Wine Producing Countries

wines

(Château Pichon-Lalande) While I have been a big fan of the 1985 vintage in Bordeaux for many years and have written quite a bit about these wines in recent times, I had not tasted a bottle of the 1985 Pichon-Lalande since I cannot remember when. I sold this wine right out of the blocks in my merchant days and always liked it well enough, but in my formative years, I found it a bit too “weedy” and did not end up cellaring it for my own collection. I think this was the only vintage of Pichon-Lalande I did not buy for my cellar in that era, as I started laying in the wines with the 1981 vintage and bought them every year (even the 1984 and 1987) up through the 1989, before my buying habits (and my more limited cellar budget in those days) turned towards Burgundy. But, I skipped the 1985 and that was too bad, as the wine has aged quite beautifully and is now drinking with great style and grace. The bouquet is a superb blend of cassis, dark berries, coffee, cigar wrapper, a dollop of fresh herbs, gravel, black tea and toasty oak. On the palate the wine is pure, fullish and beautifully complex, with a good core of fruit, lovely soil signature, melted tannins and fine length and grip on the very classy finish. This is not a powerful vintage of Pichon, but it is an utterly complete one! (Drink between 2019-2045).John Gilman | 93 JGQuite ripe, with flavors of plum cake, warm pain d’épices, mint, Christmas pudding and fruitcake embedded in mulled currant and fig fruit. Offers a long, coffee-tinged finish, alluring ripeness and an easy structure.--Non-blind Pichon Lalande vertical (July 2014). Drink now through 2025.Wine Spectator | 92 WSAn intensely fragrant bouquet of weedy cassis fruit, toasted bread, and smoke is evolved and developed. In the mouth, the wine is medium to full-bodied, supple and smooth, with flavors of jammy black fruits and herbs. The finish is lush and silky. This wine has not yet begun to close up and I am beginning to doubt whether it will. A seductive-styled Pichon Lalande, it should drink well for another 10-15 years.Robert Parker | 91 RP

A beautiful L’Evangile and one of the vintage’s top successes, the color still retains a very dense ruby/purple with only a bit of lightening at the edge. A classic nose of liquid intermixed with black raspberries., blackberries, licorice, and a hint of truffle jumps from the glass of this medium to full-bodied, very concentrated, well-balanced, sweet, authoritatively powerful yet at the same time elegant wine. It has reached full maturity , where it should rest for some time to come. Anticipated maturity: Now-2017. Last tasted, 11/02.Robert Parker | 95 RPDeep red. Multidimensional nose melds red berry liqueur, milk chocolate, underbrush, truffle and smoke; seemed to shut down in the glass. Lush, silky and sweet, with sneaky ripe acidity giving the flavors clarity and penetration. Still a bit youthfully tight on the back end, but vinous and long. Drink now through 2015.Vinous Media | 93+ VM(Château l’Evangile) The 1985 l’Evangile has long had a stellar reputation, as this was the first vintage at the estate after its purchase by Lafite-Rothschild, and this most recent bottle at our October tasting showed beautifully. The deep, pure and flamboyant nose jumps from the glass in a blend of roasted plums, black cherries, mocha, herb tones, a dollop of cigar smoke and plenty of toasty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite suave and velvety on the attack, with a fine core of fruit, melting tannins and excellent length and grip on the focused and very classy finish. A lovely vintage of l’Evangile that is making good on the considerable promise of its youth, but is certainly a bit more polished in style than the wines made here prior to the sale to Lafite. (Drink between 2014-2035)John Gilman | 93 JGRich yet elegant with very deep, concentrated black currant and herb flavors and smoky tannins; long-term potential.Wine Spectator | 92 WSThere is a delicious greenness to this wine with green tea and green coffee bean. Hints of plum, too. Some herb and smoke. Medium body, soft and easy. Old style Bordeaux. Needs drinking.James Suckling | 90 JS