Château Pichon Baron Château Pichon Baron 2022 750ml

The 2020 Pichon Baron is every bit as magnificent as it was en primeur. A wine of vertical intensity and explosive power, the 2020 offers up an exotic mix of dark red/black fruit, espresso, licorice, menthol, gravel and dried herbs. This potent, driving Pauillac needs time to come together. It marries the fruit intensity of a warm year with the driving energy of a cool year. The 2020 is a gorgeous Pichon Baron. (Antonio Galloni)

The 2022 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron is young and unevolved, with a barrel sample-like feel, offering cassis, graphite, liquid violets, and incredible purity. Powerful and structured, it has remarkable depth, rock-solid concentration, and seamless integrated structure and tannins. Based on 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot aged 18 months in 70% new oak, this classically styled, inward Pauillac is one of the most promising wines of the vintage and should evolve for 40+ years.

What a nose with complex aromas of blackberries, blackcurrants, graphite and pencil shavings. Full-bodied, this has layers of tannins and intense richness but is framed and held together by the phenolic structure. Vertical and deep, it goes on for minutes on the palate. Great finish. 81% cabernet sauvignon and 19% merlot. Give this five to six years to come together more. Best after 2030 and beyond.

Aromas of sweet dark berries and cherries mingled with notions of cigar wrapper, pencil shavings and licorice introduce the 2022 Pichon-Longueville Baron, a full-bodied, layered and multidimensional wine that's deep, dense and lively, with terrific concentration, sweet tannins and a long, penetrating finish. Integrated and serious, this hints at the lavishness inherent to the vintage, while remaining classic and controlled. This blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot was bottled in June.

The 2022 Pichon Baron is one of the most elegant, polished wines I have ever tasted here. Silky and refined, the 2022 is super-impressive right out of the gate. The aromatics alone are mesmerizing. Blood orange, herbs and floral notes lend notable delineation to a core of Cabernet Sauvignon fruit. As I did en primeur, I find the wine's balance nothing short of exquisite. There's more freshness and vibrancy here than in the past, along with a noticeably lower oak imprint and more sensual tannins that lend notable sophistication throughout.

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.

Suave and sophisticated, the 2018 Pichon Baron is a real head-turner. Silky, polished tannins wrap around a core of inky dark red/purplish berry fruit. More than anything else, the 2018 impresses for its exceptional balance. All the elements are so impeccably balanced. That will make the 2018 easy to drink relatively early, although my preference would be to leave it in the cellar for the better part of the next decade. Rose petal, spice, blood orange and mint add brightness and perfume on the long, finely-knit finish. (Antonio Galloni)

Aromas of blackcurrants, blueberries, ash and cedar with hints of conifer. Full-bodied, yet so tight and refined with polished, toned tannins that are creamy and compact with a silky texture. Energetic and driven. Try after 2026.

A very polished and pure expression of Pauillac, but don't go to sleep on it. As charming and vibrant as the cassis, cherry preserve and blackberry paste flavors are, they have a latent saturated feel. And then there's a serious network of iron girders supporting it all, along with sweet tobacco, floral and worn cedar accents. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2030 through 2050. 13,300 cases made. (James Molesworth)

This has a very large-scaled yet properly proportioned core of cassis, plum and blackberry fruit flavors that are remarkably pure and focused. Buried deep within is a sleek, vibrant iron spine that drives the finish as the fruit keeps pace. Extra savory, tobacco and cedar nuances fill out all the remaining available space. A towering wine, with a buttoned-up feel. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2030 through 2045. 12,404 cases made, 550 cases imported. (James Molesworth)

The brilliant 2020 Pichon-Longueville Baron offers up inviting aromas of sweet berries and cassis mingled with pipe tobacco, loamy soil, pencil shavings and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, its velvety attack segues into a concentrated mid-palate that’s framed by rich, powdery tannins, concluding with a long, vibrant finish. A blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot, it’s a true classic that’s a touch less demonstrative out of the gates than the sensual 2019, but which in the fullness of time will prove every bit as good. (William Kelley)

This towering red offers a remarkable combination of freshness and weight. The well-endowed core of cassis, plum and black cherry puree shows polish and brightness, and a sleek iron note keeps this grounded. That background is laced with rose petal, iris and apple wood, while a subtle savory twinge percolates throughout in a way that only a classic Bordeaux can accomplish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2026 through 2050. 12,797 cases made. Best from 2026 through 2050. 12,797 cases made.

A beautiful, majestic Pauillac that reminds me a little of the 2000, the 2018 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron checks in as 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot that was brought up in 80% new French oak. It shows the estate’s more pure Cabernet, focused, elegant style yet offers full-bodied richness and serious depth of fruit as well as awesome notes of crème de cassis, graphite, lead pencil shavings, tobacco, and wet stone-like minerality. With building tannins, a fresh, focused texture, and a great finish, it’s not for those looking for instant gratification, and I suspect it will need a solid decade or more of cellaring, but it will evolve for 50 years or more. It’s a profound 2018.

A blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot aged 18 months in 80% new French oak, the 2017 Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron sports a vivid purple hue as well as gorgeous notes of creme de cassis and black raspberry fruits interwoven with classic Pauillac lead pencil, crushed rocks, chocolate, and violet notes. Full-bodied and concentrated, yet elegant and seamless, it has remarkable purity, flawless tannins, beautifully integrated acidity, and a great finish. It’s going to hit the early stages of prime drinking in 7–8 years and cruise for 20–25 years or more. (Jeb Dunnuck)

The 2018 Pichon-Longueville Baron is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot, aged for 18 months in barriques, 80% new and 20% one year old. Production of the grand vin represents 50% of the harvest this year. Deep garnet-purple colored, the nose bursts from the glass with flamboyant scents of stewed black plums, crème de cassis and Black Forest cake, plus suggestions of Indian spices, unsmoked cigars, pencil shavings and espresso. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers impactful black fruit preserves and exotic spice layers, framed by plush tannins and a lively backbone, finishing long and spicy.

Composed of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, 80% new, the deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Pichon-Longueville Baron slips sensuously out of the glass with provocative cherry preserves, baked raspberries and fresh blackcurrants scents, leading to nuances of red roses, charcoal, tilled soil and cardamom plus a waft of forest floor. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegant, refreshing and refined, with a compelling line of soft, grainy tannins and lots of perfumed accents, finishing fragrant. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Well-built, featuring the pure, fresh core of currant and blackberry fruit that is the vintage’s hallmark, all backed by well-integrated tobacco, cast iron and roasted apple wood notes. Grippy, but with enough energy to keep bringing you back rather than tiring you out. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2024 through 2040. 13,916 cases made. (James Molesworth)

The 2017 Pichon-Baron has developed into a potent wine, even by its own standards. Black cherry, plum, chocolate, grilled herbs, licorice, new leather and spice all flesh out in a succulent Pauillac that shows the racier personality of the year. In the glass, Pichon is dark, racy and sumptuous as it so often is, with terrific density and explosive energy. Today, I see less of the aromatic brilliance the wine showed en primeur; perhaps that will come with time. The 2017 spent 18 months in 80% new oak.