Château Pichon Longueville Baron 2010, Double Magnum (3L)

The history of this famous Second Growth estate dates back to the Grand Siecle - “Great Century” - of France during the reign of Louis XIV.  The first vineyard plots of this property were close to Château Latour in the left bank appellation of Pauillac.

Château Pichon de Longueville Baron (affectionately shortnamed Pichon Baron, vs its sister chateau Pichon Comtesse) is home to terroir that is considered a “winegrower’s paradise”.  Over the years, the vignerons at the estate have learned to nurture their precious vines, yielding highly concentrated and ripe fruit.  Production has been cut in half throughout the decades and the winemaking team at Pichon Baron has no qualms sacrificing quantity to ensure the quality of their wine.  Perhaps it is the close proximity to the terroir of the First Growth powerhouse, Château Latour, that lends these wines the perfect balance of strength and refinement that is so often associated with the gems of Pauillac.  Some of the best vintages are massively extracted, flamboyant wines -- with aromas of cassis, tobacco, and cedar.  Due to their incredible fortitude, these wines have the ageing potential to last for decades.

"Administrator Christian Seeley thinks the 2010 is the greatest Pichon Longueville Baron he has ever made, equaling some of the estate's colossal wines from vintages such as 1989 and 1990. It was certainly showing well when I stopped by the Château in January. Opaque purple, with loads of charcoal, licorice, incense and some exotic Asian spices along with abundant cassis liqueur, blackberry and hints of roasted coffee and spring flowers, it is full-bodied and opulent, with relatively high tannins, but they have sweetened up considerably and seem less aggressive than they did from barrel. The oak is clearly pushed to the background by the wine's wealth of fruit, glycerin and full-bodied texture. This sensational Pichon Longueville Baron needs 5-6 years of cellaring, and should keep 30+ years." Robert Parker's Wine Advocate #205 (WA, 02/01/2013), Rating: 97+, Drink from: 2018-2048

"Solidly built, with a roasted edge to the steeped fig, blackberry and black currant flavors, quickly followed by brambly tannins and notes of bay leaf and espresso. Stays dark and tarry through the finish, with superb drive and verve. Best from 2017 through 2030." Wine Spectator (WS, 03/31/2013), Rating: 95, Drink from: 2017-2030

"Good deep ruby-red. Ripe, exotic nose offers scents of dark berries, black cherry, graphite, peat, iron, flowers and chocolatey oak. Very ripe and impressively dense, showing compelling depth to its lush dark berry and graphite flavors. A sexy sugar/acid balance gives this sharply delineated wine very good early balance but its powerfully structured, very long finish suggests that it will be long-lived. Big tannins are wonderfully smooth for the vintage." Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com (AG, 07/01/2013), Rating: 95+

"A dense and layered wine with lots of ripe and sweet fruit. Loads of currants, plums and tar. This is concentrated and almost jammy with velvety tannins. Powerful. Chewy. Try in 2020." JamesSuckling.com (JS, 02/03/2013), Rating: 95, Drink from: 2020

"Dark and moreish and dry. Very fine grained and restrained. Lighter on the palate than some, relatively gentle." Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com (JR, 11/21/2012), Rating: 17.5, Drink from: 2018-2030