Château Pichon Baron 2017

Critic scores

• James Suckling95-96
• Wine Enthusiast96
• Wine Advocate95
• Vinous94
• Decanter92

The 2017 vintage in Pauillac

Vintage benchmark: 85/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: April frost cut the crop in half: the plots that were spared give fine, classic wines, and the vintage must be judged estate by estate.

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

Château Pichon Baron 2017 reveals a deep, intense and very dark color. On the nose, the aromatic range is wide, revealing notes of vanilla, coconut, and a bouquet of black fruit, combined with subtle nuances of spice and cigar box. The attack is full, with richness and sweetness. The precise tannins are fine and enveloping. Beautiful, voluminous length. The elegant constitution of this great 2017 vintage owes to the particular care given to the ageing. While breeding is present, finesse and distinction stamp the style of this vintage where balance is the chief asset.

Blend of the 2017 vintage

Figures from the 2017 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 31 hl/haYield
• 30 yrsVine age
• 180,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

With good phenolic quality, the earliest merlot plots were ripe by mid-September. The cabernet sauvignons were very close behind the merlots and their harvest could follow on without risk. Vatting was controlled to keep temperatures below 10°C so as to favor gradual extraction in the estate's true style. Alcoholic fermentations got underway quickly and proceeded at a moderate pace, allowing extractions during the fermentation phase suited to each grape variety and each terroir. Temperatures were regulated at 25-27°C. Maceration times ranged from 16 to 24 days. Barreling was completed by the end of November. The old-vine merlots were picked from September 18 to 21 and the cabernet sauvignons from September 27 to October 3.

Ageing

80% in new barrels and 20% in one-wine barrels, for 20 months.

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.