Pichon Lalande 1985

Pauillac, Second Growth

Excel download

View All Vintages of this Wine

Units Size Case size GBP Price: Quantities Buy
Tasting Notes

Tasted at the property, the 1985 Pichon Lalande is fully matured on the feral, tertiary nose, and like the bottle I tasted a couple of years ago, this has recently become much more diffuse than exemplary showing during the 1990s and 2000s. The palate is fleshy and smooth like many wines of this vintage, but in recent years, the tannins have become and little edgier, the fruit degraded and turning quite mushroom-like and earthy on the finish. I would broach bottles of this over the next five years, because I feel that it is drying out.

Score: 88

Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2017 - 2021 29 July 2016

What a treat it is to taste these two Pichon Lalandes straight from the chateau’s cellar. The 1985 Pichon Lalande opens with mature, tertiary aromatics. Still huge and concentrated on the palate, the 1985 still has remarkable depth, but the elements are out of balance, because the aromatics are maturing at a faster pace than the wine’s structural elements. When wines are out of balance, time is an enemy, not a friend. While then 1985 clearly has enough power and overall intensity to keep for many years, I would prefer to drink it sooner rather than later, as the imbalances that are present today will only become more disconcerting as the years go by.

Score: 89

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2016 - 2020 01 February 2016

Quite 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.

Score: 92

James Molesworth, Wine Spectator Maturity: 2014-2025 15 November 2014

The 1985 Pichon Lalande is an outstanding wine, but I do not think it reaches the same level of quality as the 1989, 1986, 1983, 1982, or 1978. It has a deep ruby color and a ripe, oaky, curranty bouquet with a trace of herbaceousness. On the palate, the wine is rich, elegant, supple, and not unlike the style of either the 1979 or 1981. It is a lovely wine. Anticipated maturity: Now-2002. Last tasted, 9/90.

Score: 90

Robert Parker, 'Bordeaux' 3rd Ed. Maturity: 1990-2002 01 January 1998

Fully mature, this wine shows some pink at the edge, a sweet nose of herb-tinged cherries and black currants intermixed with dusty notes and new oak. The wine is medium-bodied, elegant, very flattering, and perfumed. It does not have the weight, depth, or dimensions of the top vintages, but is quite seductive.

Score: 90

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2003-2005 01 August 1993