Source: 205, The Wine Advocate; Issue Date: 28th Feb 2013, (RP-97 )

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 Chateau 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.
Drink Date: 2018 – 2048

Source: jamessuckling.com. Issue Date: Saturday, February 2, 2013 (JS-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.

Our Grand Vin Chateau Pichon Baron 2nd Grand Cru Classe in 1855 comes from the very oldest vines grown on the historic plots of the estate. This authentic Pauillac offers an amazing sensory experience with its black fruit flavours and spicy hints. Chateau Pichon Baron shows great elegance, intensity and exceptional length on the palate. It is a wine that improves year after year and can age for over 40 years in the cellar.

Tasting note
Chateau Pichon Baron 2010 is very intense in colour with purple glints. The nose reveals aromas of fresh red and dark fruit, followed by an aromatic range that leads into mild spices and notes of menthol and cocoa. Powerful and explosive on the palate, the tannins are intense yet refined and delicate. Lots of volume with fleshy flavour. The finish is long and lively. This distinguished vintage has excellent ageing potential.
Jean-Rene Matignon – Technical Director – May 2018

Vintage conditions
Dry conditions, low temperatures and exceptional sunshine were the three major climate factors in this vintage. This winning combination ensured the smoothest of vegetation cycles and protected the vines from disease. Thinning combined with leaf-stripping on the east-facing side of the rows proved to be highly beneficial, especially on the cooler, later-ripening plots. As in 2009, the ripening process was slow and regular. The low weight of the grapes – comparable to other dry years such as 1995 and 2003 combined with the small number of grapes per bunch, limited yields quite naturally. This low grape weight goes hand in hand with a high proportion of skin in relation to the juice, and this was an important indicator when it comes to managing the winemaking process.
Harvesting was completed from September 27th to October 18th in 17 effective picking days. The conditions were sunny and the temperatures cool. The grapes were picked and brought in the vat-house plot by plot. We began gathering our merlot grapes, harvesting the young vines first and the older vines later. From October 7th onwards we began to bring in the cabernet, in order of maturity, with particular attention to selection on the plots. The cabernet grapes provide the backbone of the wines of Chateau Pichon-Baron, being planted for the most part in the estate’s most historic soils. Sorting in the vat-house was highly meticulous, keeping only the very best grapes. This harvest allowed us to carry out some fine-tuning of our optical sorting, a new method we are employing which is helping us to further refine our fruit selection. The must from each plot is vinified individually. Maceration lasted 18 to 25 days, depending on the results of our tasting to check on extraction, with the anthocyans and tannins being dissolved most effectively. This is always a sign of top-quality polyphenols. Malolactic fermentation was carried out in vats at a nice, leisurely rate, especially for the Merlot. This enabled us to make regular transfers of the wine into barrels, along with the fine lees, to contribute to the roundness of the wine.

Blend
79% Cabernet-sauvignon, 21% Merlot

Ageing
80% in new barrels, 20% from barrels of one vintage for 20 months