Château Pichon Baron Vertical (2019-2021)

As always, it is the Cabernet Sauvignon that sings. It brings an impressive structure to the wine, rich tannins and powerful black fruits. The wine is set for aging. It shows all the power and the open quality of the vintage. Drink from 2027.

Blackberries and blueberries with stone and graphite. Flint and black licorice, too. So perfumed. Full-bodied, very long and linear with incredible length. The new 1990, but better crafted. Chewy, yet so tailored and wonderfully proportioned. Freshness and elegance. Wonderful depth. 87% cabernet sauvignon rest merlot. The highest ever proportion of cabernet. Try after 2026.

Based on 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Merlot raised in 80% new French oak, the 2019 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron is pure class and just a beautiful, seamless Pauillac that does everything right. Revealing a deep purple hue as well textbook notes of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, freshly sharpened pencils, and liquid violets, it shows the more medium to full-bodied, elegant style of the vintage yet is brilliantly concentrated, has a supple, layered mouthfeel, ripe yet building tannins, and a great, great finish. It's more open and expressive than Mouton and shares plenty of similarities with Comtesse with its layered, supple, just perfectly balanced and classy style. It unquestionably already offers pleasure today (and it's a good time to try a bottle, as I wouldn't be surprised to see it close down), but it will need a decade to hit maturity and it will be a 50-year wine.

Fabulous aromas of blackcurrant, blueberry, crushed stone, graphite and lead pencil. Some violets and other flowers, too. Full-bodied with incredibly encompassing tannins that are like the finest velvet in texture. The structure is superb, with so much tension and focus. Seamless. This could be the new 1990 or better. Try after 2028.

The flagship 2020 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron is pure gold, a full-bodied, rich, powerful 2020 displaying the vintage's purity, focus, and structure front and center. A blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot, its dense purple hue is followed by a mammoth-sized bouquet of cassis, blackberries, smoked earth, graphite, and cedar pencil. With ripe tannins, a seamless, layered mouthfeel, and one heck of a finish, it comes closest in my mind to the estate 2010, and I think is clearly in the same realm as the 1989, 1990, 2000, 2009, 2010, 2015, and 2019. It offers pleasure today, but it certainly warrants 7-8 years, a decade if possible, of bottle age and will have 40-50 years of overall longevity.

Gentle and delicately aromatic but rich too, full of coffee, mocha, dark chocolate, caramel and medicinal herbs - mint and aniseed with a combination of red, blue and black berry fruits. Lovely density and weight on the palate, really very tannic but wide with an aerated effect so it doesn't feel at all heavy with a bright juiciness and extremely long length. The tannins make the first impression with a velvet texture and chalky minerality but it’s clean and the fruit has a crystalline purity that gives a sleek and direct overall impression. Generous, elegant and refined yet still not showing its best.

The wine has smoky aromas, is rich in tannins and packed with black currants. It is ripe and full of acidity that gives a juicy character. This is a great wine, its full structure promising great aging potential. Drink the wine from 2028.

The 2021 Pichon-Longueville Baron is showing very well in bottle, unwinding in the glass with notes of cassis, sweet berries and violets mingled with subtle hints of orange zest and cigar wrapper. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, with good depth at the core, bright acids and sweet tannins that assert themselves on the gently structured finish, its serious, slightly reserved profile reflects the unusually high (89%) percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2021 concluded its élevage in large wooden vats for a month and a half, saw a touch less racking than normal, and was only fined with a small amount of gelatin, not egg white, as has been the rule at this address for several years now.

Inviting, fragrant nose with pink flowers and red berry fruit. Pure and elegant with a crystalline aspect to the fruit, juicy and lively balance. A super, classic take that I really love: firm and appealing mineral grip, a sense of power and drive but also delicacy and finesse. Reflecting the vintage, it's light and delicate but persistent from start to finish, with tension. Linear but well contained, a solid effort.