Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Pichon-Longueville Baron offers a suave and seductive nose of warm red and black currants, black plum preserves, truffles, tapenade and rose hip tea with touches of sandalwood and Chinese five spice plus a waft of iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, firmly structured and packed with mineral and exotic spice-laced black fruits, it finishes very long with compelling herbal sparks.

The 2016 Pichon-Longueville Baron is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot picked between 3 and 18 October at 39 hectoliters per hectare for estate (therefore the Grand Vin will be less). It is matured in 80% new oak and 20% one year old for 18 months. It has a very intense, extremely pure bouquet with blackberry, bilberry, cedar and graphite notes; it is a straight-down-the-fairway Pauillac. The palate is medium-bodied with a very tensile opening, that seam of graphite penetrating the black fruit. There is a wonderful structure here, unapologetically classic in style with just the right amount of austerity on the aristocratic finish. The aftertaste is incredibly long, lingering after two or three minutes in the mouth. This is a majestic Pichon-Baron and it may well to surpass both the 2009 or 2010.