Andrew Jefford | Saturated, deep black-red. Intricate pencil- and-cedar refinement here, spreading from the glass like a subtle mist; but peer through the mist and you’ll see pristine blackcurrants, deftly defined. Hard to resist; one sniff and you’re in. On the palate, the wine is subtle, enfolding, pure, long, velvety, and ample, with wonderful fresh concentration of fruit: stealthy seduction from first to last. It’s one of the least ostentatious of all the Pauillacs, yet it’s very hard not to fall in love with the Comtesse this year. Despite all the milky grace, there is still a quivering intensity to its depth of blackcurrant fruit: Bravo! | 95

Michael Schuster | Rich, blackcurrant-Cabernet ripe, and subtly gravelly to smell; fairly full-bodied, fresh, and firmly tannic; an abundance of flavor, deep and sweet, juicy and long to taste, complex and harmonious within its firmly but finely tannic frame, long and mouthcoating and satisfying beyond the immediate, richly fleshy appeal. Great long-term Pichon Comtesse. 2036–55+. | 94+