1996 Pichon Lalande Pauillac

1996 Pichon Lalande Pauillac

RIGHT WINDOW
In a recent tasting, quite a few of the participants enjoyed this vintage, and for good reason. At 21 years, this wine is probably in a good drinking window now.
It was giving off graphite, blackberry, slightly dusty and smoky on the nose. The palate on the other hand was concentrated with black cherries, smoke, and slightly woody. The tannins have mellowed down with age and gave a very silky and elegant finish. Try it for yourself!

9 Mar 2017
MEDIOCRE
You'd probably know that 96 was a left bank vintage more than right bank, and I personally have not come across any impressive right bank Bordeaux labels. This was a left bank wine, so why it was mediocre? Lalande, as you probably knew, had high Merlot content, as much as 40%, and Merlot struggled in 96. The remaining majority are Cab Sauvignon, and they're rock solid. Thus, the byproduct of Lalande was neither here nor there, struggling to entertain me. Buyers beware.

9 Mar 2017
A silky, dense and deep colored wine with aromatics hints of fruit. Pichon Lalande is weird in good vintages it does NOT perform! Namely, 90, 96, 05, all these are great Bordeaux vintages but Lalande failed disappointingly. 96 wasn't as bad as 90 or 05, but bad enough on my palette. A very weak wine that lacks flavor, sigh. This label is my all time favorite!