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Goedhuis, April 2011, Score: 95-97
More Cabernet Sauvignon than usual (66% compared to 30-35%) has helped create an incredible 2010. Still very Pichon Lalande in style with its pretty and velvety core of fruit, the property really harnessed the vintage's exceptional Cabernet to catapult this wine into the stratosphere. Veryimpressive. RK
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Neal Martin, September 2014, Score: 97
Tasted at the château as part of a private vertical. The 2010 Pichon-Lalande is going to be a modern day benchmark and in many ways, surpasses even the great wines such as the 1982, 1986 and 1996. It has a stunning, intense blackberry, mineral-laden nose that is suffused with great tension and vigour. The palate is medium-bodied but do not let that full you. Here is a Pauillac brimming with tension and focus, the wine achieving tremendous precision on its long and persistent finish. Outstanding. Tasted March 2014.
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Neal Martin, February 2014, Score: 95
Tasted blind at the Southwold Bordeaux 2010 tasting. Like the Grand Puy Lacoste 2010, the Pichon Lalande has a very attractive sea-influenced bouquet with brine and estuary scents infusing the crisp black fruit that gain intensity in the glass, yet remain very focused. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, perfectly judged acidity, silky smooth texture and a complete, harmonious finish that is very seductive. Beautiful.
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Neal Martin, February 2013, Score: 95
A blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petit Verdot, the Pichon Lalande has a generous blackberry and cassis-driven bouquet that is pure and harmonious. It is floral compared to its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with a caressing, creamy textured opening that is very seductive. The oak is nicely integrated here - a flattering 2010 in the context of the vintage with a sensual, silky smooth finish. It is a little more open than I was expecting, but it will still benefit from three to five years cellaring. Perhaps this is one of the few Pauillacs where I err towards the 2009, yet this still represents a superb wine from the estate.
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Neal Martin, March 2011, Score: 95-97
A blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. The Cabernet Sauvignon dominates the nose with blackberry, rose petal, pencil box and a touch of cedar all with very fine definition. The palate is silky smooth on the entry, very harmonious and focused, fine mineralité coming through, sensual and velvety towards the ripe finish. Extremely pure but powerful, this is a precise, brilliantly executed Pichon-Lalande. I bet Sylvie Cazes is hoping that all vintages will be like this. Drink 2016-2040
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Antonio Galloni, Ocotber 2017, Score: 98+
An eternal wine, the 2010 Pichon Lalande is a total showstopper. The first impression is one of explosive power, but time in the glass brings out the wine’s more delicate, floral side. Violet, graphite, crème de cassis, licorice and menthol overtones recall the 1996, but the tannins here are much softer, sweeter and more polished. In two recent tastings, the 2010 has been positively stellar. The alternation of hot days and cool nights led to a late harvest. The Cabernet Sauvignon harvest did not start until October 7; by that date in 2009 all the fruit was in. Readers who can still find the 2010 should not hesitate, as it is a modern-day classic. That’s all there is to it. Drink: 2025 - 2060.
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Robert Parker, February 2013, Score: 95+
The 2010 Pichon Lalande is performing extremely well and at the top of the range I predicted several years ago. A final blend dominated much more by Cabernet Sauvignon than usual (66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot), the wine is a tighter, more tannic and structured version of this famed Pauillac, which often tends to have more of a St-Julien-like personality than most Pauillacs. Structured, backward and tannic, yet showing a fat mid-palate that is more savory, broader and more expansive than I remember from barrel, this wine is somewhat reminiscent of the 1986, given the Cabernet Sauvignon domination of the blend. Full-bodied, impressively endowed, and less sexy and velvety than normal, this is a somewhat different style of Pichon Lalande than most readers have been used to. Whether you like it more or less will depend on your point of view, but this wine, unlike most Pichon Lalandes, needs a good 5-7 years of cellaring and should keep for 30+ years.Drink: 2018-2048
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Robert Parker, May 2011, Score: 92-95+
I tasted the 2010 Pichon Lalande on three separate occasions, two consistent and one that underperformed, hence the question mark. A blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, it reveals an opaque purple color as well as a thick, unctuous style with fresh blackberry and cassis fruit intermixed with hints of graphite, herbs and coffee. The vintage's tell-tale minerality is present in this structured, tannic, backward effort. It willrequire 5-6 years of cellaring and should age for 25-30 years. Drink: 2016 - 2046
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Decanter, February 2010, Score: 100
Silky, sweet black fruit, black olive and truffle notes from the start. This is majestically impressive - it sparks to life in your mouth and breaks out an involuntary smile. The texture is just liquid silk and it slowly but surely builds through the palate, gaining in confidence and totally delightful. Bright, vibrant tannins make the most of the high levels of acidity that were available in 2010, while matching them pace for pace with concentrated fruit. For me this is getting better as it ages, starting to rival the 1982 at Comtesse, and I can't wait to keep tasting it over the decades to come. Last time I rated this wine, in 2016, I gave it 98 points, and I questioned whether to keep it there, which is already an exceptional score, but I want to mark just how clearly it stood out in this horizontal. 60% new oak.
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Wine Spectator, April 2011, Score: 92-95
Very sappy and intense, with mouthwatering acidity framing the cassis, violet and tobacco notes, followed by a supervibrant finish that features lots of cassis bush character. The Petit Verdot isn't as obvious on the nose as the 2000, which had 10 percent in the blend, but just as prevalent on the taut finish, where there's plenty of spice, drive and cut. Tasted non-blind. -J.M.
