FLOAT 100 · Wine · No. 70
Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2016
A Pauillac estate once famous for its Merlot turned decisively to Cabernet, and in 2016 its young winemaker made a wine critics set beside the legendary 1982.
- Maker
- Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
- By price in wine
- 78 of 100
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Create a free account- Producer
- Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac, Bordeaux
- Classification
- Second growth in the 1855 Bordeaux classification
- Vineyard
- About 220 acres, 27 of them in the neighboring commune of Saint-Julien
- Blend
- 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc
- Aging
- 18 months in oak, 60% new
- Harvest
- September 20 to October 20, 2016
- Yield
- 40 hl/ha
- Alcohol
- 13.32%
- Critic scores
- 100 from Jeb Dunnuck, Jane Anson and William Kelley
- Owner
- The Rouzaud family of Champagne Louis Roederer
Half of a divided estate
The estate goes back to the end of the 17th century, when Pierre de Mazur de Rauzan assembled an 80-hectare property in Pauillac that also included today's Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron. In 1694 his daughter married Jacques Pichon Longueville, and the estate took the Pichon name.
When Baron Joseph de Pichon Longueville died in 1850, the property was split between his children. His son Raoul, who inherited the title of baron, took what became Pichon Longueville Baron; his daughter Virginie, who had married the Comte de Lalande, took the part that still bears her title. Five years later, in the 1855 classification drawn up for the Paris Exposition, Pichon Comtesse was ranked a second growth.
The vineyard today covers about 220 acres, including 27 acres across the line in Saint-Julien, a rare thing for a Pauillac estate. It neighbors Chateau Latour and shares its gravel and clay soils, and its vines average about 35 years old.
From Madame to Roederer
Edouard and Louis Miailhe, from an old Bordeaux family of vineyard owners and wine brokers, bought the estate in 1925. Edouard's daughter, May Eliane de Lencquesaing, inherited it in 1978 and ran it for about thirty years. Under her the estate earned its reputation as a 'super second,' and its 1982 vintage received a perfect 100 points from Robert Parker.
She sold to the Rouzaud family, owners of the Champagne house Louis Roederer; the importer dates the sale to 2007, while another reference says she sold a majority stake in 2006. Roederer invested about 30 million dollars from 2009 in replanting and a new cellar, and began restructuring the vineyard to better match grape varieties, rootstocks and soils. The estate uses no herbicides and was farming 37 acres biodynamically by 2019.
Nicolas Glumineau, born in 1974, studied enology in Bordeaux under Denis Dubourdieu and trained as a viticultural engineer in Montpellier. He worked at Chateau Haut-Brion from 2005 and Chateau Margaux from 2006 before becoming general manager and winemaker at Pichon Comtesse, and at Roederer's Chateau de Pez in Saint-Estephe, in 2012.
2016: more Cabernet than ever
Pichon Comtesse was long known for a high share of Merlot. In recent vintages the grand vin has run 70 to 75 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2016 sits at the top of that range: 75 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 21 percent Merlot and 4 percent Cabernet Franc. One critic stressed that readers should know the wine is now 'much more Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated' than in the past.
Picking ran from September 20 to October 20, 2016, at yields of 40 hectoliters per hectare. The wine was aged for 18 months in barrel, 60 percent of it new oak, and came in at 13.32 percent alcohol.
Measured against 1982
From barrel in April 2017, Neal Martin compared the wine to 'a Rolls Royce with a purring engine,' and Jane Anson called it one of the wines of the vintage. Tim Atkin rated it among the Pauillacs of the year.
In bottle, Jeb Dunnuck gave it 100 points in February 2019, writing that it matches the 1982 and is 'a perfect, legendary wine in the making' and a 50-year wine. Jane Anson gave 100 in July 2021, and William Kelley gave 100 in August 2022, calling it 'one of the greatest wines this estate has produced in the modern era.' James Suckling scored it 98 and asked whether it was the best in decades.
Others were more reserved. Lisa Perrotti-Brown gave 99, Neal Martin has scored it 96 and 97 in retastings, and Jancis Robinson gave 18 out of 20, noting 'quite a bit of alcohol but a wine to swoon over.' From barrel she had been the clear dissenter, at 17-.
The bottle today
In October 2026 a merchant in upstate New York listed a single 750 ml bottle of the 2016 at $384.93, an asking price, not a sale. The same merchant offered six- and twelve-bottle cases for later delivery at lower per-bottle prices.
Dunnuck, who followed one bottle over several days, found the 2016 slightly more approachable than some of its neighbors but noted that it shuts down quickly in the glass. The estate also makes a second wine, Reserve de la Comtesse.
The numbers
- Vineyard
- About 220 acres, 27 in Saint-Julien
- Average vine age
- About 35 years
- 2016 blend
- 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc
- Yield
- 40 hl/ha
- Oak
- 18 months, 60% new
- Alcohol
- 13.32%
- Jeb Dunnuck
- 100 (2019)
- Jane Anson
- 100 (2021)
- William Kelley
- 100 (2022)
- Jancis Robinson
- 18/20
Timeline
The Rauzan estate passes into the Pichon Longueville family by marriage.
Baron Joseph de Pichon Longueville dies and the estate is split; his daughter Virginie, Comtesse de Lalande, takes this half.
Pichon Comtesse is ranked a second growth.
Edouard and Louis Miailhe buy the estate.
May Eliane de Lencquesaing inherits Pichon Comtesse.
The Rouzaud family of Louis Roederer acquires the estate (one reference gives 2006 for a majority stake).
Roederer begins a replanting plan and builds a new cellar.
Nicolas Glumineau becomes general manager and winemaker.
Harvest of the 2016 begins, running to October 20.
Critics taste the 2016 from barrel; one calls it a Rolls Royce with a purring engine.
Jeb Dunnuck scores the bottled 2016 100 points.
Jane Anson scores it 100 points.
William Kelley scores it 100 points.
A New York merchant lists a bottle at $384.93.
The world in 2016
Suicide bombings at Brussels airport and a metro station kill 35 people.
The United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union.
A truck attack in Nice, France, kills 86 people.
The Summer Olympics open in Rio de Janeiro.
The Chicago Cubs win the World Series for the first time since 1908.
Donald Trump is elected the 45th president of the United States.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | $385 | Asking price, not a saleRetail asking price for one 750 ml bottle at a New York merchant. Not a sale. |
This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.
By reference price, Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2016 is number 78 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (70 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- Pichon Comtesse has 27 acres of vines in Saint-Julien, yet its wine is sold as Pauillac.
- The estate is named for Virginie de Pichon Longueville, who inherited it in 1850 and married the Comte de Lalande.
- Its vineyard borders Chateau Latour and shares its gravel and clay soils.
- The estate once known for Merlot put 75 percent Cabernet Sauvignon into its 2016.
- Pichon Comtesse is owned by the family behind the Champagne house Louis Roederer.
- Its 1982, the vintage critics compared the 2016 to, also scored a perfect 100.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 3, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026