| | Pichon Baron has always struck me as having a very distinctive character, opulent, meaty and with a smoky coffee character to the fruit. These characteristics didn't come across this evening as obviously as I expected, though they were still there. Something I hadn't noticed before was the almost complete absence of cedar and blackcurrants.
The overall quality was very high, particularly the trio from '88, '89 and '90 where on the night I marginally preferred the '88, although all three are crackingly good. The '04 is stunning and I think the '00 will be. The '62 and '66 were excellent, way better than their reputations would suggest. I liked the '70 too, but seemed to be alone in this. The '53 didn't get much attention, but this was a lovely wine. And there were a lot of excellent second tier wines too - the '02, '01 and '98 all serious, substantial, harmonious wines. - 2004 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Bright fruit, spicy, rich, smooth but with lovely acidity and a light grip, and it went on and on and on - superb (93 pts.)
- 2003 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Smelled big and hot, and on the palate there was a sugariness in the fruit, and a lot of tannin. Lacked definition after the '04. (89 pts.)
- 2002 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
A hint of stalkiness on the nose, but this added freshness; rasping fruit and spice, excellent (91 pts.)
- 2001 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Gamey, savoury, and with the charactistic PB coffee richness beginning to develop, round and very approachable now. (91 pts.)
- 2000 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Reticent nose, substantial on the palate, clearly masses there but not really expressing itself today, the oak grew more prominent as the evening wore on (93 pts.)
- 1998 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Smooth, nicely textured, correct and balanced, but a bit tight - promising (91 pts.)
- 1999 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
The funkiest and fleshiest so far, round, gamey, spicy, a rich comforting mouthful (90 pts.)
- 1997 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Flatter, simpler and lighter than the preceding wines. Light, herby and pleasant enough, but it's faded a lot from where it was a couple of years ago. (88 pts.)
- 1991 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Light, stalky, the flavour stripped - I concluded this was corked (FLAWED)
- 1986 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Dark, ripe, smooth (yes, smooth! no brutal '86 tannins here), a very pleasant, refined mid-weight mature claret (90 pts.)
- 1970 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Enticing fresh nose, smoke, coffee, and on the palate a twist of citrus which lifted the gamey fruit. I was out of line with the rest of the party in really enjoying this. (91 pts.)
- 1966 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Another spicy coffee nose, lovely fragrance, and fresh on the palate too with round tobaccoey fruit - beautiful mature wine (93 pts.)
- 1953 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Gamey, some V/A, but a lovely mellow fragrance, surprisingly grippy for a '53. Still showing plenty of energy and very attractive (92 pts.)
- 1967 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Oxidised, smelled of sewage, nasty (FLAWED)
The following three wines were served blind. The first was clearly richer than the first, and the third started off distinctly odd. Vintage prejudice led me to assume that the third wine was the '94 and that the richer of the other two must be the '96. So 0/3 for me. But even before the wines were revealed, the third wine was pulling itself together and it ended up my favourite of these three. - 1995 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Shy, but sophisticated, ripe, some grip, some farmyard showing through, pretty good (90 pts.)
- 1994 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Nice smooth fruit, attractive softly fruity claret, but not distinctive (89 pts.)
- 1996 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Celery and marmite on the nose and it took a while for the richness of the fruit to show through, but when it did, this was an attractive meaty wine (91 pts.)
- 1982 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Big, thick and porty, the fruit very sweet and beginning to oxidise - suffered in comparison with the others (91 pts.)
- 1989 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Very beefy, super rich, a big savoury wine, grippier than the '90, superb (93 pts.)
- 1990 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Very full, palate caressing, substantial, with lots of berried fruit, smooth, unstructured even, but big and luxurious (93 pts.)
- 1988 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Edgy pencil lead nose, but on the palate amazingly rich, with tobacco, mint, and brilliant animating acidity - exciting (93 pts.)
- 1962 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Dark, vigorous, extraordinarily youthful, combining energy and richness (92 pts.)
- 1993 Domaine Huet Vouvray Cuvée Constance - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
Intense baked apple, tangy, long, rich, but quite dry (91 pts.)
- 1986 Château Climens - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac
Thick, oaky, lots of coconut, very sweet (92 pts.)
- 1997 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Le Haut-Lieu - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
Another intense appley nose, but on the palate lush, almonds and tea, expansive. Utterly gorgeous. (93 pts.)
There are further notes and discussion on the UK wine-pages forum here. |
