Winemaker Notes
Blend: 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from the deep, gravelly soils of Pauillac and based on 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot, the 2023 Les Griffons De Pichon Baron was aged 15 months in 50% new French oak. Cassis, graphite, crushed stone, and scorched earth all emerge from this beautiful, medium-bodied effort, and it has a focused elegance, a nicely concentrated mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and outstanding length. With just over 6,000 cases produced, it's a beautiful and classic second wine that needs a few years of bottle age and will have two decades of prime drinking. Drink 2027-2045.
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Vinous
The 2023 Les Griffons de Pichon Baron is superb. Silky, elegant and wonderfully refined, the Griffons is all class, all the way. I admire its mid-weight structure and polished feel. All the elements are so nicely balanced. Plum, blood orange, cinnamon and rose petal linger effortlessly. –Antonio Galloni
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
Wine Enthusiast
A solid, textured wine with power from the Cabernet Sauvignon and black-currant fruit from the Merlot. Its black-coffee aroma and sense of potential are palpable.
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James Suckling
A structured red with berry, chocolate and crushed-stone character. Medium- to full-bodied, it has chewy tannins and a savory finish yet remains soft and textural. Needs a couple of years in the bottle.
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Decanter
Lots of Cabernet herbal markers on the nose, blackcurrant leaf, menthol, clove, tobacco, dark chocolate and bramble berries. Rich and deep but smooth and grippy, I love the cool freshness you get here, really saline and mineral - graphite, wet stones and pencil lead. A controlled wine, well defined, harmonious, nothing sticking out, with lifted acidity. Quite lean, and prominent minerality on the finish gives some tension and compaction, but I like the weight and think this will age well. 3.8pH. 7% press wine. Ageing 15 months, 50% new oak. 21% of production.
Barrel Sample: 92 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot, the 2023 Les Griffons de Pichon Baron opens with aromas of cigar wrapper, dark berries, plum and spices, seamlessly integrated with oak. Medium- to full-bodied, it is dense and layered, built around a fleshy core of fruit framed by powdery, finely structuring tannins, and concludes with a long, spicy finish. This is a highly convincing introduction to the estate’s grand vin. Rating: 92+
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.
The leader on the Left Bank in number of first growth classified producers within its boundaries, Pauillac has more than any of the other appellations, at three of the five. Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild border St. Estephe on its northern end and Chateau Latour is at Pauillac’s southern end, bordering St. Julien.
While the first growths are certainly some of the better producers of the Left Bank, today they often compete with some of the “lower ranked” producers (second, third, fourth, fifth growth) in quality and value. The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification that goes back to 1855. The finest chateaux in that year were judged on the basis of reputation and trading price; changes in rank since then have been miniscule at best. Today producers such as Chateau Pontet-Canet, Chateau Grand Puy-Lacoste, Chateau Lynch-Bages, among others (all fifth growth) offer some of the most outstanding wines in all of Bordeaux.
Defining characteristics of fine wines from Pauillac (i.e. Cabernet-based Bordeaux Blends) include inky and juicy blackcurrant, cedar or cigar box and plush or chalky tannins.
Layers of gravel in the Pauillac region are key to its wines’ character and quality. The layers offer excellent drainage in the relatively flat topography of the region allowing water to run off into “jalles” or streams, which subsequently flow off into the Gironde.