Château Pichon Longueville Lalande 2001 is a great chance to taste a very good Bordeaux vintage at a remarkable price. Excellent value-for-money in Bordeaux growth terms.

The Château is widely regarded as a 'Super Second' growth - a 2nd growth Bordeaux château operating at first growth quality level. Furthermore, if Bordeaux's châteaux were Las Vegas hotels (where a good chunk of Bordeaux is consumed!), Lafite would be the elegant Bellagio, Mouton-Rothschild the gregarious Caesar's Palace, while Pichon the slightly dated Stardust.

That said, the château's cellar stairs lead up to an enchanting roof-top garden with a sweeping panorama of Pauillac and Latour's famous tower.

"…exhibits plenty of structure, wonderful sweetness, a closed style, but a rich, textured, persistent character. The unusually large percentage of Petit Verdot gives the wine more structure and less initial charm." eRobertParker.com (June 2004)