Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
Encyclopedia
Winery
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...
in the Pauillac
Pauillac
Pauillac is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-Wine:The commune consists of only 3000 acres of vineyards in the Haut-Médoc between the villages of Saint-Julien to the south and Saint-Estèphe to the north, but is home to three of Bordeaux's five...
appellation
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...
of the Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
region of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is also the name of the red wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
produced by this property. The wine produced here was classified as one of fifteen Deuxièmes Crus (Second Growths) in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855
Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855
The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines which were to be on display for visitors from around the world...
.
Wine style
With 45% Cabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
, 35% Merlot
Merlot
Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
, 12% Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone - as in the Loire's Chinon...
and 8% Petit Verdot
Petit verdot
Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen, it is added in small amounts to add tannin, colour and flavour to the...
, Pichon Lalande has an unusually high proportion of Merlot for a Pauillac property, which tends to make the tannic structure of this wine slightly softer than wines from many other classified Pauillac châteaux, which particularly in France is described as a more "feminine" style.
The second wine
Second wine
Second wine is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from cuvee not selected for use in the Grand vin or first label...
is called Reserve de la Comtesse.
History
Château Pichon Comtesse was once part of the larger Pichon estate, owned by Pierre de RauzanPierre de Rauzan
Pierre de Rauzan was a Bordeaux wine merchant. He served as estate manager of Château Latour. In the 1690s he began buying land in the Médoc near the village of Pauillac.-Legacy:...
, along with what today is Château Pichon Longueville Baron
Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron
Château Pichon Longueville Baron is a winery in the Pauillac appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. Château Pichon Longueville Baron is also the name of the red wine produced by this property...
. In 1850, the estate was divided into the two current Pichon estates. In 1925, Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande was bought by Edouard Miailhe and Louis Miailhe. The daughter of Edouard Miailhe, May Eliane de Lencquesaing (born in 1926) later became the owner and manager of the property. In 2006, de Lencquesaing sold a majority interest in the Château to the Rouzaud family, which also owns the Champagne house Louis Roederer
Louis Roederer
Louis Roederer is a producer of champagne based in Reims, France. Founded in 1776, it was inherited and renamed by Louis Roederer in 1833, and is noted as the producer of the luxury champagne Cristal.-History:...
.