Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (commonly referred to as Pichon Lalande or Pichon Comtesse) is a

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, ...

in the

Pauillac Pauillac (; oc, Paulhac) is a municipality in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The city is mid-way between Bordeaux and the Pointe de Grave, along the Gironde, the largest estuary in western Europe. Popul ...

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

of the

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is also the name of the red

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

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 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 that were to be on display for visitors from ...

Wine style

While the winery was once known for its higher percentage of

Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...

and lower percentage of

Cabernet 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 Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

in its blends, the vineyard started to move towards blends more consistent with other wines from the

region, with recent vintages being between 70 and 75% Cabernet Sauvignon. The

second wine Second wine or second label ( French: ''Second vin'') 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. In some cases a third wine or e ...

is called ''Pichon Comtesse-Réserve''.

History

Château Pichon Comtesse was once part of the larger Pichon estate, owned by

Pierre de Rauzan Pierre de Rauzan, also known as Pierre de Mesures 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 Upon the marriage of h ...

, along with what today is

Château Pichon Longueville Baron Château Pichon Longueville Baron or Château Longueville au Baron de Pichon-Longueville (commonly referred to as Pichon Baron) is a winery in the Pauillac appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. Château Pichon Longueville Baron is also t ...

. 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 May-Éliane de Lencquesaing (born circa 1925) is a French winemaker, for over 30 years the owner and managing director of the Pauillac winery Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. She supervised the 1982 and 1983 productions, regarded h ...

(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 is a producer of champagne based in Reims, France. Founded in 1776, the business was inherited and renamed by Louis Roederer in 1833. It remains as one of the few independent and family-run ''maisons de champagne'' (champagne house ...

.Anson, Jane; Lechmere, Adam, ''Decanter.com'' (November 1, 2006)
Roederer takes over Pichon
/ref>

References

External links

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pichon Longueville Comtesse De Lalande, Chateau Bordeaux wine producers