A vertical tasting of the wines of Chateau Pichon Comtesse de Lalande: The estate

In our continuing exploration of terroirs and wines from regions around the world, the Orlando Friends Tasting Group has, over the course of the past year, held tasting events featuring Constellation's To Kalon wines, Continuum, Tignanello, the slopes and terroirs of Mt Etna, Chateau Montelena, and the 1997 Napa Vintage. We continue this exploratory journey with a tasting of selected vintages of Bordeaux Second Growth Pichon Comtesse de Lalande beginning first with a look at the estate.

Burgundy has had a long tradition of vineyard-specific crus and associated wines; and that tradition has translated into desired wines and elevated prices. Bordeaux producers of that period saw tradition as the "value proposition" and sought to have their wines don that mantle. It began with Arnaud III de Pontac doubling the price of Haut-Brion wines in 1660 because his estate, he said, was "special." The Bordeaux establishment built on this brazen arrest and seizure of quality by stipulating that consumers buying wines from the Chateaus were assured of quality wines because of the tradition of producing same.

In was in this environment that Pierre de Mazure de Rauzan flourished and gained repute. And it was in this timeframe that he also acquired the lands that would eventually become the residence of the Bordeaux Second Growth Pichon wines. The events kicked-off by de Rauzan's initiative are illustrated in the timeline below.

The chart shows a single family owning the estate from the time of its compilation in 1689 until 1925 when the Comtesse portion of the property was sold to the Miaihle family who, in turn, sold their holdings to the Roederer family in 2007.

The Comtesse estate grew by acquisition from 30 ha in 1855, to 40 ha in the 1960s, to 89 ha at the end of the 20th century, and 100 ha currently. The holdings span both the Pauillac and St. Julien AOCs with the majority of the vineyards resident in the former. The characteristics of both AOCs are summarized in the chart below.

Map is a screen grab from a Pichon Comtesse video

The Pauillac region is "nestled between the temperate Atlantic climate and the Gironde estuary ... a consistent microclimate ...." which has proven conducive to the production of wines of exceptional quality (grapeseek.org):

• Mild temperatures moderate the growth cycle of the vines
• Sufficient rainfall ensures healthy grape development without the vines undergoing excessive stress
• Optimal balance of sunlight promotes the synthesis of sugars and other compounds essential for creating the complex flavor profiles.

The Comtesse soils and the built environment are illustrated in the chart below. As indicated therein, significant enhancements to the vineyard have been effected under the Roederer stewardship.

Significant improvements were also made to the winemaking program as the winery implemented a plot-by-plot vinification program and movement of materiel by the gravity flow method. The improvements are highlighted below.

I will detail the tasting in my next post

©Wine -- Mise en abyme