1985 Château Pichon Baron
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Tasting notes
Tawny in colour, soft around the edges but still plenty of vigour when you consider this is 37 years old. Fully in its tertiary phase, fruits softening to the point that the acidity is a little dominant, but there are enticing waves of soft embers, ash, tobacco, leather, undergrowth, and lift of crushed mint placing us in Pauillac on the final moments. Gentle, charming, 47IPT. 60-65hl/h yields.
Critic scores
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
More reviews and scores
Tasted single blind at the 1985 Bordeaux horizontal, the 1985 Château Pichon Baron put in a better performance than I expected, given previous showings. The nose takes you directly to Pauillac with cedar and pencil box. It is not intense but it conveys the place from which it comes, albeit in rustic style. The palate is fresh and crisp, quite reserved and traditional in style with the tannin slightly drying towards the foursquare finish. Predating the Cazes era, it attests to how this great estate tended to tread water in the early 1980s, but bottles should be consumed by now or upgraded to the stellar 1989 or 1990 Pichon Barons. Tasted July 2015.
About the producer
Pauillac’s Ch. Pichon Baron, formerly known as Ch. Pichon-Longueville Baron, is ranked as one of the 15 Second Growths from the 1855 Classification and is considered one of the "Super Seconds".