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Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
Château Pichon Longueville de Lalande is ideally situated between the Gironde estuary and the Atlantic Ocean. The variety of parcels of land, due to the elements of the earth and their encepagement explains the complexity of the personality of the wines of Pichon. Since the end of the 1970's, the reputation of Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has acquired the status of a "super second" and a "nearly first", in light of the consistency of its quality.
The unique encepagement and the twelve hectares of vines situated on the soils of St Julien endow the wines of Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande with an exceptional personality compared with the other crus of the Pauillac appellation. Complexity, elegance and longevity are the hallmarks of this race, they are found every year during the creation of the vintages..
The nose is distinguished by a bouquet of aromas, mixing blackcurrant and violet, vanilla and cinnamon. In the palate, the tannins appear mature and melted, revealing a strong and affirmed structure, a surprising suppleness, perfect harmony and long persistency. The wine is seductive when young without prejudicing its longevity. James Laubé of the Wine Spectator baptised Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, "A First Class Second Cru", a most fitting tribute...
Pichon-Longueville Lalande is a 75-hectare property that produces on average 36,000 cases per year. Located in the east of the Pauillac appellation, the vineyards (Cabernet Sauvignon 45%, Merlot 35%, Cabernet Franc 12%, Petit Verdot 8%) lie on deep gravel beds underpinned by clay and then sandstone and limestone (part of these vineyards actually reside in the St-Julien appellation). The wine is fermented in stainless steel cuvées and then matured in oak barriques (50% new) for 18 months.
Pichon-Longueville Lalande is not as powerful or as tannic as some its Pauillac neighbours and this is mainly because of its relatively high Merlot content. In the best years, it is one of the most exotic and voluptuously scented wines of the Médoc. At least a decade of cellaring is required before the wines should be approached.
Wine Information
Bordeaux Vintage 1952 The recovery from the Second World War was slow and wine producers had many challenges ahead of themselves. Their production facilities were in poor conditions and there was no capital for investments. However, thanks to several great harvests, the period from 1945 up to 1961 has yielded some of the most heralded wines from Bordeaux ever made. 1952 was on a par to end up on the list of the greatest vintages from the period, among 1945, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1953 and 1959.
In 1952, the season started with moderately warm and dry spring. The summer months from June to end of August were dry with daily average temperature of 20,5C. The temperature climbed over 30C on 29 days. Unfortunately the Mother Nature turned its back to the producers at the very end of the season. The rain and cold weather arrived on September 4 and for example in Pauillac it rained for 22 days. The rain diluted partly the crop and due to the cold weather the phenolic ripeness of the late ripening varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon was left slightly short. Thus, the Cabernet Sauvignon dominated Left Bank did less well than the Right Bank, where earlier ripening Merlot is dominating. On the other hand the Right Bank avoided the worst rains during the September and producers like Cheval Blanc with Cabernet Franc –oriented wines, could harvest their crop same time in the middle of September under the better conditions than their colleagues on the Left Bank.
According to our experience the best wines of the vintage have been Cheval Blanc, Pétrus, l’Eglise-Clinet and La Mission Haut-Brion. However, we have been stunned every now and then with lesser known St-Emilions from this vintage. If we compare the prices versus quality of these wines, we can conclude them as the great finds of 1950s’ Bordeauxs that the most are drinking still lovely if the bottles have been restored properly. To get the best enjoyment out of these wines, make sure to decant them just fifteen minutes before serving as they do not handle the air as well as the better vintages.
Vuosikerta 1952
Bordeaux by Tb: The recovery after the Second World War was slow and winegrowers had many challenges to overcome. Their production facilities were in poor condition and there was no capital for investments. However, thanks to several large harvests, the period from 1945 to 1961 produced some of the most heralded Bordeaux wines ever made. 1952 is on equal footing to finish on the list of the greatest vintages of the time, among 1945, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1953 and 1959.
In 1952, the season began with a moderately warm and dry spring. The summer months from June to the end of August were dry with an average daily temperature of 20.5C. The temperature climbed above 30°C in 29 days. Unfortunately, Mother Nature turned her back on producers at the very end of the season. The rain and the cold arrived on September 4 and for example in Pauillac, it rained for 22 days. The rain partially diluted the harvest and, due to the cold, the phenolic maturity of late-ripening varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon was left slightly short. Thus, the left bank, dominated by cabernet sauvignon, fared less well than the right bank, where early-ripening merlot dominates. On the other hand, the right bank avoided the worst rains of September and producers like Cheval Blanc with Cabernet Franc oriented wines, were able to harvest their harvest at the same time in mid-September in better conditions than their colleagues from the left Bank.
In our experience, the best wines of the vintage were Cheval Blanc, Pétrus, l’Eglise-Clinet and La Mission Haut-Brion. However, we have been amazed from time to time by the lesser known St-Emilions of this vintage. If we compare the prices versus the quality of these wines, we can conclude them as the great finds of 1950s Bordeaux that most still drink well if the bottles have been restored properly. To get the most out of these wines, be sure to decant them fifteen minutes before serving, as they do not handle air as well as the best vintages.
