2018 Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron 2nd Grand Cru Classe

Tasted blind. Not much nose but the suggestion of a lot lurking underneath. Thick and the polar opposite of Pichon Lalande with its massive tannins and not much flavour. Not so much my style but it will probably come right eventually! There’s mintiness and concentration. (JR)

An exceptionally successful vintage at Pichon Baron, juicy, concentrated and finessed, with powerful yet well balanced bilberry and blackberry fruits. The sense of complexity and nuance builds from beginning to end, coming in waves of baked earth, crayon and liquorice bud, with a slate texture to the tannins that slows the progress down through the palate and promises great things ahead. 80% new oak. They had to fight against mildew as everyone did, but came out a little better than some, at around 32hl/h yield. Jean-René Matignon technical director.

I have tried, wherever possible with this top 50, to taste the wines at a more leisurely pace than with the original in bottle tastings - using a Coravin for a glass over supper, or opening a bottle and giving it 24 hours to really open up and to see if they are able to go the distance. This is full of the serious Pauillac markers of pencil lead, slate, smoked earth, cigar box, cedar oak, with sharper rosemary and black pepper spice. Plenty of tannins, but carefully extracted, everything moving at a glacial pace. 86IPT, 80% new oak.