- 1995 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (9/9/2009)
Purple core lightening to dark red at the rim. The nose is forward but simple at first, then blossoms over an hour into a beautifully complex rich nose of cassis, dark berries, forest floor and wet leaves, cedar, and tobacco. Full-bodied, ripe layers of fruit with complexity following from the nose and the classic sweet aged notes so typical of Bordeaux, great balance, well-tamed tannins in the background, long finish, should go easily for another decade or two, this is outstanding.
There was about 1/4 bottle left. The next evening when I went looking for it I saw that my wife put it out in the recycling bin in the garage without realizing there was some left. I rescued the thing, fortunately the wine hadn't spilled out, and damn if it still wasn't drinking pretty decently after a hot day in the garage at about 80 degrees. If it can handle that, it can handle another couple of decades in the cellar.