Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
Pauillac • France
Image: WikipediaChâteau Pichon-Longueville Baron
33250 Pauillac
France
Phone: +33 5 56731717
Internet: www.pichonbaron.com
E‑mail: contact@pichon-baron.com
Château Pichon-Longueville Baron (also known as Pichon Baron) is one of the most traditional wine estates in the Médoc. Its history dates back to the late 17th century. In 1694, Pierre de Rauzan married his daughter Thérèse into the Longueville family. This laid the foundations for the estate. In the 18th century, Château Pichon-Longueville developed into one of the most prestigious wine estates in Pauillac. In 1850, the estate was divided between the heirs. This results in the two châteaux Pichon-Longueville Baron and Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. In 1855, Pichon Baron was classified as a Deuxième Cru Classé. In the second half of the 20th century, Pichon Baron went through some weaker phases. In 1987, the insurance company AXA Millésimes acquired the estate and invested heavily in renovations, new plantings and a modern cellar. Today, Pichon Baron is once again one of the top addresses in the Médoc.
The vineyard is located on one of the best gravel plateaus in Pauillac, in the immediate vicinity of the Gironde estuary. The proximity to the Gironde protects the vines from frost and promotes even ripening. Slight hillsides offer the best exposure to the sun. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant grape variety (80 %), with Merlot accounting for 20 %. Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot no longer play a role today.
The wines are matured for 18 to 20 months in French oak barrels. The proportion of new wood is 80 %.
In addition to the Grand Vin, which can mature for a good 30 to 50 years in the bottle, there are two second wines, the powerful Les Griffons de Pichon Baron and the more accessible Les Tourelles de Longueville. In exceptional years, Pichon Baron bottles special cuvées in small quantities.
The Wines at a Glance
2022 Château Pichon Baron
Deuxième Grand Cru Classé
France
Bordeaux ↳ Pauillac • Appellation d'origine protegée (AOP)
14 % vol alcohol
Symbols
| 🯅 | The rating of the wine is based on a single taster. The taster is named in the context of the rating. The tasting was either open or blind. In case of a blind tasting, it is explicitly labelled as such. |
| 🯅🯅 | The rating of the wine is based on two tasters. The tasters are named in the context of the rating. The tasting was carried out according to the four-eyes principle, in which both tasters agree on a joint rating. |
| 🯅🯅🯅 | The rating is based on a tasting by our jury and indicates the Mean value calculated by us from the individual ratings of the tasters. Our mean value is based on the median. |
| ⚖ | The wine was evaluated in a blind tasting. We have strict rules for blind tastings. The tasters do not receive any information that would allow them to identify the wines. The tasters are only given access to further information that goes beyond the subject matter if it is absolutely necessary for understanding the wines. |
| 🕓 | We only had limited time to taste the wine - typically during an open tasting event, such as a wine fair. It was therefore not possible to observe the development of the wine in the glass over a longer period of time. The informative value of our rating may therefore be limited under certain circumstances. |
| ⛬ | The wine was tasted as a barrel sample or before an official test number (Amtliche Prüfungsnummer or Staatliche Prüfnummer) was issued. We only accept samples of unfilled wines in exceptional cases, and then only if we can assume sufficient stability in the bottle for a period of at least three months. |
| ▲ | During our tasting, the wine showed conspicuous sensory characteristics. This does not necessarily have to be a wine fault. We categorise the quality and quantity of the abnormality and include it in the rating. Wine faults such as cork taint or an atypical ageing generally lead to a complete rejection. |
| Tastings that refer to the same bottle of a wine are visually summarised by a dotted line. |