Andrew Jefford | This Pichon Baron ’15 is saturatedly dark black-red in color, one of the Médoc’s darkest wines this year. The aromas are brooding, with ample dark blackcurrant packed into licorice, aniseed, and soft leather: very classy. It’s as forthcoming as Pichon-Lalande but in a totally different, much less floral style. On the palate, the wine is deep, firm, and solidly constructed, with much better ripeness than many of its peers, and the same complexities exhibited on the aroma also present in the mouth. The tannins may not be meaty or thick this year, but they are amply present and help give this wine a palpable, springy texture nonetheless. | 93

Michael Schuster | Dense, ripe, subtly gravelly nose; richly concentrated medium-weight, taut in acidity, firmly tannic, a long-term constitution; rich, firm, generous, plenty of matter, plenty of tannin and structure; a mass of flavor here, deep, spicy, savory wine, long and complex and mouth-coating, long and aromatic to finish. A very fine if not an absolutely top Pichon Baron, needing a decade and some. 2028–45+. | 94