JAMES SUCKLING: "This is a pretty and refined Pichon Lalande. Aromas of blueberries and blackberries with hints of earth and mushrooms. Full body, with velvety tannins and a juicy finish."

ROBERT PARKER - THE WINE ADVOCATE: "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."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, zarter Wasserrand, feine Gewürzanklänge, schokoladige Nuancen, dunkles Waldbeerkonfit unterlegt, zart nach Orangenzesten, anziehendes Bukett. Saftig, reife Kirschenfrucht, zarter Nougat, feine, seidige Tannine, gute Extraktsüße, würziger Abgang, zeigt eine sehr gute Länge, bereits harmonisch, attraktive süße rotbeerige Note im Nachhall, bereits jetzt sehr delikat."

Ausbau
Gärung: 18 bis 25 Tage mit Überflutung im Stahltank; 15 % des Säureabbaus im Eichenfass; Ausbau: 50 % in neuen Eichenfässern für 16 bis 18 Monate.