Winemaker Notes
Vibrant red robe. Intense nose of spices, red fruits and vanilla. Medium-bodied in the mouth with red cherries, cassis, and lightly grilled oak flavors. Silky tannins and nice long finish.
Sustainable and organic practices
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This vineyard, now surrounded by the Bordeaux suburbs, is producing some fine classic wines. This vintage in its youth is lightly stalky, with a smoky character that comes from wood aging. Its potential is fine, softening, highlighting the black-currant flavors and tannins. Drink from 2026. Cellar Selection.
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James Suckling
Aromas of blackberries, dark chocolate, spice box and toasted almond. Some graphite, too. Medium- to full-bodied. Tight and concentrated with firm, chewy tannins. Structured and lingering. Needs a few years to soften. Best After 2025
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep purple-black colored, the 2020 Picque-Caillou shoots from the glass with a very focused and pure perfume of black cherries, fresh blackberries and lilacs, followed by hints of tapenade, garrigue and tilled soil. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers great intensity and freshness, delivering loads of crunchy black fruit and a fine-grained texture, finishing long and lively.
Barrel Sample: 90-92 -
Jeb Dunnuck
Bright cherries, redcurrants, smoked tobacco, and spicy, earthy notes all emerge from the 2020 Château Picque Caillou, a pure, medium-bodied, elegant Pessac-Léognan that has plenty of class. The tannins are fine and polished, the balance is spot on, and this is all about finesse and elegance. Rating: 90+
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.