79. Why did Parker get it so wrong puzzled me. Quite a hopeless wine critic!

18 Aug 2015
RP 79?
Parker gave this a score of 79! I wholeheartedly did not agree with his harsh scores, I'd challenge him to a blind tasting for such harsh scores. While obviously not the best Pichon Lalande ever produced, but certainly not deserving a 79. The only pitfall I found with the wine was that it lacks flavor with the fruits, somehow hollow mid palette. Other than that, I get very concentrated fruits, very mellow, very Lalande style of Merlot based character. I think Parker needs some palette training.