Château Pichon Baron 2018

97–99 pts, Jeb Dunnuck

A 2018 from Château Pichon Baron, a Deuxième Grand Cru Classé in Pauillac since the 1855 classification, and one of Bordeaux's Super Seconds, wines that regularly rival the first growths. The blend is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot, aged 18 months in barrel, 80% of it new oak, at 14.5% ABV.

Deep crimson in the glass, with enormous weight and layered dark fruit: bilberry and blackberry, pencil lead, slate, smoked earth, cigar box, and cedar. The tannins are powerful but polished. Critics have been emphatic, James Suckling at 97 to 98 points, Jeb Dunnuck at 97 to 99, Jane Anson at 96, averaging around 97 points overall. This is a wine built for the long haul, with a drinking window stretching from 2032 to 2050. Decant well ahead and save it for something that matters.