Pichon Lalande 2014

Very solid, with lots of cassis bush and sweet tobacco notes adding texture to the core of crushed ripe raspberry, blackberry and plum fruit flavors. A licorice snap accent dances throughout, while a bolt of iron runs underneath. This is Pauillac. Best from 2020 through 2035.

Red fruits, bramble the nose is fresh the start of the palate bright quite fragrant and fresh. The mid palate is rich serious deep lots of black fruits enriched by cocoa. Lighter at the back length of fruit precision and harmony the fresher black fruits lingering on the finish. 2027-40

Last year's varietal Cabernet Sauvignon wasn't to everyone's taste (although I loved it), but this is a more classic Pichon Comtesse. It's typically fresh and alluring with compact, ageworthy tannins, oodles of perfume, fine black cherry, graphite and blackcurrant fruit and a chalky, minerally lift. Very impressive.

The 2014 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has an expressive bouquet with lively blackberry, cedar, flint and graphite aromas that are not powerful, yet display admirable precision. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, the Merlot content lending this Pauillac its trademark fleshiness and roundness, yet there is clearly structure here (not always a trait of this Pauillac growth). It will develop more complexity and personality with bottle age, but at the moment you can sit back and just admire the cohesion and superb length. Winemaker Nicolas Glumineau has overseen a quite wonderful Pichon-Lalande, one with inbuilt longevity. Drink Date 2020-2050

The Château Pichon-Lalande 2014 is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot picked over five weeks between 16 September and 20 October. It has a very pure and precise bouquet with a light marine influencing the black cherries and blueberry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a tense, graphite-tinged opening, a fine line of acidity (pH 3.72) and a silky smooth finish. The Cabernet Sauvignon is very expressive and dominates the Merlot at the moment, although the Merlot is essentially counterbalancing what might have been a much more austere Pichon-Lalande. Under Nicolas Glumineau, this Pauillac estate is really beginning to "motor" and this is an excellent wine, one within touching distance of the First Growths. Drink: 2019-2040.

What a joy to feel the ultra-fine tannins in this wine! It really is like touching fine silk. It's full-bodied with integrated drip fruit of tar, blackberries, minerals as well as a compacted and very long finish. Polished texture. Strong elegance. Reminds me of some outstanding wines of the 1980s such as 1986

Very opulent nose. But almost more like a scent than a wine - as though all the effort has been put into the rather exotic perfume. Then quite vigorous and chewy. Rich and glamorous. 13.3%Drink 2025-2040