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Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
Our Grand Vin Château Pichon Baron, classified as a 2nd Grand Cru Classé in 1855, is made with grapes from the oldest vines on the estate’s historic plots.This quintessential Pauillac offers an intense and profound sensory experience of great complexity. Château Pichon Baron exhibits 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.
The reputation of Pichon Baron until the 1960s was superior to that of Pichon Lalande across the road, it was also placed above Pichon Lalande in the Classification of 1855. But on the death of Jean Bouteillier in 1961 its reputation began to sink. His eldest son Bertrand was still young and inexperienced and there was a lack of money for necessary investments leading to a decline in quality of the wines during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s there were signs of recovery but not at the same speed as with many other properties during this time and certainly nowhere near that of Pichon-Lalande that had prospered enormously under the care of May de Lencquesaing to become one of the first "Super-seconds".
Wine Information
The spring was marked by uneven temperatures. Vegetation growth was boosted by a warm spell in early April, and then slowed down by very cool conditions. A very changeable, stormy spell then set in, with hail on 11 May, in particular, although it spared Pauillac. Flowering started at the end of May, in hot weather conditions that boosted growth. To keep this in check, green harvesting work was carried out to remove shoots and tie the vines in. This was followed by leaf (June/July) and crop thinning (August) in hot, sunny, dry weather conditions. The end of the season enjoyed ideal ripening conditions: lots of light, little humidity, hot days and cold nights. As is often the case in dry years (1995, 2003), the polyphenols ripened slowly and progressively. Acidity remained stable, however, without showing any signs of weakness.
Carried out in 3 phases, making for a
bespoke grape-picking process: from 24 to 28 September for the young Merlot, the old vines from 29 September to 2 October, the Cabernet-sauvignon from 3 to 9 October. Stable, cool weather conditions kept the grapes in good condition, preserving all their freshness and firmness. Sorting in the vat-house was highly meticulous, keeping only the very best grapes. Enjoyed the best possible conditions. Rich levels of sugar and anthocyans turned out to be well above those that had been estimated in the pre-harvest ripeness analyses. The polyphenols were extracted very rapidly, which is a sign of good grape ripeness.