2000 Pauillac, Château Pichon Baron
About Producer
Created in the late 17th century, the Pichon greater estate was divided in 1850 between the children of Joseph Pichon de Longueville. While Joseph’s daughters received what has become Pichon-Lalande, it was his son Raoul who inherited what is now known as Pichon Baron. Pichon Baron’s vineyards cover 73ha but the production of the Grand Vin is mostly made from the best parcel, ‘Butte de Pichon Baron’, which covers 35ha and was part of the original vineyard in 1694 when the wine was first produced. In 1933, the estate was sold to the Bouteiller family of Château Lanessan. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Pichon Baron was a notorious underachiever but things quickly changed in 1987 when Axa Millésimes bought the property. Under the new ownership, thanks to massive modernisation investments, precise vineyard management and stricter selection, Pichon Baron has rejoined the exclusive club of Médoc top elite.
Varietals
Blend of 70% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot and 5% cabernet franc.
About Appellation
Largest town in the Médoc and slighly more elevated than its surrounding area, Pauillac has always played an important role in the wine trade, notably when the city of Bordeaux lost its privilege and monopoly of wine exports to England in the 18th century. The vineyards cover 1,213ha and sit on well-drained sand and gravelly soils, with the best sites being located on rolling mounds, called 'croupes', that reach their highest point at 30m above sea level. Cabernet sauvignon is the predominant grape variety, albeit always blended with merlot, and to a lesser extent, with cabernet franc and petit verdot. Pauillac is home to 18 grands crus classés in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification, including Lafite-Rothschild, Latour and Mouton-Rothschild (since 1973) as first growths.
Tasting Notes
Enthralling nose of black fruits, tobacco, baking spices, graphite, forest floor and violets, dense mouthfeel with silky texture, well-defined structure and remarkable precision, multilayered flavours of black currant, black cherry, fig, plum, truffle, liquorice, cinnamon and clove supported by a firm mineral spine, racy acidity and resolved tannins leading onto a long, sapid finish. This is a gorgeous wine with magnificent poise cloaking its controlled vigour in alluring grace, while walking a tightrope between superb depth of fruit and voluptuous opulence. Amazingly fresh and beguilingly complex at 24 years old, it has stupendous drive with an aerial lift that builds in intensity as it cruises along the palate. This 2000 is the defining moment of Pichon Baron’s resurrection, literally pulling out all the stops to herald its return among the Bordeaux elite. (04/2024)