October 24, 2024
Pichon Baron 2019 - 100 Pointed Perfection
“Perfumed and resonant, this is a profound young Pauillac that bears more of a resemblance to its neighbor Château Latour than to Pichon Lalande this year. Pichon Baron was one of the great deals of the en primeur campaign” - William Kelley, The Wine Advocate.
Château Pichon Longueville Baron, commonly known as Château Pichon Baron, is a prestigious wine estate located in the Pauillac appellation on the Left Bank of Bordeaux. As a Second Growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification, Château Pichon Baron is renowned for producing some of the most powerful and elegant wines in Bordeaux, characterized by their deep structure, rich flavours, and remarkable ageing potential.
The 1990 vintage of Pichon Baron was one of the greatest wines we've ever tasted and it was the gateway to falling in love with great Bordeaux. It set the bar for everything else and today's offer of the 2019 certainly meets that standard.
Pichon Baron has been making countless improvements over the years and we turn to William Kelley as he summarises what has been happening at Pichon Baron far better than we can:
"The numbers speak for themselves: until 2000, Pichon-Longueville Baron produced some 350,000 bottles per year; since 2001, that figure has fallen to 160,000. Managing director Christian Seely's first decision on arriving at the property was to reduce production, focusing the grand vin on Cabernet Sauvignon growing on the deep gravel terraces opposite Château Latour that have always been the heart of this historic estate and which were the source of the great duo of 1989 and 1990 before being joined by other holdings after a series of acquisitions in the early 1990s. The results speak for themselves in the form of a series of excellent vintages, and things improved further with the construction of a new barrel cellar in 2006, permitting better temperature control and more precision during élevage. In style, Pichon Baron these days has more in common stylistically with the depth and structure of Latour than it does with the perfumed sensuality of its sibling, Pichon Lalande; and in quality, it's clearly one of contemporary Bordeaux's greatest wines. It's hard to know whether 2010, 2016 or 2019 will emerge as the best Pichon Baron of the decade—and of Seely's tenure up to the time of writing—but what is certain is that the 2019 is a striking wine that any Bordeaux lover would want to have in their cellar."
With comparisons to great vintages and great Chateaus, whilst the critics score the wine highly, Pichon Baron 2019 is a wine we cannot recommend highly enough. It's a wine that has already entered our personal cellars and we recommend adding a case or two to yours.
Chateau Pichon Baron 2019
100 points | Wine Enthusiast, Roger Voss
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.
99 Points | The Wine Independent
The 2019 Pichon Baron is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Merlot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it charges out of the gate with energetic notes of blackcurrant cordial, juicy blackberries, and licorice, followed by hints of tar, raspberry leaves, and rose oil. The rich, seductive, medium to full-bodied palate is jam packed with black fruit preserves layers, supported by firm grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and layered.
99 Points | James Suckling
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.
97+ Points | Wine Advocate, William Kelley
The 2019 Pichon-Longueville Baron will go down as one of this château's great wines of the modern era, along with 2016, 2010 and 1989. Unfurling in the glass with aromas of cassis and plums mingled with notions of cigar wrapper, sweet loamy soil and violets, it's full-bodied, velvety and layered, with superb concentration, lively acids and rich, powdery tannins. Perfumed and resonant, this is a profound young Pauillac that bears more of a resemblance to its neighbor Château Latour than to Pichon Lalande this year. Pichon Baron was one of the great deals of the en primeur campaign, and readers who purchased futures are to be congratulated on their foresight.
97 Points | Vinous, Neal Martin
The 2019 Pichon-Longueville Baron was picked from September 18 to October 11. It has a captivating bouquet of intense blackberry, cedar, Japanese nori and sea spray notes on the nose, all exquisitely defined and poised. The harmonious palate is medium-bodied and classic in style, with pencil-lead-infused black fruit, lovely poise and not a single hair out of place toward the finish. Christian Seely believes this vintage suited Pichon-Baron, and that is confirmed by the quality in bottle. Outstanding.