Château Pichon-Longueville Baron, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France 2010

Classified as a Second Growth (Deuxièmes Cru). 

• Winemaker: Jean-René Matignon
  
• Farming: Sustainable
• Varieties: 79% Cabernet-sauvignon, 21% Merlot
• Terroir: Gravel, sand. 
• Vinification: The must from each plot is vinified individually in vat. Maceration lasted 18 to 25 days depending on the plot. 
• Aging:  80% in new barrels, 20% from barrels of one vintage for 20 months
• Tasting notes: The Grand Vin Château Pichon Baron 2nd Grand Cru Classé in 1855 comes from the very oldest vines grown on the historic plots of the estate. Black fruited and spicy, Château Pichon Baron shows great elegance, intensity, and exceptional length on the palate. It is a wine that improves year after year and can age for over 40 years in the cellar. 2010 was a dry but balanced vintage, yielding extremely cellar-worthy wines. 
• Scores: Jeb Dunnuck 99 Points: Borderline perfection in a bottle, the 2010 Pichon-Longueville Baron (79% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot) boasts a saturated purple color as well as truly extraordinary aromatics of crème de cassis, licorice, crushed rock-like minerality, graphite, and spring flowers. Possessing full-bodied richness, a huge, unctuous mid-palate, and building tannin, it shows the purity, grandeur, and precision that makes this vintage so remarkable. Hide bottles for another 4-5 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy bottles over the following 2-3 decades..