Château Pichon Baron 2002

This is an elegant, deep ruby-colored wine with notes of sweet cassis, cedar wood, and tobacco, with a hint of chocolate in the background. It is a layered, moderately weighty wine with pretty, even understated fruit flavors, excellent concentration, and a long finish with relatively ripe tannin. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2016.

Dense aromas of licorice, tobacco, cedar and currants. Subtle yet complex. Full-bodied, with silky tannins and a rich, long finish. Very pretty. One of the best from Pauillac this year, and clearly better than 2001. One of the surprises of the vintage. Best after 2008. 20,000 cases made.

Black fruits and cherry interlaced with pleasant notes of mint, anise, and truffles. On the palate, the fine, precise tannic structure seems quite delicate but provides excellent length on the finish. This is another example of stylistic evolution toward greater precision along the lines of 2001, as both wines possess vivacity and weightlessness on the finish. Even if this bottle has reached its apogee, it remains very elegant.

The product of a cooler vintage, there is an austerity to its nature that will please some tasters who appreciate old-school styled Bordeaux. It is a nice wine that is starting to drink well, but it is not going to offer the fireworks found in the riper years.

03, barrel sample: floral, slightly stern bouquet, cedar tones, granular aromatics, initially more red-berried, note of plum. Medium-weight palate with a well-supporting tannin-acid frame, forest fruits, lovely sweetness from the extract, still restrained, but somehow, at least for now, lacking aromatics on the finish. Therefore somewhat disappointing for its status (17/20). 04: Surprisingly dark garnet with lilac and violet highlights at the rim. The nose is currently very reductive, black cherries, rosewood notes, phenolic, surprisingly deep. On the palate, dense, complex, meaty, with plenty of fat in the tannins, rather soft acidity, ripe blackberries on the thick finish. A wine that carries a lot of fruit and may therefore soon give a lot of pleasure. (18/20). Still on a great track, the opulent body and sweetness almost recall a great Pomerol, which for the feminine 2002 vintage is no disgrace. (18/20). 12: Medium-dark with a ruby rim. Medium garnet, ruby, brightening edge. Beautiful bouquet, perfumed cassis, exotic woods, Dominican tobacco, a touch of refreshing lemon balm. Juicy palate with lots of aromatics, moving wonderfully in the blueberry register, focused finish, great, affordable and nearly mature Pauillac fun. (18/20). 14: Nebuchadnezzar bottle. Patrick Bopp (pictured above) decanted the wine directly into the carafes. Garnet with a ruby sheen, finely brightening rim on the outside. Clearly toasty bouquet, wood shavings, behind that red plum skins and cooked fruit notes that support the nose nicely. On the palate, juicy with moreish charm, you can feel a certain under-ripeness of the grapes and the wine is logically much more red-berried than the two 1998 Pauillacs that were served almost at the same time. But for those who do not crave potential and are more inclined toward actual drinking maturity, this wine gives a lot of pleasure. Not least because 15 liters divided by 60 people guaranteed a generous second helping. The standard bottles will probably be a point lower. With a fairly adjusted large-format bonus: 18/20. 15: At the château, a bottle that had been decanted the day before. I didn’t know that, so I guessed a great vintage from a dry year. I was only right about the great vintage, which is not true for many estates in this region. Next time I want to drink it, I wouldn’t decant it. (18/20). 16: In a blind tasting against Lagrange, Giscours and Talbot, it was the best.

Fresh, sweet bouquet, cassis, tobacco, balsa wood. Medium-bodied, sweet palate with a silky texture, sweet aromatics, long, sweet finish. 17/20

Inky purple in colour, holding its shape and form right through to the core of the wine, and plenty of Pauillac character to the Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant nose. A touch of smoked caramel, cassis and bilberry; the fruit is less nuanced than with the 2001 or the 2000, but this is packed with slate-textured tannins and juicy minerality on the finish. Woodsmoke and ash curl out of the glass as it opens. 70% new oak. Jean-Rene Matignon, technical director.

Quintessentially Pauillac, this bouquet stands out with notes of graphite, tobacco, and cedar, followed by aromas of cassis and blackberry. On the palate it feels unflappable and serene. It highlights that a few gems emerged in Pauillac in 2002. A delicious wine, not to be missed!