Andrew Jefford | Dark black-red, still opaque and brooding at the core. Fresh and almost floral: violets, peppercorns, sweet woodruff. Classy and attractive, with a subtler wood influence than many of the top-flight second wines. Very finely composed aromas here: great refinement, though we have only just tiptoed into ripeness. Svelte, deft, and tender on the palate, soft already, with the usual remarkable fruit intensity and with the same aromatic finesse the aromas offered. In fact, it seems a little riper on the palate than it did on the nose, classic Comtesse milky grace providing a rare bass/bottom note to the palate in a year when top notes dominate. A lovely second wine for the vintage. | 93

Michael Schuster | Ripe blackcurrant fruit and lightly oak- cedary nose; medium-full, fresh, finely firm in tannin, a very nice 2017 balance. Long, even, elegant, effortless wine, with a beautiful fruit, a notable harmony as so often, and with very nice length, too. It needs a few years but will be rewarding for many more. Typically classy Pichon Comtesse second wine. 2024–37+. | 90