2019 Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, Bordeaux

The bouquet enchants by its expression of pure, crunchy fruit and florality without a trace of oakiness despite barrel-aging with 80% new wood. Some touches of graphite and subtle spices come into the aromatic mix. On a par with the great 2016, this stunning wine has a palate that combines fleshy, velvety texture and linearity as well as remarkable length, and provides convincing testimony of the progress achieved by the estate’s technical team.

Drink 2025 - 2070

87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot. Aged 18 months in oak barrels 80% new).

Deep, crimson hue. Lifted, bright and intense, the accent on the fruit. Both complex and satisfying on the nose. Crème de cassis and spice notes. There are layers of fruit on the palate, but there is more freshness and poise than in 2018. Plentiful tannins provide shape and length. It's close to 2016 in style but needs a little more persistence.

Drink 2030 - 2050

The 2019 Pichon-Longueville Baron will go down as one of this château's great wines of the modern era, along with 2016, 2010 and 1989. Unfurling in the glass with aromas of cassis and plums mingled with notions of cigar wrapper, sweet loamy soil and violets, it's full-bodied, velvety and layered, with superb concentration, lively acids and rich, powdery tannins. Perfumed and resonant, this is a profound young Pauillac that bears more of a resemblance to its neighbor Château Latour than to Pichon Lalande this year. Pichon Baron was one of the great deals of the en primeur campaign, and readers who purchased futures are to be congratulated on their foresight.

Drink 2029 - 2065

The 2019 Pichon-Baron is magnificent. In fact, the 2019 is one of the very finest recent vintages I can remember tasting. Cabernet Sauvignon is the highest ever in the Grand Vin at 87%. That comes through in the wine's vibrancy, explosive power and overall profile. Dark cherry, plum, gravel, licorice and incense infuse the 2019 with tremendous depth to match its virile personality. Pichon-Baron was impressive from barrel and it is again today from bottle. Superb.

Drink 2034 - 2059

The 2019 Pichon Baron is quite closed on the nose, blackberry, bilberry and incense, with graphite and cedar developing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, not quite as finessed as Pichon Lalande, but with great structure and density on the close. It needs a little more precision to develop on the finish but just give it time. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.

Drink 2026 - 2060

Based on 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Merlot raised in 80% new French oak.

The 2019 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron is pure class and just a beautiful, seamless Pauillac that does everything right. Revealing a deep purple hue and textbook notes of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, freshly sharpened pencils, and liquid violets, it shows the more medium—to full-bodied, elegant style of the vintage yet is brilliantly concentrated. It has a supple, layered mouthfeel, ripe yet building tannins, and a great, great finish.

It's more open and expressive than Mouton and shares plenty of similarities with Comtesse's layered, supple, perfectly balanced, and classy style. It unquestionably already offers pleasure today and it's a good time to try a bottle, as I wouldn't be surprised to see it close down), but it will need a decade to hit maturity, and it will be a 50-year wine.

Drink 2032 - 2072

80% new oak

The highest proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon on record, a reflection of how exceptionally well this grape did in 2019. The aromatics are all-enveloping, powerful, nuanced, and totally delicious, drawing you in and refusing to let go. Slate, pencil lead, cassis, damson, layer upon layer of brilliance, if not quite the over-aweing concentration and enveloping character of the 2016.

Drink 2029 - 2048

87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot. The highest ever proportion of Cabernet.

Blackberries and blueberries with stone and graphite. Flint and black licorice, too. So perfumed. Full-bodied, very long and linear with incredible length. The new 1990, but better crafted. Chewy, yet so tailored and wonderfully proportioned. Freshness and elegance. Wonderful depth.

Try after 2026