Chateau Lalande St-Julien 2001
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Exhibiting a dark ruby colour, this Grand Vin develops aromas of rose petal, violets, cassis, and stone fruits. On the palate; it is both clean and silky, which develops and intensifies through the mid palate and is well sustained by a certain overall smoothness. By the nature of this wine, it sustains a flavoursome and well developed body. With an aromatic finish, it is subtly spiced, showing hints of cinnamon, liquorice, and cherry, all helping to accompany a very notable length in mouth. This is a well structured vintage, both elegant and distinguished and is indeed characteristic of Pichon.
Cha^teau Lalande is located at the entrance of the famous St.-Julien appellation. The area is well known for their great wines which are heavily dominated by Grand Cru Classé properties. However, Lalande is unique because is it one of the very few, small, non-classified estates. Their adjoining neighbours are Cha^teau Talbot (4ème Grand Cru Classé), Cha^teau Lagrange (4ème Grand Cru Classé), and Cha^teau Ducru-Beaucaillou (2ème Grand Cru Classé).
Lalande is characterized by its exceptional terroir. This vineyard is in one unbroken, continuous parcel of land that was originally from Château Lagrange (4ème Grand Cru Classé) and Château Saint-Pierre (4ème Grand Cru Classé). It was acquired from Château Lagrange in 1964 by Gabriel Meffre, a Rhône Valley producer who saw the its potential at the time.
The property used to be managed from far away as none of the owners lived on sight. This all changed when 3rd generation Ludovic and Julien Meffre (“The Meffre Brothers”) and trained enologists, moved to the area at the beginning of the 21Châteaust Century. They have given a burst of life to Lalande with the mindset of bringing it to the top.
This started with an ambition renovation of the cellar with a state of the art winemaking facility, stunning aging cellars and a tasting room worthy of a Grand Cru Classé. There also has been improvements in the vineyard such as considerable replantation over the years, implementation of sustainable farming methods, identifying the different plots in the vineyard (“sélection parcellaire”), and even introducing green harvesting. All of this has resulted in dramatic improvements in the quality of the wine, receiving press accolades and high ratings every year.
Today, Lalande is producing an exceptional elegant and refined wine, that is still available at affordable prices for the consumer.
The vineyard is 15.5 hectares (38 acres) in size planted mostly on gravely soil with low yields. After harvest from mid-September to mid-October, the wine is vinified in separate vats and undergoes cold maceration for 5 days to maximize color and to soften the tannins . The alcoholic fermentation lasts for 10 days and 50% of the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in barrels. Finally, the wine ages 12 months in 40% new French oak before being bottled. Estate grown and bottled. Sustainable practices.