Presentation
Coming from the same terroir, the second wine benefits from the same technology as the grand wine and also from its reputation. It is an excellent wine but less structured and less suitable for aging than its elder. La Réserve de la Comtesse was created and released on the market for the first time in 1973.
The vintage
2025, vintage of a historic drought, was born from the abundance of 2024. A year of absolute contrasts, where the vine, drawing from the reserves of a past vintage, offers us a masterful lesson in adaptation and balance.
Terroir
Close to the river, the 78 hectares of vineyards cross the jalle of Saint-Julien to approach the Léoville plateau, before spreading over the large Pichon Longueville plateau to the south of the Pauillac appellation. The exceptional richness of the Pauillac appellation is the result of a poor and stingy soil. The slopes are made up of gravel on clays, a composition that promotes excellent drainage. It is these gravels from the Quaternary era, known as Garonne gravels, especially those of the Günzian layer, the oldest and highest topographically, that explain the quality of the best vineyards in the Haut-Médoc.
Winemaking
Parcel vinification with gravity-fed vatting. Fermentation in temperature-controlled double-walled stainless steel truncated cone tanks.
Ageing
Aging for 12 months in barrels, with 50% new wood, with a long and medium toast. Traditional racking using the "esquive" method and fining with egg whites.
Varietals
Cabernet-sauvignon : 52%
Merlot : 46%
Cabernet franc : 2%
Specifications
Surface area of the vineyard : 92.00 ha
Yield : 24 hL/ha
Age of vines : 28 years old
Tasting
What sweetness in this assertive raspberry nose, with its nuances of rhubarb and pink rose, which imperceptibly lets this Pauillac terroir bloom, on its notes of cedar and graphite. Even Réserve elegantly imposes its origin... Its mouth is gourmet, juicy, nostalgically recalling the afternoons of yore, with strawberries and blackberries covering the sandy dough. The serenity of the memory also lies in the breadth of the tasting, its ease, thanks to the grace of smooth and chiseled tannins.
Reviews
Decanter
Wine Advocate
Jeb Dunnuck
Vinous