5/19/2023 0 Comments Chateau pichon baronWhen we got to the 2005 vintage for the vertical, it marked a “turning point” for quality and quantity. While the intention is not to “copy” that older wine, it is to make wines that best reflect the “soul of the place,” Seely explained. Seely recalled having tasted the “beautiful” 1959 – essentially made from vines in the 40-hectare plateau. Over lunch both older vintages showed well. The resulting increase of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend of the grand vin – from about 60 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 40 percent Merlot in the 1990s, to an average 80-20 blend today – lends a more foreboding aspect to Pichon Baron. Since 2012, even fewer estate grapes were used to craft Pichon Baron, with the introduction of Les Griffons de Pichon Baron, a second second wine with more Cabernet in the blend, crafted from parcels “geographically and in personality closer to the character of Pichon Baron,” Seely explained. Grapes from Merlot vines west of the plateau that had previously been used to make the grand vin in the 1990s now make more of the second wine, Les Tourelles de Longueville, a blend with 65% Merlot that ages in 30% new oak – and is meant for earlier consumption. Of 72 hectares owned by the estate today, the first wine is made primarily from older vines growing on a prized 40-hectare plateau of gravel beds with poor soils that force vines to go deep into the ground. He and his team blazed a trail to making powerful Pauillac wines with refinement, increasing the amount of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blends, reducing the percentage of the grand vin drawn from the total of the estate’s fruit, and increasing the percentage of new oak. In my experience as a journalist and as a wine events organizer, I came to appreciate and admire Jean-René as both a professional and kind man, one who exudes passion and love for wine. On two occasions earlier this century, Jean-René joined me for “winemaker dinners” that I had organized in Germany and in Washington D.C., where participants appreciated his frank affability and informative feedback when they posed questions. The universally high quality of the wines experienced testifies not only to the excellence of the terroir, but also to the talent of Jean-René and his team. We then enjoyed magnums of 19 over lunch (of course, pre-dating his arrival at the estate). In May this year, the estate invited me to join a special Au Revoir morning tasting and lunch featuring vintages that spanned Jean-René’s career with the château. Nearly 16 years later, when tasting the vintage at Château Pichon Longueville Baron in a vertical of no less than 37 vintages, the wine tasted as one could expect: not as good as the 2005, but pretty good, proving the point that excellent terroir from an estate like Château Pichon Longueville Baron can shine over time, even in a less than “great” vintage. “This could have been as good as 2005,” he told me regretfully. I can still recall the disappointment in Jean-René Matignon’s face as rain started to fall towards the end of the 2006 harvest.
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