Appellations

Pichon Baron 2017

Pauillac, Second Growth

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Tasting Notes

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.

Score: 94 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2042 Date: 01 March 2020

Pichon Baron is one of the sexiest Pauillacs I tasted in 2017. Silky, nuanced and finessed to the core, the 2017 hits all the right notes. In the glass, the 2017 possesses striking aromatic presence, vivid flavors, silky tannins and exceptional balance. In 2017, Pichon Baron is a wine of incomparable elegance and total finesse. I loved it.

Score: 93 - 96 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Date: 01 May 2018

Another second wine from this estate that's more in the style of the grand vin, the 2017 Les Griffons De Pichon Baron is 52% Cabernet Sauvignon and 48% Merlot brought up in 50% new French oak. This inky hued effort offers a serious, ageworthy style that's going to benefit from age. Lots of blackcurrants, tobacco leaf, lead pencil, shavings, chocolate, and a touch of minerality all define the bouquet. Concentrated, medium to full-bodied, and beautifully textured, it's a rocking second wine that will have two decades or more of life.

Score: 94 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com Maturity: 2020-2040 Date: 26 February 2020

The saturated purple-colored 2017 Pichon-Longueville Baron will compete with the best of the best in 2017. Possessing full-bodied notes of ripe blackberry and cassis fruit intermixed with background graphite and oak, it hits the palate with beautiful purity of fruit, building tannin, and a great, great finish. Its oak is brilliantly integrated, it has a stacked mid-palate, and again, just incredible purity of fruit. It has the fruit/texture to drink nicely in its youth yet deserves 4-6 years and will keep for two decades or more. The 2017 is 79% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot aging in 80% new French oak, which accounts for only 50% of the total production.

Score: 94 - 97 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com Date: 23 April 2018

The 2017 Pichon-Baron was picked from 18 September with the Merlot, finishing on 3 October with the Cabernet Sauvignon, matured in 80% new oak for 20 months. It has a crisp, precise and tightly wound bouquet, although the aromatics feel a little reticent. Likewise, the tannins are a little conspicuous at this precise moment. They will soften with time. There is commendable body and precision, slightly peppery towards the finish with a tang of cracked black pepper on the aftertaste. Very fine - what you might call a "solid" Pichon Baron.

Score: 93 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2020-2045 Date: 01 September 2019

Very dark with black core and purple rim. Seductively dark fruit and graphite. Seductive without being flirtatious, rather serious in fact. Deep with black fruit, not sweet, dry and super-smooth with a dry elegance and restraint. Extremely fine and surprisingly juicy on the finish. Long and elegant. Firm, compact and delicious.

Score: 17 - 18 Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2026-2047 Date: 27 April 2018

The grand vin represents 50% of production this year. A blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot, the 2017 Pichon-Longueville Baron is deep garnet-purple in color and simply sings of vibrant blackcurrants, black cherries and rose hip notes with nuances of potpourri, incense, licorice and pencil shavings plus touches of cigar box and fertile loam. Medium-bodied, super intense and possessing stunning poise, it has very firm, fine-grained tannins and a beautifully silken texture, with bags of freshness and a very long, perfumed finish.

Score: 95 - 97 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Date: 27 April 2018

This is very centered and focused on the mid-palate with beautiful currant, coffee and walnut character. Full-bodied and superfine. Strong tannins and a long and bright finish. Lots of blackcurrants and blackberries in the end.

Score: 95 - 96 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com Date: 05 April 2018

This is nice, with dark plum and blackberry compote flavors that have a fleshy edge, while light bay, tobacco and savory notes add range, combining with the vintage’s fresh acidity and bright mineral edge.

Score: 92 - 95 James Molesworth, Wine Spectator Date: 04 April 2018

A wonderfully rich and beautiful wine, intense and concentrated but with real generosity of spirit and huge persistency. It's in keeping with the more focussed and intensely intellectual style of wine that Pichon Baron has produced over the past few vintages, meaning that the austerity of the year really suits it. The 30hl/ha yield was not because of frost, but because of their low-yielding 60-year-old Cabernet vines. 80% new oak. 50% of production went into the grand vin. Harvested 18 September to 3 October, followed by an early and rapid fermentation and blending, meaning that wines were transferred into barrel by the end of November. A wine to age, and then some.

Score: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2026-2042 Date: 01 April 2018