Tasting Notes
Vinous 95
The 2010 Pichon-Baron has a surly, backward and uncompromising bouquet of layers of black fruit, smoke and melted tar. It feels curmudgeonly compared to the 2009, which one expects, yet I wonder if it will always remain that way. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin, great depth, huge grip in the mouth and intense mineralité toward the persistent finish. But this might be a rare case where the finesse of the 2009 shades the 2010. It will need a decade in the bottle and maybe then I will be proven wrong. Tasted at the Pichon-Baron vertical at the château.
Anticipated maturity: 2020-2055
Robert Parker 96
Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Pichon-Longueville Baron delivers expressive scents of baked black cherries, plum preserves and creme de cassis with hints of cedar chest and bouquet garni. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a firm backbone of grainy tannins and lovely freshness with bags of energetic black fruits and a long, wonderfully pure finish.
Anticipated maturity: 2020-2055
JancisRobinson.com 18.5
Tasted blind. Deep bricky garnet. Rich and cedary on the nose with an attractive touch of rock dust and cassis. Rich, dense but even with all this tannin there’s a flow across the palate. Very Pauillac in its muscular framework but it’s all in balance. Nowhere near ready. (JH)
Anticipated maturity: 2025-2045