96-98pts The Wine Cellar Insider
If you like a great cigar, you came to the right place as the first thing you notice is the cigar box, and tobacco wrapper nuances before moving to the smoke, leafy herb, creme de cassis, blackberries, spice, flowers, and forest floor in the perfume. The palate is even better with its multiple layers of black, with red fruits, mouthfuls of fresh, ripe, chewy, red berries, Indian spice, and a lingering finish that holds your focus for at least 50 seconds. The key to the vintage was patience during harvesting to achieve phenolic ripeness. This is the quintessential example of a classic, modern Bordeaux. The wine blends 80% Cabernet Sauvignon with 20% Merlot. 13.2% ABV, 3.7 pH. The harvest took place September 17 for the Merlot, ending October 4 with the Cabernet. 44% of the harvest went into the Grand Vin. Drink from 2030-2065.
97pts Decanter
Perfumed nose, fragrant and so scented, a touch of blackcurrant leaf, plum, graphite and dark chocolate. Silky soft, bright and so delicately presented. Crunchy and crisp red fruits and ripe black fruits with some spiced undercurrents and wet stone touches. Much lighter in terms of fruit profile than some - summer berries, tangy and vibrant with super fine tannins giving the structure and support. This has finesse and power - less plushness and richness than last year of course - it’s more sleek and straight, firm and controlled but still has width and layers of flavour and texture. Refined, and definitely cool. ‘Classicism’ with no overt heat on offer. I love the hint of strawberry sweetness and tannins that completely coat the mouth. I think this will be great in time. Maybe not so charming right now but there’s no faulting the finesse and refinement. 44% grand vin production. 12% press. 3.7pH.
96-97pts James Suckling
The freshness and brightness of the blackcurrant and orange-peel fruit give a real al-dente feel. Some stone and spice underneath. Medium-bodied with very fine tannins and a refined finish. A PB with tight, linear tannins. 80% cabernet sauvignon and 20% merlot.
95-97pts Vinous
The 2023 Pichon Baron is stellar. It is another wine in this lineup that impresses with its finesse and nobility. Dark and enveloping, with terrific freshness, the Grand Vin is so expressive. The 2023 is understated, wonderfully refined Pichon Baron. Dark fruit, violet and mocha build into the resonant finish.
-Antonio Galloni
95-97pts Wine Advocate
A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot, the 2023 Pichon-Longueville Baron is a terrific effort from this estate, unwinding in the glass with aromas of crème de cassis, dark berries, pencil shavings, cigar wrapper, violets and burning embers. Medium to full-bodied, layered and textural, it's deep and concentrated, with sweet structuring tannins and a long, resonant finish. The charm and vibrancy of the vintage lends this considerable appeal, without effacing Pichon Baron's more serious, Cabernet-driven personality.
95-97pts Jeb Dunnuck
The Grand Vin 2023 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron checks in as a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot, raised in 70% new French oak, with the balance in once-used oak. Cassis, black raspberries, spice oak, graphite, and almost a bloody, salty, incredibly mineral character are followed by a medium to full-bodied, beautifully textured, and concentrated red, with a deep purple hue, nicely integrated acidity, and beautiful yet building tannins.
95-97pts The Wine Independent
The 2023 Pichon Baron is deep garnet-purple in color. After a swirl or two, the nose erupts with classic scents of cassis, juicy plums, and redcurrant jelly followed by fragrant nuances of lilacs, camphor, and crushed rock plus a waft of wild thyme. The medium-bodied palate is tightly knit, with impressive tension and fine-grained tannins framing the black berry flavors accented by fragrant herbs and floral notes, finishing long and mineral-laced. The blend is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot, with pH 3.70. It is aging in oak barriques, 70% new.
94-96pts Vinous
The 2023 Pichon Baron was picked September 12th until October 4th and matured in 70% new oak. Now, this is a conspicuous level up over the Les Griffons. Perhaps the quality of the Cabernet Sauvignon, comprising 80% if the blend, exaggerates the difference between the two cuvées. It seems to gain intensity with each swirl of the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-boned tannins that frame the graphite-infused black fruit. It's very focused, fresh and quite sapid in the mouth, with a subtle strictness that codifies this as Pichon Baron. The 2023 is a quintessential Pauillac that will age gracefully over the next 30 or 40 years. It reminds me a little of the 2019. Classic "P.B."
-Neal Martin
Winemaker's Notes
Our Grand Vin Château Pichon Baron 2nd Grand Cru Classé in 1855 comes from the very oldest vines grown on the historic plots of the estate. This authentic Pauillac offers an amazing sensory experience with its black fruit flavours and spicy hints. Château Pichon Baron shows great elegance, intensity and exceptional length on the palate. It is a wine that improves year after year and can age for over 40 years in the cellar.
History
The Estate was founded in the late 17th Century. This period was known as the Grand Siecle, or "great century", in reference to Louis XIV's 1661 accession to the French throne. In 1689 Pierre Desmezures de Rauzan, an influential wine merchant and steward of the prestigious Latour and and Margaux estates, bought plots of vines close to the Latour estate to create Enclos Rauzan. These vines were part of his daughter Therese's dowry when she married Baron Jacques Pichon de Longueville in 1694, the year in which the Pichon Baron estate was founded. An illustrious estate, with an enduring reputation, was born. It remained in the same family for generations.
In 1850 the property was divided in two. Baron Raoul Pichon de Longueville's section became the Pichon Baron estate. The second section, belonging to his three sisters, became Pichon Comtesse. Baron Raoul was proud of his prestigious property, and in 1851 he commissioned the imposing chateau inspired by Renaissance architecture that we know today. This uniquely charming and romantic chateau, with its two emblematic turrets, has stood proudly at the vineyard's heart ever since. During the Universal Exhibition of 1855, the wine was classed as a Second Grand Cru Classe according to the ranking system requested by Emperor Napoleon III, who wished to showcase Bordeaux's great wines. In 1933, the Pichon de Longueville family sold the property to the Bouteiller family, who managed the chateau for over 50 years.
In 1987 the estate was bought by AXA Millesimes, whose aim is to enable great wines from the vineyards with a glorious past to achieve their full potential. An architectural competition was launched in collaboration with the Paris Pompidou Centre to provide the estate with new operational buildings. The comprehensive reconstruction of the fermenting room and cellar, and renovation of the chateau, began in 1988. Since then, the 19th century chateau's image has been
reflected in an ornamental pool stretching majestically before it.. And since 2008, its silvery expanse conceals an underground cellar, reminiscent of Jules Verne's Nautilus, with view of both the water and sky. The barrel cellar complements a production process in which excellence is paramount, in the finest tradition of great Pauillac wines.
