98-99 Point Wines

wines

The best since the 1990, the 2000 Pichon-Longueville Baron is just now starting to shed some baby fat and develop additional complexity and layers. This still ruby/plum-colored beauty boasts a phenomenal nose of blackcurrants, tobacco leaf, lead pencil shavings, and new saddle leather. It’s deep, full-bodied, and sexy, with incredible amounts of texture and opulence that keeps you coming back to the glass. It makes a mockery of so many Bordeaux today that are made in a so-called elegant style yet lack the fat, richness, and density to ever hit this high a level. With low acidity, beautiful purity of fruit, sweet tannins, and a great finish, it’s in the early to middle range of its drink window (I love it today) and has another two decades of sensational drinking ahead. Readers wanting to know what truly great Bordeaux tastes like should open a bottle of this!Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDThis is one of the great wines of the vintage, and certainly a candidate for one of the finest wines made at this estate under the management of Christian Seeley and proprietor AXA. Showing incredibly well at two tastings of 2000s, the wine has a dense bluish/purple color and a beautiful nose of incense, melted asphalt, and creme de cassis as well as hints of new saddle leather and licorice. It is superbly concentrated and very pure, with excellent texture and opulence. The acidity seems low, the tannin high but well-integrated. This is a compelling 2000 that is just closing in on its window of maturity and should stay there for at least 20 or more years. Bravo!Robert Parker | 97 RPA rich and spicy wine with lots of walnuts, dried berry and plum. Full and very savory. So much tobacco and sous bois. Roasted fruit too. Classic 2000. Drink now.James Suckling | 95 JSThe 2000 Pichon Baron is consistent with the bottle tasted at the vertical back in 2018. It has a very elegant nose featuring a mixture of red and black fruit, fresh mint and touches of graphite (though in this bottle, it is not quite as prominent). The palate is medium-bodied with a crisp entry, offering vibrant black fruit laced with graphite and dried blood; I find more complexity here compared to the 2000 Pichon-Lalande that I tasted at the property just an hour earlier. Quite spicy and peppery, leading to a vibrant finish. This is imbued with wonderful tension. A Pauillac that is approaching its peak.Vinous Media | 95 VMRock-solid, with a block of currant, fig and blackberry paste notes forming the core, while youthful brambly-edged grip still holds sway throughout. Lots of enticing licorice root and sweet tobacco flavors wait in reserve, and there’s nice lift from a light savory hint at the very end. Still has a ways to go.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2028.Wine Spectator | 94 WS(Château Pichon Baron, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, Red) On the nose, graphite notes combine with black fruit including prunes, which highlight its solar character, but a minty and floral freshness adds aromatic lift after aeration. Similar impression on the palate with a juicy yet elegant mouthfeel that has a tightly-wound yet harmonious structure. Now at its apogee. (Drink between 2022-2030)Decanter | 93 DEC

A typical Palmer showing finesse alongside strength. I love the blackberry, plum, chocolate and cedar character. It’s very long and beautiful. The velvety, textured tannins are impressive.James Suckling | 97 JSThis has turned out to be a prodigious Palmer. The saturated purple color offers up sexy, full-bodied, almost masculine notes of roasted meats, blackberries, and creme de cassis intermixed with notions of toast, smoke, and camphor. Only 50% of the production made it into the 2000, a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Merlot. The wine is opulent, rich, and full-bodied, with tannin that has become sweeter with age. Its best showing yet, most importantly, has been from bottle. This is a great Palmer that should rival the best of recent vintages, which have all been stunning, as this estate continues to go from strength to strength. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2030.Robert Parker | 96 RPStill tight, with a core of black currant, blackberry and plum fruit flavors that is quite youthful, while hints of dried anise, tobacco and singed alder are starting to peek through on the finish. There’s a really vibrant iron note cutting through the finish too. Hold off for now.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Best from 2018 through 2028.Wine Spectator | 96 WSNow at 20 years old, and absolutely singing, after a sometimes frustratingly slow start to its life. The tannins are ripe but rich and still broad-shouldered, and it will probably still show at its best with a good plate of food to draw out the mouthwatering acidities. Dense, powerful, complex, with a menthol-laced finish, no signs of going anywhere yet. No Petit Verdot in the blend in this vintage, because the then director Bouteiller didn’t feel it was adding to the overall balance achieved by the already rich and concentrated Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Harvest September 21 to October 7. Drinking Window 2020 - 2043.Decanter | 96 DECThe 2000 Palmer is a very different “beast” than the 2001, and I use that word intentionally. This is much more feral on the nose, and quite ferrous, presenting leather and dried herbs, smudged red berry fruit, and a hint of fig that emerges with time. The brettanomyces sticks out a bit here. The palate is medium-bodied with dry tannins and good density, very earthy in style and certainly more evolved than the succeeding vintage, yet you cannot help falling for its charms. It evolves wonderfully in the glass, actually closing in a little toward the finish, and suggesting that contrary to what the nose suggests, it will repay further cellaring. Excellent.Vinous Media | 94 VMAt this stage, this is very closed, very tight, giving little. But it is possible to discern that this is going to be a beautiful wine. There are flavors of sweet raisins and the fruit has a new world richness, but the structure of dry tannins is always present. It looks as though it has a good, long life.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WE