1989 Château Pichon-Longueville-Lalande
Pauillac notes wanted. Is this wine ready to drink yet?
Thanks in advance.
Oh by the way how does the auction results work.
I checked this wine and its worth either $67 or $1300 and I have no idea how to read the results.

cabalicous:

I tasted this in Las Vegas last weekend. Here are my notes (some of them from the winemaker Gildas d'Ollone):

Earliest harvest since 1893 (obviously a hot vintage). Large crop. High alcohol, low acidity. 8 % Petite Verdot. Barnyardy nose. Very smooth. Soft and seductive, the tannins are well integrated. Plums, cloves and strawberry flavors. Satiny texture. Opulent. I'd rate it 94 pts and found it quite delicious right now.

Mr. d'Ollone, however, thinks that this wine is a "marathon runner". He mentioned that he recently sampled the 1893 Lalande (similar vintage characteristics)and said it was still "lively, lean and beautiful".

Hope this is helpful. I'll have more notes on 1989 and 2000 2nd growths once I get a chance to write up my notes.

Cheers,

Otis

cab, most of the '89's are not quite ready to drink yet. If you have three or more, you can open one now. If you have less than three, I'd wait two or three years.

Pretty easy to agree with Board-O. I had one of these about six months ago, and my notes would have been a bit different than those of otisabdul. Great bottle, but I would not yet call it smooth. I thought the tannins were still pretty strong. I was drinking alongside a 1988 which I thought was much further along, which may have affected my feelings about it. I am staying away from any of the rest of mine for another three or four years.