Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve: The wine is firm and tight but rich enough to balance the tannins; very cabernet, which confirms the new owner’s change in style, but at this stage it is a little less impressive and integrated than usual. 17.5

Michael Schuster: Dense and closed to smell; rich and fleshy wine, if with the vintage’s firm tannin and fresh acidity, too; long and generous on the palate, with a real sweetness of flavor alongside the minerality, a mouth-coating density for the year, complex, vital, aromatic, most persistent and complete. a fine, ample pichon comtesse —velvety, long-term promise? 2024–40. 17.5