Pichon - Longueville

09/05/13 13:44

CASTLE LIFE

THE TERROIR

LES MILLSIMES

WINES

HISTORY

FROM VINE TO WINE

THE GLASS CHTEAU

PICTURES

CONTACT

Grape harvests
Chteau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande remains faithful to the tradition of hand picking. Every year, over 100 people often the same families from Andalusia pick the grapes on the estate, depending on the level of ripeness and the age of the plot: the harvests start with Merlot, an early variety, and finish with Cabernet and Petit Verdot, which are late varieties. Stringent sorting is carried out in the vines as well as on arrival in the hopper.

Winemaking
When the harvest has been gathered, stripped and masked, the grapes are sent to the fermenting room, where rows of heat-regulated stainless steel vats of various capacities enable stringent, exact selection by plot to be carried out. The period spent in the vats ranges from 18 to 24 days depending on the year. Pumping over is carried out frequently, so as to extract as much colour and tannin as possible.

Blending
Since the late 1970s, Chteau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has gained a reputation as a super second or even almost premier, due to its constant quality. The key word in this success is selection - extremely painstaking selection from the harvest onwards, especially during blending. Blending takes place in late December or early January, with the help of the technical team and oenologists. An initial selection produces a Grand Vin, followed by a second wine from the next selection. Ever since the nineteenth

http://www.pichon-lalande.com/en/de-la-vigne-au-vin

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Pichon - Longueville

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century, the owners of the great Medoc crus have been aware of the diversity of their vineyards and driven by the desire for excellence. As a result they have made wines of different quality. Second wines, from the same terroir as great wines, are still a faithful reflection of the terroirs quality and finesse and also express their own personality. They are generally excellent wines, but are less structured and less suitable for laying down than the Grands Vins. Pichon Longuevilles archives feature references to the existence of a second wine as early as the 1870s. A century later, this became known as Rserve de la Comtesse.

Maturing
After the blending process, the wine is placed in oak barrels from the Allier and Nivre forests. The wood adds to the noble character of the wine, giving it aromas and tannins and enabling it to acquire evenness as air slowly passes through the pores of the barrels. Chteau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Grand Vin wine is aged for 18 months in barrels, made half from new oak and half from one-year-old oak. The barrels are subjected to soft toasting during the process, contributing to the quality of the aroma. The exchange between the wood and wine must be harmonious and balanced. Consequently, only 25% new wood is used for Rserve de la Comtesse. The wine is tapped every three months until it is bottled, and clarified. It is bottled at the chteau in June of the second year after the harvest. The prestigious bottles are sealed with the Pichon Longueville and Lalande family crests.

Wine characteristics
La varit des parcelles, due aux lments constitutifs du sol et leur encpagement, explique la complexit de la personnalit des vins de Pichon L'encpagement particulier des hectares de vigne situs sur le plateau de Pichon stirant sur la commune de Saint Julien au sud de Pauillac ont donn au chteau The complex personality of Pichon wines is the result of the differences between the plots of land, which in turn is due to differing soil components and wine varieties. The particular varieties planted in the vineyards on the Pichon plateau (which lies within the borough of Saint Julien to the south of Pauillac) have given Chteau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande the reputation of being the most feminine wine in the appellation. It preserves a characteristic complexity, elegance, finesse, full-bodiedness and harmony - encountered year after year when the vintages are made. The nose is characterised by a bouquet of intense aromas combining blackcurrant and violet, vanilla and cinnamon. The tannins are ripe and full on the palate, displaying a distinct structure, amazing suppleness, and perfect harmony and are long-lasting. This wine is very attractive when drunk young, but is also suitable for laying down. Rserve de la Comtesse is also both full-bodied and sophisticated, featuring red fruit and delicate woody aromas.

http://www.pichon-lalande.com/en/de-la-vigne-au-vin

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Pichon - Longueville

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http://www.pichon-lalande.com/en/de-la-vigne-au-vin

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