Pichon Baron 2018

Tasted blind. Not much nose but the suggestion of a lot lurking underneath. Thick and the polar opposite of Pichon Lalande with its massive tannins and not much flavour. Not so much my style but it will probably come right eventually! There’s mintiness and concentration. 14.5%Drink 2032 – 2050

78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 18 months in oak, 80% new. Barrel sample. Colour of elderberry juice. Intensely pure Cabernet nose, so intense it is quite introvert, especially compared with the Tourelles, but there is just a hint of fresh and creamy blackcurrant. A dry beauty on the palate. Not a great deal of acidity but finishes clean and fresh with these slub-silk tannins. There's texture and depth but it's still silky. Freshness of fruit compensating for moderate acidity. (JH)Drink 2028-2040

Representing just 50% of the production and a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot aging in 80% new French oak, the 2018 Pichon-Longueville Baron reveals a deep, saturated purple color as well as a decadent bouquet of crème de cassis, high class tobacco, crushed violets, and freshly sharpened cedar pencils, which is about as Pauillac as you can get. Full-bodied, incredibly opulent, with moderate acidity and silky tannins on the palate, it still shows beautiful purity, freshness, and elegance, with the tannins giving focus and length on the finish. It's a brilliant, brilliant wine that's in the same class as the 1990, 2000, 2005, 2009, and 2010.

Warm, dense and fleshy in feel, featuring cassis, plum and cherry compote flavors infused with tobacco and worn cedar details. Seriously long, with a well-buried iron note, though the purity of the fruit is the dominating feature overall. This cuts a pretty broad swath as it moves along. A big wine.

(78 Cabernet Sauvignon, 22 Merlot) | 80% new oak and 20% one-year-old for 18 months | 14.1% alc | 3.89 pH | This wine represents 50% of the production of the estate | 86 IPT Very smart and much more exuberant than I had expected, Directeur Général Christian Seely prefers this wine to both his 2010 and 2016 and I happen to agree. The balance is already evident and while it will undoubtedly start to drink early in its life it has the legs to run and run. This is a blackberry and blackcurrant-soaked wine with perfect weight and intensity. Something magical happened here in 2018 and they have managed not to lose any flavours from the vine to the barrel. The length and freshness of the tannins and acidity on the finish is nothing short of tremendous and everything is held together by succulent, perfectly seasoned oak. This is one of my favourite Pichon Baron’s of all time. Its seamless flavour appears to borrow elements from every great style of Cabernet in the world, combine them, and then make them its own.

The 2018 Pichon-Baron is matured for 18 months in 80% new oak. It has a comparatively high-toned bouquet compared to recent vintages, featuring black cherries, blueberry, cedar and mint, although I think it needs to express more Pichon-Baron DNA. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannins creating a huge frame that lacquers the mouth. This is almost a burly Pauillac, not muscular but very dense, though I would like to see more finesse on the finish by the time of bottling, and then it may warrant a higher score. I would use Christian Seely’s descriptor of the vintage: untamed. 2024-2055

Deep and dark young wine that takes you down, deep down to its center palate of blackberries and blueberries, firm and very silky tannins and a vivid finish. Wonderful palate and depth in this with such class and finesse. So many layers of polished, fine tannins. Great wine.

The 2018 Pichon-Longueville Baron is made up of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot. The Merlot was harvested September 24-25, and the Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested October 3-10. The wine is to be aged 18 months in barriques, 80% new and 20% one year old, and production represents 50% of the harvest this year. Very deep purple-black colored, it begins a little coy, rolling slowly and languidly out of the glass with notions of baked raspberries, blueberry coulis, crème de cassis and incense plus nuances of lilacs, truffles, damp soil and garrigue with wafts of lavender and wild sage. Full-bodied, voluptuous and oh-so-seductive, the palate reveals layer upon layer of savory, earthy and black fruit preserves, framed by wonderfully ripe, velvety tannins and lovely freshness, finishing very long and perfumed. Beautiful.

Straight from the nose you feel the wave of power with the wine uncurling through the palate, starting with tight notes of cassis then gently softening into sweeter brambled hedgerow fruits alongside a ton of ink and pencil lead.The tannins are present but seductive, and as is often the case this year, they're concentrated without being remote. It’s less monolithic than the 2010 with some of the seduction of 2009 at this property but with higher levels of extraction.The harvest took place between 24 September and 11 October. Again, we see here a Pauillac with the highest alcohol ever but it carries it extremely well. There was one week less of maceration than normal, so 21 days instead of 28, which will have helped control extractions. 86IPT.Drinking Window 2026 - 2040