2005 Pichon Lalonde Tight as a Drum

[dstgolf]

Wow! Couldn't believe how tight this was on the weekend. This is showing little to nothing on the nose and very angular on the palate. Oak and tannins dominate and certainly no feminine side that I'm used to from this usually sexy Penelope Cruz of wines. I hope that this will come around in 5-10 years but this is no beauty right now.

[Nicklasss]

Wasn't there a small controversy, about the 2005 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, kind of 1990 aura? If I remember well, Mr. Parker rated it 85 or 86 or something like that...

Nic

[Comte Flaneur]

Hi Danny and Nic

If you Canucks store your wines in tundra-like cellars the stuff is likely to mature slowly...

I tried it in May...the day before setting off for BWE '15 and it impressed:

My note: Pichon Lalande 2005.

This is just beginning to come out of its shell. It is not an exuberant wine, but it has freshness and power and an inner density. Should develop well as it starts to take on tertiary characteristics. There are more profound 05s out there (including Pichon Baron), but this should provide a decent amount of pleasure over the coming 30 years. 93

I was pleasantly surprised after all the negative notes. I think Uncle Bob and Jeff don't rate this...Neal Martin otoh is very positive...I think he gave it 95 points

[dstgolf]

Comte,

I saw some of the reviews and I'd say from my experience I'm closer to RPs rating than Neil Martin. Underwhelmed big time by the PLL. Maybe it was the bottle or that it had only been decanted for an hour but...didn't hold true to its pedigree by a long shot. Without the label I would never believe that this was PLL because it didn't have the Pauillac character that I'm used too. Elegance lost somewhere and fruit hidden.Maybe it was partly the cold that I was coming down with but this was not up to standard at this time.We had a good but not overwhelming 2011 Lalonde de Pomerol by Chateau Treytins that was 1/10th the price and providing much more enjoyment at this stage and that's not saying the Treytins was anything stunning but certainly a pleasant wine for Sat nights dinner in Montreal.