Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve | Remarkably broad construction and the emergence of a refined matter and texture worthy of this monument. An ideal Comtesse. | 96–97

Michael Schuster | Ripe blackcurrant on the nose; rich and generous, with the acid and tannin making this gently muscular and, indeed, more Pauillac in character than it used to be; but the flavors are freshly defined, sweet, close-grained, and complex, very long across the palate and with a strongly fruited and spicily aromatic aftertaste. A fine, firm-fleshed Pichon Lalande, also a more powerful (new?) expression of the vineyard, which will alter the image of the cru. But for many years there will also be many "easier" earlier expressions, just as classy, from the immediately previous vintages—2014 to 2016, for example. So, there is plenty to choose from! (Retasting the 2017 shows it also to be a very good, if gentler, beverage). 2035–50+. | 93–95