Ch. Pichon Baron
Les Griffons de Pichon Baron
Pauillac
2016

The producer

The Pichon Baron estate was founded in 1694 by Baron Jacques Pichon de Longueville and his wife Therese (the plots of land which were to become Pichon Baron were bought by her father and part of her dowry when she married). In 1850 the property was divided in two. Baron Raoul Pichon de Longueville’s section became the Pichon Baron estate. The second section, belonging to his three sisters, became Pichon Comtesse. A century and a half later the estate was acquired by AXA Millesimes who invested heavily in renovating the whole operation and who have been and are wonderful custodians of this historical estate. 

Pichon Baron is one of Bordeaux’ very best 2^nd Growth estates. 73 hectares of vineyards are located immediately inland from Chateau Latour’s vineyards in the southern part of Pauillac and are planted with 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and the remainder is Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

Pichon Baron’s wines are known for being more muscular, tannic and full-bodied - compared with the wines from the Pichon Longueville Comtesse estate on the other side of the road - yet always balanced by the beautiful rich fruit. Very classy wines.

The wine

Les Griffons de Pichon Baron is the second wine of Château Pichon Longueville Baron, made primarily from Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Sourced from younger vines and select parcels within the estate’s 73-hectare vineyard in Pauillac, the wine undergoes fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks, followed by malolactic fermentation. It is aged for 12-18 months in French oak barrels, with a higher proportion of used barrels to retain freshness and highlight the fruit’s expression. The wine displays ripe red fruit, fine tannins, and balanced acidity, offering an approachable yet structured expression of Pauillac with aging potential.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.