Château Pichon Baron 2008

The 2008 vintage in Pauillac

Vintage benchmark: 91/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A bright late season saved a cool summer: wines of unexpected freshness and aromatic precision.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pauillac. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

This is a wine of strong personality, with fresh aromas of red fruit and blackberries. The palate expresses itself quickly with a very assertive, powerful, rich and fleshy character. This is a style built for long ageing, very distinctive and true to the spirit of the estate. The finish is very long on frank, dense tannins. A wine of great substance, altogether balanced, developing on a tight, voluminous framework.

Blend of the 2008 vintage

Figures from the 2008 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 30 yrsVine age
• 180,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

These took place in the best conditions, with grapes coming in very cold, favoring pre-fermentation maceration. The richness in sugars was even higher than estimated during ripeness checks. The low weight of the berries allowed for very good, gentle polyphenol extraction between 25 and 27°C. Pump-overs were concentrated in the first days of fermentation. Maceration times, adapted to the tasting profile of each plot, lasted from 14 to 25 days.

Ageing

15 months in French oak barrels (80% new).

Terroir

Overlooking the Latour vineyard, the 73 ha of Domaine de Pichon Baron extend over gravelly soils of very high quality. This unique land, low in nutrients and without excess water, sparingly feeds old vine stocks whose grape production is deliberately small but of exceptional nobility. This terroir is capable of producing extraordinary wines, which the property sets out to do with excellence and consistency, respecting the original history of this vineyard. Composed of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, the extensive Pichon Baron vineyard has been divided up into meticulously defined plots. The great 40 ha terroir of the Pichon Baron knoll is devoted solely to the production of the Grand Vin and today accounts for the greater part of its blend.