1988 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

This is a fully mature benchmark Second Growth from Pauillac: the legendary Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 1988 (commonly known as Pichon Comtesse). World-renowned as one of the ultimate "Super Seconds," Pichon Comtesse is celebrated for its unusually high proportion of Merlot, lending the wine its signature velvety, voluptuous texture and seductive floral charm alongside Pauillac's classic power. The 1988 vintage is a classicist's dream, yielding a structured, firm, and deeply savory expression that has evolved after nearly four decades in bottle into a prime plateau of tertiary drinking maturity. The nose opens with a soaring, highly complex bouquet of dried cassis, dark cherries, and plum preserves, gracefully layered with hallmark notes of cedarwood, pencil lead graphite, cigar box tobacco, dried violet petals, leather, and damp forest floor. On the palate, it is medium-to-full-bodied, supple, and aristocratically silken, featuring fully resolved, fine-grained tannins enlivened by a fresh spine of natural acidity that carries into a long, dry, and elegant mineral finish.

Highlights

• Vintage: 1988

• Region/Appellation: Pauillac, Médoc, Bordeaux, France (Deuxième Grand Cru Classé / Second Growth)

• Producer: Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

• Grape: Classic Bordeaux Blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot)

• Style: Fully Mature, Silky, Fragrant, and Refined Super Second Red Bordeaux

• Perfect for (food pairing): Fine cuts of slow-roasted rack of lamb with a garlic-herb crust, dry-aged prime ribeye or wagyu steak, roasted squab, pan-seared duck breast, or tender venison loin. Its complex tertiary notes of cedarwood, graphite, tobacco, and forest floor also make it a magnificent companion for pan-seared wild mushrooms, truffled risottos, savory earth-driven pastas, or a well-curated plate of mature hard cheeses such as an aged Comté or Gouda.