Farr Vintners Logo

Pichon Baron 2000

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pauillac
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Pichon-Longueville Baron

Label

Tasting Notes

This is one of the great wines of the vintage, and certainly a candidate for one of the finest wines made at this estate under the management of Christian Seeley and proprietor AXA. Showing incredibly well at two tastings of 2000s, the wine has a dense bluish/purple color and a beautiful nose of incense, melted asphalt, and creme de cassis as well as hints of new saddle leather and licorice. It is superbly concentrated and very pure, with excellent texture and opulence. The acidity seems low, the tannin high but well-integrated. This is a compelling 2000 that is just closing in on its window of maturity and should stay there for at least 20 or more years. Bravo! Drink 2010-2030

97
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (189), June 2010

The 2000 Pichon Baron is consistent with the bottle tasted at the vertical back in 2018. It has a very elegant nose featuring a mixture of red and black fruit, fresh mint and touches of graphite (though in this bottle, it is not quite as prominent). The palate is medium-bodied with a crisp entry, offering vibrant black fruit laced with graphite and dried blood; I find more complexity here compared to the 2000 Pichon-Lalande that I tasted at the property just an hour earlier. Quite spicy and peppery, leading to a vibrant finish. This is imbued with wonderful tension. A Pauillac that is approaching its peak. 2021 - 2050

95
Neal Martin, vinous.com, September 2021
93
James Suckling, Wine Spectator (Mar 31, 03), March 2003

This remains powerful at 21 years old, a lovely slice of well-aged Pauillac at an excellent moment to begin drinking. Soft curls of tobacco and liqourice, tannins remain muscular but softening into an embrace of the cassis and bilberry fruit. Not the same density as you will find in more recent years of Pichon Baron, but this is extremely well balanced, the finesse of fully aged Cabernet Sauvignon. Perhaps a little more evolved than many top Pauillacs from this vintage, with hints of the heat of the summer in the fig fruit character and the soft russet edging to the plum colour, but succulent and enticing. Last year with Jean-Michel Cazes as director, Jean-Rene Matignon technical director. 80% new oak.

94
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, December 2021

Blackish crimson. Scented nose. Thick, rich, nervy, and really tense! Well done. Lots going on there. Reverberates. Date tasted 20th Jan 05.

18.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, August 2005
95
Farr Vintners, April 2001
Read more tasting notes...

A spectacular effort, this is a profound Pichon Baron and clearly my favorite vintage of this wine since the 1989 and 1990. An inky purple color offers up notes of barbecue spices intermixed with new saddle leather, creme de cassis, melted licorice, creosote, and a hint of vanilla. The wine is full-bodied, tremendously concentrated, with sweet tannin and a seamless finish that goes on for close to one minute. This wine has great purity, tremendous texture, and fabulous upside potential. This is a prodigious 2000! Anticipated maturity: 2008-2028.

96
Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (4), December 2003

A spectacular effort, this is a profound Pichon Baron and clearly my favorite vintage of this wine since the 1989 and 1990. An inky purple color offers up notes of barbecue spices intermixed with new saddle leather, creme de cassis, melted licorice, creosote, and a hint of vanilla. The wine is full-bodied, tremendously concentrated, with sweet tannin and a seamless finish that goes on for close to one minute. This wine has great purity, tremendous texture, and fabulous upside potential. This is a prodigious 2000! Anticipated maturity: 2008-2028.

96
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (146), April 2003

This inky purple-colored, rich, full-bodied offering boasts a gorgeous nose of wood smoke intermixed with melted licorice and creme de cassis. A classic Pauillac with an impressive texture, full body, sweet tannin, and a 40+ second finish, it is a fine effort. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2025

93/96
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (139), February 2002

A fine effort, the perfumed, opaque purple-colored 2000 exhibits classy, complex aromas of incense, black fruits, vanillin, and spice box with a touch of charcoal in the background. On the attack, this full-bodied, impeccably balanced wine is powerful and sweet, with high levels of glycerin, superb concentration, beautifully integrated acidity and tannin, and a spectacularly long, layered finish. It is a profound effort from this second-growth Pauillac. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2030.

94/96
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (134), April 2001

The 2000 Château Pichon Baron is just getting better and better and better. Perhaps the magnum format played its part, but nevertheless...just...wow. This is a millennial Left Bank with the keys to the top drawer. It has an incredibly precise, mineral-driven bouquet with intense black fruit infused with cedar and graphite scents. It just reeks of Pauillac in an almost uncompromising, yet compelling manner. The palate is structured, stylish and effortless, extraordinarily pure and unerringly youthful. This is a Pichon Baron saying, "You ain't seen nothing yet." You could broach this now if you wanted, but the clever people will wisely bunker this for another decade and gloat from 2025 onward. Drink: 2025 - 2050.

97
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (225), July 2016

Tasted at Roberson's Pichon Lalande/Pichon Baron vertical. Let's face it: the nose completely blows away the Pichon-Lalande 2000, so much more fruit concentration and complexity with mulberry, boysenberry, lavender and a touch of leather. The palate is full-bodied with firm tannins, superb weight, very smooth and caressing, lovely weight towards the still quite oaky finish. Drink 2015-2030

95
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, March 2012
92/94
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, January 2003
92
Farr Vintners, April 2001
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.