Château Pichon Comtesse 2023

Critic scores

• Vinous98
• Decanter98
• Wine Advocate97
• Wine Enthusiast97
• James Suckling94
• Wine Spectator91

The 2023 vintage in Pauillac

Vintage benchmark: 91/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: July mildew followed by a hot September demanded strict selection: fleshy, aromatic wines, more approachable than 2022.

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

The refined, thoroughbred and complex nose shows generous notes of aniseed and blackcurrant, along with floral nuances of red rose and peony, evolving toward a more mineral, earthy, rooty world also recalling blond tobacco. The palate is remarkable for its clean attack, evolving into a broad, serene mid-palate, revealing controlled power and balanced extraction, confirmed by a savoury, generous finish on precise, finely chiselled tannins. Pastry-like, juicy and fruity notes (black and blue fruit) mingle with cedar aromas that bring nobility and complexity.

Blend of the 2023 vintage

Cabernet Sauvignon(80%), Merlot(17%), Cabernet Franc(3%)

Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2023 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot.

Figures from the 2023 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 41 hl/haYield
• 28 yrsVine age

Winemaking

Plot-by-plot vinification. Tank filling by gravity. Temperature-controlled, double-walled, truncated-cone stainless steel tanks.

Ageing

In barrel: 18 months, 60% new barrels, long-to-medium toast, traditional racking without aeration, fining with egg whites.

Terroir

Gravel rises over sandy-clay subsoils. Planting density: 9,000 vines/hectare.