Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron 2015

Professional Ratings

• 99 Decanter
  Yet another nose with standout freshness, even delicacy, but still quite youthful, mingling black fruit, spices, and spring flowers. A bit massive and still tightly wound on the palate, the wine has impressive tannic density and power but also finesse, apparent in the airborne, minty finish. Its terroir expression will need some time to come fully to the fore, but this is a superb wine.
• 98 Wine Enthusiast
  This is one of the great successes of this vintage. It is generous and rich while also solid and structured. The combination of the essence of black currant and the elegant tannic structure are superb. This is a wine for serious aging and the wine should not be broached before 2026.
  Cellar Selection
• 98 Jeb Dunnuck
  Reminding me of the 1990, the 2015 Château Pichon Baron is a sensational bottle of wine made from 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot that spent 18 months in 80% new French oak. Boasting a deep purple color as well as awesome notes of black raspberries, toasted spices, cassis, lead pencil shavings, tobacco leaf and building minerality, this full-bodied, concentrated 2015 has sweet tannin, a great texture, and a big, big finish. Pauillac all the way, with both opulence and finesse, forget bottles of 4-5 years and enjoy anytime over the following two to three decades. This is a match for the 2009, 2000, and 1990.
• 97 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Pichon-Longueville Baron is enticingly scented of chocolate-covered cherries, crushed red currants and mulberries with touches of baking spices, potpourri and bay leaves plus a hint of fallen leaves. Sumptuously elegant, refreshing and medium-bodied with gorgeous, expressive, perfumed red fruits and very fine, very firm tannins, it has a persistent, perfumed finish. Its remarkable intensity, freshness and very firm frame suggest a long-lived Pichon Baron, which should cellar gracefully for 30+ years.
• 96 Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
  A masterful wine, the 2015 Château Pichon Baron navigates nicely through elegance and power. The wine's fresh red currants deftly lead into nuances of black fruits and bright minerality. On the palate, there is a firmness that makes it superbly satisfying. This wine will go down as one of the château's best wines ever. (Tasted: January 25, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
• 95 James Suckling

  Blackberries, sweet tobacco, incense and currants. Aromatic. Medium to full body and firm, sleek tannins. Racy and refined. Shows lovely balance and finesse. Pretty now, but needs another three or four years of bottle age. Try from 2023. Reviewed in Hong Kong Chinese Wine Tasting July 2020.

• 95 Wine Spectator
  A fresh and focused style, with a terrific beam of black cherry and black currant compote flavors. Strong graphite and black tea notes harness the finish, ending with alder and tobacco echoes. This has serious length without losing any drive along the way. Best from 2022 through 2038.
• 95 Connoisseurs' Guide
  Sensationally rich though it may be, this spellbinding wine earns its third star by way of its impeccable crafting and polish. It is full and wonderfully fleshy in feel, but its potency comes with a sense of unexpected grace and it conveys confidence without need of swagger. Evocative of cassis, berries and optimally ripe plums, but not stopping with fruit and showing a penetrating streak of stony, graphite-like minerality along with touches of black tea and a smattering of exotic spice, it is at once fairly accessible yet has the structure to warn against overly hasty drinking. It will likely test the resolve of claret collectors who are short on patience, but six to ten years of patience is very much in order if the wine is to reach its considerable best.