Pauillac · vintage 2008
Château Pichon Comtesse 2008
Ageing potential20 years and beyond
Why this vintage
- 97/100 from Vinousand 3 other scores above 90/100.
- The 2008 vintage in PauillacA bright late season saved a cool summer: wines of unexpected freshness and aromatic precision.
- Ageing potential20 years and beyond
Critic scores
- Vinous97
- Wine Enthusiast94
- Jeb Dunnuck93
- Wine Advocate92
The 2008 vintage in Pauillac
Vintage benchmark: 91/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: A bright late season saved a cool summer: wines of unexpected freshness and aromatic precision.
Overall reading of the year’s season across Pauillac. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.
Tasting
Difficult vintages suit Pichon Comtesse well. This Pauillac shows both richness and breadth, with superb material and a splendid extraction of tannin. On the palate, it displays superb concentration while retaining its charm and the silkiness brought by its 30% Merlot. Aromas that are less warm than usual, in a less southern-leaning palette, bring great aromatic precision.
Blend of the 2008 vintage
- 63 % Cabernet-sauvignon
- 29 % Merlot
- 5 % Petit verdot
- 3 % Cabernet franc
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2008 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot — a vintage blend departs from the area under vine as the year dictates.
Figures from the 2008 sheet
- 13 % vol.Alcohol
- 35 yrsVine age
- 200,000 bottlesProduction
Winemaking
After the grapes are received, destemmed and crushed, they are directed to the cuverie, lined with temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks of varying capacities, allowing for precise, rigorous plot-by-plot selection. Vatting time varies from 18 to 24 days depending on the year. Frequent pump-overs are carried out to extract the maximum colour and tannin.
Ageing
20 months in barrel (50% new)
Terroir
Close to the river, the 78 hectares of vines cross the Saint-Julien jalle to draw nearer to the Léoville plateau, before extending over the great Pichon Longueville plateau in the south of the Pauillac appellation. The exceptional richness of the Pauillac appellation is the result of a poor, meagre soil. The rises are formed of gravel over clay, a composition that ensures excellent drainage. It is these Quaternary gravels, known as Garonne gravels, and in particular those of the Günz terrace, the oldest and topographically the highest, that account for the quality of the finest vineyards of the Haut-Médoc.
An offer on Château Pichon Comtesse 2008
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 2008
The texts below copy in one click for your product sheets, catalogues and social channels. The printable sheet condenses the whole page onto a single A4 page.
Visuals
This wine’s visuals are grouped in the media library. High-definition packshots, labels, back labels and lifestyle photos are reserved for clients and partners, on the Compagnie Médocaine’s VinCod media library.
Sheet checked on September 21, 2026. Technical data: the estate’s VinCod sheets. Critic scores: sources cited above, with their date. Vintage benchmarks and character: Compagnie Médocaine’s own editorial read. Soils and relief, where shown: the Compagnie Médocaine’s parcel survey and the Mapbox/IGN terrain model.