Château Pichon Baron vertical: A Decanter masterclass
Stephen Brook attended the Pichon Baron masterclass at this year's Decanter Fine Wine Encounter, where he tasted 12 vintages of the Bordeaux second growth stretching back to 2001.
Scroll down to see Stephen Brook’s Pichon Baron tasting notes and scores
Pichon Baron: A brief history
For fifty years, from the 1930s onward, the splendid showpiece Bordeaux château of Pichon Longueville Baron lay empty, the shareholders reluctant to invest in a property that urgently needed more funds. The quality of the wine was mediocre at best.
Skip forward to 1987, and the Bouteillers decided it was time to sell up. The giant insurance company AXA had decided to enter the wine business, and its subsidiary AXA Millésimes was run by Jean-Michel Cazes of Château Lynch-Bages.Cazes lived a mile away and knew the region inside out, and realised this was an opportunity too good to miss.
The wines: Available exclusively to Decanter Premium members
Advances
Changes were rapid. The château was restored, machine-harvesting was ended, and over the years its 33 hectares of vineyards were more than doubled.
In a brilliant stroke, Cazes organised an architectural competition. The winning Franco-American team created a neo-baroque yet modern fantasy, and built the actual winery under the courtyard with a shallow pool on top of it.
Not everyone loved the new buildings – Madame de Lencquesaing, chatelaine of Château Pichon-Lalande across the road, was none too fond of it – but few tourists pass by without pulling over to the side of the road to photograph the site.
More importantly, quality improved swiftly, starting with the 1988 vintage. Even in the frost-ridden 1991 vintage, Pichon Baron made a very good wine.
Since Cazes’ retirement, his replacement at the head of AXA Millésimes, Christian Seely, and technical director Jean-René Matignon, have continued his excellent work.
Quality has never been higher than it is today, partly thanks to ever more rigorous selection.
In 2001 Seely decided to make the grand vin solely from a 40 hectare sector just south of the château that consistently produced the finest wines. Roughly 80% of the blend is Cabernet Sauvignon, which gives the wine its characteristic structure and power.
The fruit is optically sorted and vinified in steel and wooden vats. The wine is then aged in approximately 80% new oak.
It was Seely who hosted this masterclass at Decanter’s Fine Wine Encounter – an excellent opportunity to taste almost the full set of vintages this side of the millennium. As the tasting demonstrated, Pichon Baron is a rich, formidable wine of great splendour, a true Pauillac blazing with fruit yet superbly structured for long ageing.
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Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2014
From vines that have reached an average of 35 years old, this is rich, firm and broad-shouldered, with dark bilberry fruits overlaid with steely flint...
2014
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2012
Dense black red, masses of extraction and grip, a truly "masculine" Pauillac for the long-term.
2012
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2010
Cool blue and black fruits, crayon and floral scents. Bright, fleshy and round at first but quite serious and then lean where the fruit quickly...
2010
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2009
<p>Straight away the deep, rich colour tells you that this is a sexy, powerful wine, barely hitting the next stage of evolution at seven years...
2009
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2007
2007 was a tricky vintage, and the wines lack full ripeness. The main problem is a lack of structure, which suggests they are best drunk...
2007
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2006
A rather solar expression suffuses the complex nose mingling notes of prunes, spices, and forest floor. This is not the most structured wine of this...
2006
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2005
Weeks of sunshine preceded an entirely healthy harvest, leading to high expectations that have been fulfilled. This is still opaque red in colour, the resplendent...
2005
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2004
A very large crop in 2004 led to fears of dilution, and while some wines are already near their peak, the best are still going...
2004
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2003
2003 was the year of the killer heatwave, and vines on shallow soils shrivelled under the onslaught, giving baked, raisiny wines. Pauillac has more clay,...
2003
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2002
Perhaps not the most lauded vintage, but after nearly 14 years this 2002 is showing well. It majors on the austere face of Cabernet fruit,...
2002
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2001
Although in the shadow of the millennial vintage, 2001s can be just as good (and on the right bank arguably better). This has a very...
2001
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2014
From vines that have reached an average of 35 years old, this is rich, firm and broad-shouldered, with dark bilberry fruits overlaid with steely flint...
2014
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2012
Dense black red, masses of extraction and grip, a truly "masculine" Pauillac for the long-term.
2012
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2010
Cool blue and black fruits, crayon and floral scents. Bright, fleshy and round at first but quite serious and then lean where the fruit quickly...
2010
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2009
<p>Straight away the deep, rich colour tells you that this is a sexy, powerful wine, barely hitting the next stage of evolution at seven years...
2009
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2007
2007 was a tricky vintage, and the wines lack full ripeness. The main problem is a lack of structure, which suggests they are best drunk...
2007
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2006
A rather solar expression suffuses the complex nose mingling notes of prunes, spices, and forest floor. This is not the most structured wine of this...
2006
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2005
Weeks of sunshine preceded an entirely healthy harvest, leading to high expectations that have been fulfilled. This is still opaque red in colour, the resplendent...
2005
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2004
A very large crop in 2004 led to fears of dilution, and while some wines are already near their peak, the best are still going...
2004
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2003
2003 was the year of the killer heatwave, and vines on shallow soils shrivelled under the onslaught, giving baked, raisiny wines. Pauillac has more clay,...
2003
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2002
Perhaps not the most lauded vintage, but after nearly 14 years this 2002 is showing well. It majors on the austere face of Cabernet fruit,...
2002
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
Château Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2001
Although in the shadow of the millennial vintage, 2001s can be just as good (and on the right bank arguably better). This has a very...
2001
Château Pichon BaronPauillac
