Andrew Jefford: Dark, saturated black-red. Rather a gruff, forbidding aromatic profile at present, but there is every promise of fine things behind it, glimpsed as you give it plenty of air. Very fine spices, notably; and orange as well as black fruits. On the palate, this is a hugely ambitious, thrusting, riveting, commanding Pauillac. The concentration is totally arresting; the tannins are sensational; the ripeness impeccable; it has a length and penetration I really wonder if the first growths could match. A wine for sipping; and a wine for keeping, too. How will it age? And in particular, can this vintage deliver raw materials that have the completeness and amplitude to reward this sort of death-or-glory approach, and where is drinkability in all of this? Is it not just a little raw, and will that rawness ever quite soften out? I don’t have an answer to these questions, and it is only by following the evolution of this remarkable wine that we will know. After an hour or so’s air, the wine is showing well, but overall it’s so young and unformed that my score even now has to be provisional. An awesome effort for the vintage. 2022–34. 95

Michael Schuster: Fine, complex, gravelly, and oaky to smell; rich, generous, lively in acidity, firmly tannic wine; a fine, long-term balance; crisply ripe, sweet, complex, aromatic flavor; long across the palate, close-grained, and subtle, gently gravelly in aromas, mouth-filling and very long and fragrant to finish; fine medium- to long-term Pichon Baron, complete and most satisfying. 2024–40+. 93