x
  • Country ranking ?

    1 293
  • Producer ranking ?

    24
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

Close

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". 

Close

Wine Information

2011 was an early vintage, although slightly less so than expected. A warm, dry springtime was followed by a cool summer. Work on the vines was carried out rationally according to the weather conditions and the profile of each plot. At the end of July and beginning of August, we carried out carefully-targeted green harvesting (leaf stripping and thinning) to even out the ripening of the grapes.

By September, we were recording astonishingly high phenolic potential on our Cabernet. The start of the month was most beneficial to this vintage planted on the very best terroirs.

The grapes were picked and brought in the vat-house plot by plot, in order of maturity, with particular attention to selection on the plots. Harvesting ran from 12 to 28 September, with two breaks on 18 and 25 September. The first three days were dedicated to the earliest-ripening vines, such as the Sainte Anne plot. Then the old Merlot vines were harvested until 20 September. The Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon were picked last as warm, dry, sunny conditions finally settled in.
Sorting in the vat-house was highly meticulous, keeping only the very best grapes. The grapes were sorted twice, both before and after de-stemming. Once de-stemmed, the selection of the grapes was fine tuned on two sorting lines, one manual and one using optic systems.


VINIFICATION
The must from each plot is vinified individually. Alcoholic fermentation was quick, driven by naturally high temperatures. We carried out repeated and individual pumping over, adapted to the profile of each batch. Maceration lasted 20 to 25 days, depending on the results of our tasting to check on extraction. The batches of wines were then transferred into barrels after malolactic fermentation and blended during maturing.

BLEND: 82% Cabernet Sauvignon
18% Merlot
AGEING: 80 % new barrels
20 % one-year-old barrels

Close

Latest Pro-tasting notes

<10 tasting notes

Tasting note

color

Medium and Ruby red

ending

Long and Lingering

flavors

Blackcurrant, Coffee, Mineral and Spice

nose

Youthful, Complex, Pure and Refined

taste

High in Acidity, High alcohol content, High tannin, Balanced, Well-Integrated, Well-structured, Youthful, Medium-bodied, Focused, Elegant, Fresh and Drying tannins

Verdict

Fine

Written Notes

Utilizing a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot. The wine reached 13.2% alcohol. The wine will be aged in 80% new oak. The assemblage features one of the highest concentrations of Cabernet Sauvignon found in modern times. Ruby in color, smoke, truffle, earth, cassis, vanilla and tobacco scents are found in the perfume. Medium bodied, ripe and soft, there is a fresh, vibrant feeling in the wine, ending with crisp cassis flavors. 92-93 Pts
  • 92p
Good looking normal size bottle. Colour is ruby red and medium. On the nose it is intense, youthful, complex, refined and pure. The taste is fresh, focused, elegant, vivid, refined, with silky tannins, drying tannins, and high in acidity, medium-bodied, with balanced, well-structured, well-integrated structure and youthful. On the palate it is layered and has blackcurrant, spice, coffee and mineral flavours. The finish is long and lingering. Perfectly stored bottles are still very worthy and will last well for another 1-5 years and decant at least 1h before tasting.
- (Tasting note created by Tb's AI)
  • 91p
Load more notes

Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux
Incorrect Information
If you found some information that is wrong, let us know
Are you sure you want do delete this wine? All information will be lost.
Are you sure you want to recommend this wine?
Are you sure you want hide this written note ?
Are you sure you want show this written note ?
UPGRADE MEMBER PLAN
Upgrade your membership now, it's quick and easy. We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards. Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal. You can cancel your membership at any time.
Thank you for your support!
 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

 

HOW TO USE TASTINGBOOK?

We recommend you to share few minutes for watching the following video instructions of how to use the Tastingbook. This can provide you a comprehensive understanding of all the features you can find from this unique service platform.

This video will help you get started



Taste wines with the Tastingbook


Create Your wine cellar on 'My Wines'



Explore Your tasted wines library



Administrate Your wine world in Your Profile



Type a message ...
Register to Tastingbook
Sign up now, it's quick and easy.
We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards.
Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal, where you can sign up for a free 7-day trial period. You can cancel your membership at any time. We wish you a rewarding journey to the world of Fine Wines.

Free 7 days Member trial

 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

  Register