98
Jane Anson - Decanter
This is opulent with fleshy tannins and spiced dark fruit, again showing a restrained core of tannins that was so obvious at the Bordeaux 10 Years On tasting in London a few weeks ago. It’s just a brilliant wine, one that will age effortlessly from here, and is still not quite ready to give up its secrets. It’s concentrated and confident and hard not to fall in love with. The vines for the grand vin come from the plateau opposite Latour and were the heart of the original Pichon estate.
98 Robert Parker - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Revealing incredible quality and performing better than it did from barrel, the 2009 appears to be the greatest Pichon Longueville Baron since the 1990 and 1989. An amazing opaque blue/purple color is followed by scents of spring flowers, graphite, smoky charcoal, incense, blackberries, blueberries and hints of coffee and chocolate. Incredibly intense, pure and flawlessly constructed with extravagant layers of fruit and richness, this offering has developed beautifully under the management of Christian Seeley. It is a voluptuous, opulent Pichon Longueville Baron that may eclipse anything they have made in the past. This brilliant wine should be at its peak between 2018 and 2045.
96 Jane Anson - Inside Bordeaux
Crayon, cigar and cedarwood aromatics, relatively subdued because this is tightly packed with still-chewy tannins, but there is so much waiting underneath. Give this another few years, or a good few hours in a carafe, to fully appreciate how the dense brambly fruits unroll and expand outwards through the palate. Great quality, with muscular tannins that ensure the ripe fruit remains engaged and at the very beginning of their life. An exceptionally successful wine. 80% new oak. Jean-René Matignon technical director.
96 Jane Anson - Inside Bordeaux
Crayon, cigar and cedarwood aromatics, relatively subdued because this is tightly packed with still-chewy tannins, but there is so much waiting underneath. Give this another few years, or a good few hours in a carafe, to fully appreciate how the dense brambly fruits unroll and expand outwards through the palate. Great quality, with muscular tannins that ensure the ripe fruit remains engaged and at the very beginning of their life. An exceptionally successful wine. 80% new oak. Jean-René Matignon technical director.
95 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com
Bold, smoky and chocolatey, this is a concentrated and massive wine for the Medoc, the alcohol showing slightly at the bold warm finish. Where is that T-bone steak? Drink or hold.
