2020 Les Griffons de Pichon Baron is a bold and refined second wine from the legendary Pauillac estate, Château Pichon Baron. A blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot, it delivers rich black fruit, dark chocolate, and cedar notes with a polished, full-bodied structure. Vibrant yet serious, it's a great pick for Bordeaux lovers looking for depth, energy, and age-worthy elegance without the Grand Vin price tag.

James Suckling | JS 95
Published: Mar 30, 2023

Blackcurrants and dark chocolate with rose stems and flowers. Full-bodied with chewy tannins, racy texture and a spicy finish. Polished. 50% merlot, 42% cabernet sauvignon and 8% petit verdot. Try after 2028.

Decanter | D 95
Published: Jan 2, 2023
Drink: 2024-2039

Dark and heady on the nose, richly fruited and perfumed, smells serious and deep and totally inviting with dark chocolate, coffee and mocha notes with blackcurrant and black cherry and spiced vanilla, tobacco and cedar. Energetic, lively, vivid and bright on the palate but deep too, such a lovely vibrancy laced with liquorice, tobacco and bitter chocolate. Definitely serious but I love the energy, potency and florality. Structured and intense, totally seductive in a heady way yet still lively with a juicy core of strawberry, red cherry and blackcurrant. Feels nicely constructed and considered. A great second wine.
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 14.00%
Body: Full
Oak: Oaked
Grapes: 42% Cabernet Sauvignon 50% Merlot 8% Petit Verdot

Wine Spectator | WS 92
Published: Mar 31, 2023

Juicy, ripe and focused, with a delicious core of cassis and damson plum notes that mingle well, flanked by a hint of singed cedar and carried by floral and iron notes through the finish. Lovely. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Best from 2024 through 2036. 6,400 cases made.

The Wine Advocate | RP 91
Published: Apr 6, 2023
Drink: 2025-2045

The 2020 Les Griffons de Pichon Baron has turned out nicely, offering up aromas of sweet cassis, berries, loamy soil and tobacco leaf. Medium to full-bodied, rich and fleshy, it's pure and more serious than the Tourelles, with a more Cabernet-driven personality (along with all the estate's Petit Verdot this year).

The numbers speak for themselves: Until 2000, Pichon-Longueville Baron produced some 350,000 bottles per year, but since 2001, that figure has fallen to 160,000. Managing director Christian Seely's first decision on arriving at the property was to reduce production, focusing the grand vin on Cabernet Sauvignon growing on the deep gravel terraces opposite Château Latour that have always been the heart of this historic estate and which were the source of the great duo of 1989 and 1990 before being joined by other holdings after a series of acquisitions in the early 1990s. The results also speak for themselves in the form of a series of excellent vintages, and things improved further with the construction of a new barrel cellar in 2006, permitting better temperature control and more precision during élevage. In style, Pichon Baron these days has more in common stylistically with the depth and structure of Latour than it does with the perfumed sensuality of its sibling, Pichon Lalande, and in quality, it's clearly one of contemporary Bordeaux's greatest wines.

Jancis Robinson | JR 16.5
Published: Mar 30, 2025
Drink: 2025-2032

Aged for 18 months in French oak (50% new).
Dry, firm structure with blackcurrant, black cherry and bitter chocolate. Attractive primary fruit that has enough ripeness to drink now, and there is a palpable Pauillac-ness in its intensity and gravelly-voiced finish.

Pichonbaron.com

Les Griffons de Pichon Baron is one of the second wines of the property. Created since the 2012 vintage, it has a pure and direct character.
The grapes which make up this wine's blend come primarily from gravelly plots of land near the Gironde estuary, a good environment for Cabernet-Sauvignon.
Les Griffons offers a vigorous and fresh tasting experience, full-bodied and clean, overflowing with energy.
It can be laid down in the cellar for over 20 years or enjoyed right away.

Vintage conditions
2020 began with a historically rainy winter followed by a tropical spring. Vigilance was required in soil management and protecting the vines against mildew. Warm, dry weather then led to one of the earliest flowerings on record, two weeks ahead of the norm. The first flowers were observed between 9th and 10th May and flowering took place between 15th and 25th May.
Rainfall stopped at the end of June, giving way to cool, dry weather until the onset of ripening in mid-July.
Mid-veraison was reached between 23rd and 25th July on the earliest ripening Merlot plots and subsequently developed well in warm and dry conditions. Summer brought drought and sporadic heat waves until mid-August, when thunderstorms cooled down excessive temperatures and caused the Merlot grapes to swell. The later-ripening Cabernets remained small until the harvest.
Picking started about ten days ahead of the norm, mostly in sunshine for the Merlots and thundery showers for the Cabernets. The Merlots and Cabernets were tannic and colourful, with acidities and potential alcohol content within normal ranges.
Ripening took place in hot weather, apart from the second half of August.
Thunderstorms of varying intensity, with between 80 and 120 mm of rain, struck Pauillac between 12th and 16th August, in most cases counteracting the water stress observed in early August. The Merlots once again benefited from the rainfall, with the grapes growing swiftly, unlike the Cabernets.

Harvest
The harvest took place from 14th to 22nd September for the Merlot, on 23rd and 24th for the Petit Verdot, and from 22nd to 30th September for the Cabernet-Sauvignon.

Tasting note
Les Griffons de Pichon Baron 2020 reveals a deep purple colour. The nose is delicate with aromas of black fruit, subtle wood, tobacco and cedar. The generous palate is fruit-driven and well-structured with ample tannins. The finish is long and powerful with notes of blueberry and black cherry. This wine is well-balanced, rich and harmonious with great freshness. A classic cuvée, very typical of Pauillac.

Pierre Montégut - Technical Director - September 2022
Bottling date: June 1st 2022

Blend
Merlot 50%, Cabernet sauvignon 42%, Petit verdot 8%

Ageing
50% in new barrels, 50% from barrels of one vintage for 18 months.