C (still?) is for Comtesse
After the heroics of Christmas Eve, I’d like to think the week following Christmas (apart from one evening’s lapse) was characterised by uncharacteristic restraint and moderation. Apart from that one evening’s lapse when I had to ask a friend to drive my car but that’s another story.
The reward for all this restraint and moderation was swift in appearing - a superb example of a second wine from a Super Second Growth estate (though the snobs amongst us might still say once a “tutu” always a “tutu”).
Now second wines from Bordeaux estates have had fairly mixed press for a long time and probably rightly so. Second wines, even those from First Growth estates, are made from grapes which for one reason or another cannot be put into the best wines. Often the reasons are fairly benign - if a winemaker is only going to put 30 per cent of the crop of Merlot grapes into the first wine, the rest of the Merlot is hardly going to be thrown away or even sold off.
Which means in the above case, the second wine may have a much higher percentage of a grape which may figure much less significantly in the fist wine. Then again, say a prolonged thunderstorm hits in the middle of the harvest, no prizes for guessing where the sodden fruit is going to end up. So, by and large, it is probably safe to assume that the first wine is not going to be reflective of what the second is like.
Back to the wine under discussion - the Reserve de la Comtesse 1997 is the second wine of Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (to name it in its full glory). Of all the Second Growth estates, that have aspired to follow the elevation of Mouton Rothschild into the heady heights, Pichon Lalande probably has the best and most valid claim - hence the tag of a Super Second.
Now the bad news. 1997 was not a good year. It rained. In May and June which affected the flowering. It was so bad that Parker neglected to rate some of the classed growth wines that year. In all probability, he thought you should say nothing if you can’t say anything nice.
In spite of all this, I think the Reserve is rather good. It has managed to retain all the positive attributes of a Pichon Lalande - the smoothness and the subtlety which distinguishes it from the other top Paulliacs which I think have harsher tannins and more structural rigidity. It started off a little closed - opening up only after about a quarter of an hour in the decanter and continuing to do so in the glass. A surprising amount of fruit with mainly plum and blackcurrant accents plus a little bit of tobacco. Quite a bit of glycerol in the middle and a medium finish with a slight touch of spice at the end.
There was a rumour going round that when the Reserve was first presented, the experts thought that it was better than the first wine but of course they were not allowed to say that otherwise no one would pay double the price of the second for the first. Then the rumour gets more interesting in that the experts either thought or were told that the 97 Reserve would not last much beyond 2004 - which may be why Bibendum reduced prices to about £13 in London before Christmas and why Carrefour were selling them for just under S$50 in Singapore before the New Year.
I’m just happy ‘cos I still have five bottles.
The reward for all this restraint and moderation was swift in appearing - a superb example of a second wine from a Super Second Growth estate (though the snobs amongst us might still say once a “tutu” always a “tutu”).
Now second wines from Bordeaux estates have had fairly mixed press for a long time and probably rightly so. Second wines, even those from First Growth estates, are made from grapes which for one reason or another cannot be put into the best wines. Often the reasons are fairly benign - if a winemaker is only going to put 30 per cent of the crop of Merlot grapes into the first wine, the rest of the Merlot is hardly going to be thrown away or even sold off.
Which means in the above case, the second wine may have a much higher percentage of a grape which may figure much less significantly in the fist wine. Then again, say a prolonged thunderstorm hits in the middle of the harvest, no prizes for guessing where the sodden fruit is going to end up. So, by and large, it is probably safe to assume that the first wine is not going to be reflective of what the second is like.
Back to the wine under discussion - the Reserve de la Comtesse 1997 is the second wine of Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (to name it in its full glory). Of all the Second Growth estates, that have aspired to follow the elevation of Mouton Rothschild into the heady heights, Pichon Lalande probably has the best and most valid claim - hence the tag of a Super Second.
Now the bad news. 1997 was not a good year. It rained. In May and June which affected the flowering. It was so bad that Parker neglected to rate some of the classed growth wines that year. In all probability, he thought you should say nothing if you can’t say anything nice.
In spite of all this, I think the Reserve is rather good. It has managed to retain all the positive attributes of a Pichon Lalande - the smoothness and the subtlety which distinguishes it from the other top Paulliacs which I think have harsher tannins and more structural rigidity. It started off a little closed - opening up only after about a quarter of an hour in the decanter and continuing to do so in the glass. A surprising amount of fruit with mainly plum and blackcurrant accents plus a little bit of tobacco. Quite a bit of glycerol in the middle and a medium finish with a slight touch of spice at the end.
There was a rumour going round that when the Reserve was first presented, the experts thought that it was better than the first wine but of course they were not allowed to say that otherwise no one would pay double the price of the second for the first. Then the rumour gets more interesting in that the experts either thought or were told that the 97 Reserve would not last much beyond 2004 - which may be why Bibendum reduced prices to about £13 in London before Christmas and why Carrefour were selling them for just under S$50 in Singapore before the New Year.
I’m just happy ‘cos I still have five bottles.
posted by porcorosso at 4:32 AM
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