When Aman told me our customer/friend JT was going to be in town, he had already planned to host a small dinner at his home for JT and his wife P. The couple was as delightful company as anyone could hope for, totally unassuming and in love with life as anything. It was a laugh-a-minute evening with this fun couple and another friend MH who brought with him no small bag of comical personal anecdotes, far too many to belie his youthful age. The only times we were not laughing was when we were contemplating the wines. As it turned out, the host had lined up a 'small' selection of Pichon Lalande which spanned across five vintages between 1985 and 2004.
As I was working in the kitchen before the couple arrived, we cracked open a bottle of Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blancs NV (non-dosé). I have wired my brain to demand chilled champagne whenever I was cooking in order to quench my thirst and to stifle the heat. This is of course just one of the concocted excuses to justify my endless craving for bubblies. And at this level of champagne, I got a lot more than just a simple quenching. To many people this is a re-education of champagne appreciation. A very small production with wines made entirely from grown grapes (hence the term grower's champagne) from the top terroirs (in this case predominantly Cramant, a grand cru) provided a stage for a new level of quality for non-vintage champagnes. Crisp, airy, limey, and bone-dry yet quite creamy in the mouth with distinct minerally tones, this was more than a worthy apéritif, it was a lovely drink (90 points). The crowd was obviously enjoying it too. And the experience was upstaged once the Diebolt-Vallois Cuvée Prestige NV (non-dosé) was opened. This had a touch more delicacy and a more floral character. Light, fluffy mousse with ripe grapefruits and pear fruits flavour profile. P was raving the whole night about it. And no one could blame her. It was indeed a beautiful champagne, non-vintage or not (91 points).
The mini vertical of the Pichon Lalande opened with the 2004 Pichon Lalande. This was decidedly sexy and the crowd was lapping it up tonight, and many were impressed by its performance in spite of its less-than-illustrious vintage origin. Clean, vanilla-scented oak, cedar and explosive currant fruits leaning toward blueberries plus notes of roast coffee and dark chocolates later on. Constant coaxing in the glass revealed that underneath the shiny coating, the midpalate and natural fruit concentration were lacking, plus I also detected a miniscule trace of greenness. Still, who can resist this hedonistic juice built for pleasure and gratification such as this? (91 points)
One sniff at the 2000 Pichon Lalande and I had an instant feeling this might well be the Pichon of the night. Such was the grandeur of this wine even at this early point of acquaintance. This wine was indeed monumental and impressive. Amazingly full and forceful at its youth today, but also supremely elegant and poised and as good an example of Pichon Lalande as I can remember. Still purple in colour now, the initial vanilla-scented oak curtain quickly withdrew to reveal dense but fresh cassis fruits and hints of lead pencil. Thick and creamy in the mouth, this wine was hardly heavy, in fact, rather uplifting and fresh in the mouth with great thrust and vinosity (not unlike the 1996 but without the austerity). This just lacked one additional dimension of volume and the indescribable sense of presence and savour of a top growth, but otherwise this was in every way a complete Pichon Lalande waiting to fully reveal its potentials, and one which would enjoy a very very long life ahead (94+ points) Superb wine.
The 1996 Pichon Lalande would always be remembered as one of the most 'atypical' Pichon because of its unusually high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon that went into the wine, as opposed to the usual Pichon which contains rather high Merlot contents especially in the context of Pauillac. The resulting wine was the most Pauillac-like Pichon Lalande of the night, which, at least to me, was probably the most profound. Deep dark red with brilliant luminosity thanks to its superb acidity. Very reticent nose at this point still, with cool aromas of redcurrants and blackberries, complicated by a touch of smoke and tobacco. Austere and cool in the mouth with relentless backbone energy. Superb vinosity, persistent cool sweetness and impeccably balanced in spite of its rather closed disposition at this stage. The dominance of the top quality Cabernet Sauvignon was highly evident here. Continued to evolve throughout the night but remained aloof. Even the younger 2000 was, by comparison, 'friendlier' tonight (93+ points).
As we moved into the '80s, it's as if we were dealing with different members of the Pichon family: the wines have a trace of dirt that the earlier wines did not have. The 1989 Pichon Lalande was a rather muscular, in fact, almost chunky Pichon. The blackberry fruits was both meaty and spiced up by roasted herbs notes. Already enjoyable now, the sweetness of the fruits have now emerged along with the tell-tale heat-stressed vintage's rather dusty finish. An altogether nicely packaged wine with a good balance, although not too gregarious I must say... (91 points)
A lot of 1985 left-bank Bordeaux possess that drying finish effect I found rather distracting. The 1985 Pichon Lalande was in this sense not too different, but fortunately the issues were not too aggravated. A plush wine, very soft and fully mature now, the wine was cedary with hints of wet earth. There was a slight greenness to the fruits however, and it was lacking the better vintages' mid-palate energy and persistence. In comparison with the wines of the 1990's, this came across as slightly 'dirty' but not in a flawed sense. Lovely wine for the dinner table now, and though not seemingly dissipating, there is little point to hold for too much longer as further upside is not to be expected (90 points).
One key 'benefit' of doing a tasting at someone's house was that the possibility for extra wines added at the end of a tasting is indeed rather probable. Tonight was no exception. P's continued and infectious enthusiasm over the Diebolt-Vallois champagnes served before the Pichon Lalande flight rubbed off on Aman, and he asked me to check his cellar to pull out another bottle of bubblies. A dirty job, but someone's gotta do it, yeah right... Well, being a dutiful friend that I am, I stoically obliged. My slippery fingers rummaged through the top shelf of his cellar and landed on a bottle of another Diebolt-Vallois, but this is no ordinary bottle. I glanced at the host, asking for his consent, and he asked me back how was this wine the last time I tasted it, and I told him frankly we should wait no longer. He gave me the thumbs up and a few seconds later, the cork popped on Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blancs 1979. This wine got the table pretty much raving mad at this point as the sense of exoticism overwhelmed everyone. Exotic aromas of grilled nuts, truffle and mild cheese came on at first, with slight hints of fino sherry. The wine became fresher as we let it sit on. The flavours became more focused although the petillant bubbles quite rapidly vanished. Deep, dense and sweet, this was, to be quite honest, proving to be a better bottle than the one I opened just a few months back. Lucky me to try this again! (91 points)
A few more friends dropped by at late night, and while they sipped to try what remained of the Pichon bottles, Aman went to his cellar again to pull off MH's favourite drink: Sauternes. Out came 1989 Château Guiraud with its rich and heady bouquet of dried apricots, hazelnuts and orange peel. Already losing its youthful stickiness, this wine was not quite as honeyed as it was marmalade-like. This wine probably had been in this peak drinkability stage for a while and may hold its own for a couple of years more (90 points). MH was smiling endlessly, repeating himself that his night was made by now. A man who really loves his Sauternes and a happy man indeed. P exclaimed, "Dark chocolate! This needs dark chocolates!" and suddenly I remembered I just picked up a couple of bars of my favourite 1er Cru Michel Cluizel darkies from Culina before dinner. She was right. The choc was a lovely companion to the Sauternes, the reticent and deeply seated sweetness harmonized with each other rather nicely. A fitting closure for a very enjoyable evening...
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