Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2010

Silky, sweet black fruit, black olive and truffle notes from the start. This is majestically impressive – it sparks to life in your mouth and breaks out an involuntary smile. The texture is just liquid silk and it slowly but surely builds through the palate, gaining in confidence and totally delightful. Bright, vibrant tannins make the most of the high levels of acidity that were available in 2010, while matching them pace for pace with concentrated fruit. For me this is getting better as it ages, starting to rival the 1982 at Comtesse, and I can’t wait to keep tasting it over the decades to come. Last time I rated this wine, in 2016, I gave it 98 points, and I questioned whether to keep it there, which is already an exceptional score, but I want to mark just how clearly it stood out in this horizontal. 60% new oak. Drinking window: 2022-2050. Score – 100. (Jane Anson, decanter.com, June 14, 2021)