Dueling reds, Left Bank vs Right Bank Bordeaux, mini-horizontal comparison with grilled beefsteaks
With me bach’ing it for the weekend, and d-in-law and g-daughter at special event, son Ryan invited me over to dinner for grilled eye of the ribeye beefsteaks. He was opening a 2009 Left Bank Bordeaux so I took a Right Bank label from the same vintage for a mini-horizontal comparison tasting.
Ryan pulled from his cellar this ultra-premium Pauillac, one of my favorite labels. We toured the ground of the Pichon Lalande and Pichon Baron estates during our Bordeaux Wine Experience in 2019.
Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse De Lalande 2009
Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande was founded in 1689 by Pierre de Mazure de Rauzan and gained its iconic family name through marriage in 1694. His daughter Thérèse received the land as a dowry when she married Jacques de Pichon Longueville, giving the estate its foundational name.
Pierre de Rauzan assembled the initial vineyard plots in Pauillac from 1689–1694.
18th Century: The estate experienced a strong tradition of female management, run by influential women including Thérèse de Rauzan, Germaine de Lajus, and Marie Branda de Terrefort. Baron Joseph (1760–1850): Baron Joseph de Pichon Longueville managed the estate for roughly 70 years after taking over at age 19.
On the eve of his death in 1850, Baron Joseph split the property among his five children. The two sons received two-fifths (becoming Château Pichon Baron or Pichon Longueville Baron), while the three daughters received three-fifths. Virginie de Pichon Longueville, Countess de Lalande, and her two sisters inherited three-fifths of the vineyard. Joseph's daughter Virginie married the Comte de Lalande, taking control of her share, building the château, and naming the estate Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande.
1855 Classification: Both resulting properties earned the status of Second Growth (Deuxième Cru Classé) in the historic 1855 Bordeaux Classification. To this day, Pichon Lalande is considered one of the "Super Second" Growths and enjoys great prestige with its international reputation.
In 1925, with no family heirs remaining, the Miailhe family (Edouard and Louis) purchased the estate.
In 1978, May-Eliane de Lencquesaing, daughter of Edouard Miailhe, in turn inherited the property and devoted herself entirely to continuing the tradition and family legacy. She managed the property expanding the vineyards from 40 to 89 hectares and turned Pichon Lalande into a global benchmark with legendary vintages like the 1982.
In 2006/2007, the estate was sold to the Rouzaud family, owners of Champagne Louis Roederer, who continue to run the property with a focus on sustainable and biodynamic farming.
To this day, the two Pichon estates sit immediately across the road from each other on the D2, Rte de Château, as you leave St Julien and enter the Pauillac appellation, on the south outskirts of the village of Pauillac. They sit adjacent to the notably First Growth Chateau Latour on the Pauillac side, and Chateau Leoville Las Cases, on the southern, St Julien side of the appellation boundary.
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| Pichon Baron |
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| D2 Route, St Julien, Pauillac in distance. |
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| Pichon Lalande Chateau. |
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| Pichon Lalande modern winery. |
The Pichon Lalande estate is planted to a higher percentage of Merlot than average in Pauillac with a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, without any Cabernet Franc which it typical in the region.
The 2009 vintage release of this label was awarded 97 points by The Wine Palate, 96 points by James Suckling, 95 points by Jeb Dunnuck, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and Wine Enthusiast which also gave gave it s ‘Cellar Selection’ designation, and 94 points by Vinous.
Winemaker's Tasting Note: “This beautiful vintage of Pichon Lalande is loaded with floral, cassis, boysenberry, earth, olive and tobacco notes. With a high percentage of CS, blended with 20% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, this powerful, graceful, sensuous, rich, fresh Bordeaux Wine is pure, refined and offers silky, velvet textures.”
James Suckling wrote this “Reminds me of the legendary 1982.”
This was deep garnet colored with deep purple-hue, medium to full-bodied, firm, structured, tight and closed, concentrated opulent and rich unctuos blackberry and black currants fruits with lead pencil graphite, cassis, tobacco, truffle, herbs and spice box notes with firm fine tannins on the firm full long finish. This was tightly wound and a bit closed, but try this again in five years, then ten, and beyond.
RM 93 points,
I took from our cellar this Right Bank St Emilion Grand Cru Classe label from the same vintage for a mini-horizontal (multiple bottles from the same vintage) comparison tasting.
Château l'Arrosee St Emilion Grand Cru Classe 2009
Prior to 1956, Ch. l’Arrosée was bottled and labelled by the local co-operative. Following the sale of the estate to the Caille family in 2002, the reputation of the wine grew rapidly after they made serious investments in the vineyard.
In 2011, the fourth generation of the Dillon family, Domaine Clarence Dillon, owners of famous first growth Ch. Haut-Brion and Ch. la Mission Haut-Brion, Prince Robert de Luxemburg, branched out beyond the Graves region to buy Ch. Tertre Daugay in Saint-Emilion.
In 2013, he acquired Château L'Arrosée, so the last vintage produced was 2012, when the property was sold to Domaine Clarence Dillon, and the label was subsequently merged with Ch. Tertre Daugay to create Ch. Quintus.
One notable UK wine merchant wrote, because of integration of Château L'Arrosée into Château Quintus, older vintages like 2009 are collector items found mainly through fine wine merchants and secondary auction markets, with prices generally ranging from $120 to over $700 per bottle depending on the retailer and market availability.
In 2021, Domaine Clarence Dillon bought Ch. Grand Pontet, another 35 acres of top Saint-Emilion terroir to further expand the Quintus estate. With the viticulture and winemaking at Quintus all under the control of the talented Haut-Brion team, Quintus quickly gained its own following of collectors.
Alongside the Grand Vin, a second wine Le Dragon de Quintus (first produced in 2011) and a third wine Saint-Emilion de Quintus (first produced in 2014) are made.
This release was rated 92 points by James Suckling, and 91 points by Robert M. Parker, Jr. Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator.
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate wrote, “This outstanding l'Arrosee is consistent with the Burgundian style that this terroir routinely produces.”
This was more approachable and pleasant than the tightly wound Pichon which will likely soften and integrate with further aging for another decade or more.
Bright ruby colored, full bodied, rich, round soft, smooth and polished ripe blackberry, raspberry and black cherry fruits with notes of kirsch, cassis and spice box with soft and silky polished tannins on a pleasant lingering finish.
RM 92 points.
