A bunch of friends got together to put Pichon Baron & Pichon Lalande against one another. It was a great evening.

1966 Pichon Baron VS. Pichon Lalande
Big thanks to Mark for bringing and sharing this delicious vintage wine with us. It was a wonderful deeper glimpse into Pichon Baron's history.

• 1966 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Served Blind. I guessed a 1970 Bordeaux left bank. Ruby red with orange to red rim. Austere, and slightly dry. Good tannis and a deliciously inviting nose of sugar plums and cassis. Lot's of 2nd nuances and a slightly tart finish. A wonderful start to a wonder evening. (94 pts.)
  

1986 Pichon Baron VS. Pichon Lalande

• 1986 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Giant tannins - Younger tasting than the Pichon. Tasted like it was stored slightly better than the Lalande. It was in need of some longer decanting time - but non-the-less, it was purple, ruby red with expressive aromatics of dark plum and tiny berries. Big and Full. Packing a punch with rich expansive tannins. (91 pts.)
  
• 1986 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Softer than the Baron with much more balance. Slightly hazy in color. Dense and dark purple. Concentrated black berries and light toast. Rich full big in weigh. The nose was succulent and the fruit finished with creamy long concentrated notes. (90 pts.)
  

1982 Pichon Baron VS. Pichon Lalande

• 1982 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  My second time with this wine. Last time I scored this a 98, and this time it deserves the coveted perfect score. Just simply ready for action with delicious jammy perfect aromatics and a KILLER balances mouth, palate, feel. This wine is built for perfectionists. It's all there guys - if you haven't tried it, you have to get it. Fortunately this bottle was sourced from a cellar that was housing the wine @ 55 degrees since release. (100 pts.)
  
• 1982 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Dense dark purple with concentrated blackberries and plum notes. Typical lead pencil and rich nuances. Some leather and wild game flavors. Tannins are well integrated and the finish is elegant. A shame its up against such stiff competition. (95 pts.)
  

1989 Pichon Baron VS. Pichon Lalande

• 1989 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Purple to ruby red. The nose has some roasted nuts and ripe seductive flavors. Leather and earth are apparent as well. Soft mouth feel with a medium body. (92 pts.)
  
• 1989 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Of the 2 wines - this had a slight edge to me. It tasted better today but I thought that the Pichon Lalande could be better tomorrow. The Baron was open for business. It tasted delicious and was brawney, muscular, ripe, with plenty of extraction. Tobacco and lead pencil and lushed out tannins. A nice wine. (93 pts.)
  

1990 Pichon Baron VS. Pichon Lalande

• 1990 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Corked!!!
  
• 1990 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Purple red - this must have been the sweetest Bordeaux of the night. Very succulant with extracted, ripe fruit. A wonderfuil mouth feel and clean balanced finish. it was a very well structured wine and had plenty of juicy fat girl fruit. (94 pts.)
  

1995 Pichon Baron VS. Pichon Lalande
There was a conversation about how this vintage is undervalued. Also we spoke about wether or not anyone would rather take 5 bottles of 1996 Lalande or 1 bottle of 1982 Lalande. For me it was easy - take the one bottle of 1982.
Some choose that they would consider taking the 5 bottles over the 1.
Then we put it into different terms. 1 night with Angelina Jolie, or 5 nights with Terry Hatcher.
The point was made.....

• 1995 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  A bit reminiscent of a California Cabernet. Toasted oak and a chocolate profile makes this wine a bit different than the other vintages. Minerals, smoke and extract all are apparent and some saddle leather. (93 pts.)
  
• 1995 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Sweet with nice fruit. Dark cherries and cassis. Medium mouth feel and weight is moderate. This is a wine with good tannins and on the low side of acidity. Flavorful but the finish was short. (91 pts.)
  

1996 Pichon Baron VS. Pichon Lalande
These 1996's were very acidic compared to the other vintages of the evening.

• 1996 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  The Lalande to me had some green stem notes that put me off after it was poured. Some of the heavier notes of green stems blew off - this wine was in need of longer decanting time. Slightly closed up this was vicious, thick and extracted. These two 1996's had the highest acidity of all the wines we tasted tonight. (91 pts.)
  
• 1996 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Not quiet as full as the Lalande this had a healthy taste of toasted wood. Almost toasty like a California Cabernet. The acid also stuck out. (90 pts.)
  

2000 Pichon Baron VS. Pichon Lalande

• 2000 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Difficult to evaluate. Lots of green notes. Like stems and green olives as Mark mentioned. The Baron was clearly a superior wine to me. Something was certainly unusual with the Lalande and I certainly feel more comfortable with Baron resting in my cellar than Lalande in 2000. (93 pts.)
  
• 2000 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  This wine was seemless. Very well balanced and integrated. Bill thought it was simple, but at this point I want a balanced wine, not something with notes / flavors out of wack. With some cellar time this wine will loose it fat and gain its mass. A future champion. (95 pts.)
  

Dessert

• 1991 Croft Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Well balanced and a fine Port. This was decanted for almost 10 hours. Creamy notes of black cherry and vanilla notes. Not showing all it has and this has BIG potential. A delicious port with a great future. (92 pts.)
  
• 1990 Château Guiraud - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
  Orange and sweet. This was paired with some cheese and sliced apples. Very sweet with some honey and apricot flavors. (89 pts.)
  

- Jamie
Posted from CellarTracker

Thank you for this. I've always wondered how they compare side by side. Great notes, BTW.

Nice notes. I've been wanting to read a side by side on the '00 Pichon's.....

Good notes, Kutch.
You've come a long way, baby, from
"Go hit a bong and play in the traffic" days


How is your PN gig going or is it just "hit and run" post?

Great notes looks like wonderful night.

Sounds like a great night. It's answered alot of questions I've had comparing 2 great producers from equally good years. Thanks for the notes.

Great notes, Jamie... These two châteaux are so competitive, facing eachother at the D2, showing off their antique castles and nicely decorated gardens.... Good to read they make outstanding wines. May try a Baron '01 next year. Any thoughts?

New DutchDrinker,

I haven't tried the 2001 Baron - Parker gives it 93 points and write in June of 2004 - "it can be drunk now, but will be even better in 2-3 years; it will last for 12-15 years. I had this wine three separate times out of bottle, and it is performing significantly better than it did from cask."

Jamie Klutch--

Thanks for the notes---wine tasting is very subjective. Although I am a fan of both of these Chateaux, I do prefer Pichon Lalande and was a little surprised that you rated Pichon Baron so highly! With the exception of the 1989 & 1990 vintage, I would have seleceted Pichon Lalande as the better wine in every vintage that you listed, especially 1986 & 1995...

I have never tasted either wine from the 2000 vintage, and both 1966 wines should have been over the hill, but the last time I tried them, the Pichon Lalande was the better wine!

Were the wines purchased at the same time and stored under the same conditions?