Pauillac Second Growth making Cabernet Sauvignon led reds across vintage bottlings, with Les Tourelles de Longueville as its second wine.
The producer
Château Pichon Longueville Baron is a Pauillac château in Bordeaux's Médoc and a Second Growth in the 1855 classification. Its vineyard spans 73 hectares, with Cabernet Sauvignon as the largest planting and vines averaging 30 years old. AXA Millésimes bought the estate in 1987, followed by a new fermentation cellar and technical modernization. The range includes vintage estate bottlings and Les Tourelles de Longueville, the second wine.
Known for
Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon reds
Notable facts
Château Pichon Longueville Baron is a Second Growth in the 1855 Bordeaux classification.
The estate is located in Pauillac in Bordeaux's Médoc.
Its vineyard covers 73 hectares.
Les Tourelles de Longueville is the estate's second wine.
The story
The Reflecting Pool and the Second Growth
In the winter of 1987, AXA Millesimes closed its purchase of Château Pichon-Longueville-Baron and commissioned an immediate assessment of the estate. Jean-Michel Cazes, who ran Lynch-Bages from just up the D2, found an operation whose reputation as a 2ème Cru considerably outpaced its physical reality: outdated fermentation equipment, cellars in poor condition, a vineyard that had been under-capitalised for years. AXA approved a programme of expenditure that ran through the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, culminating in a new winery complex—a large modern building set back from the road, fronted by a reflecting pool that caught the twin towers of the château behind it. The pool was not designed as a landmark. It became one anyway, familiar to every driver who takes the D2 through the Médoc's strip of classified-growth properties.
From the atlas
Château Pichon Longueville Baron
Pauillac château making Cabernet Sauvignon led red wines across changing vintages.
At A Glance
Field
Detail
Region
Bordeaux
Appellation
Pauillac
Classification
Second Growth in the 1855 Bordeaux classification
Principal grape
Cabernet Sauvignon
The Producer
The estate's vineyard covers 73 hectares. Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for 60% of the planting, Merlot 35%, Cabernet Franc 4% and Petit Verdot 1%. The vines average 30 years old, with 9,000 planted per hectare and double Guyot training.
The 1855 classification lists Château Pichon Longueville Baron among fifteen Deuxièmes Crus, the French term for Second Growths. In 1850, Baron Raoul Pichon de Longueville and his three sisters divided the property. His portion became Pichon Baron, while their section became Pichon Comtesse.
AXA Millésimes purchased the estate in 1987. The acquisition was followed by extensive investment, including a new fermentation cellar and comprehensive modernization of the technical facilities.
Place
Château Pichon Longueville Baron sits in the commune and appellation of Pauillac in Bordeaux's Médoc. An appellation is a regulated geographic name for wine, so Pauillac fixes the place attached to the estate's bottles. The property is read as a Pauillac château within Bordeaux, with the appellation naming its geographic origin.
Wines
The estate's vintage bottlings show different proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Château Pichon Longueville Baron 2021 is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Merlot, aged in 70% new oak. Château Pichon Baron 2020 is 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot. Château Pichon Baron 2016 is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot.
Les Tourelles de Longueville is the estate's second wine. The range therefore places vintage variation beside a separate second bottling.
In The Glass
Château Pichon Longueville Baron 2021 opens with cool red and blue fruit, blueberry, vanilla and cola. It is medium bodied and concentrated, with silky tannins and bright acidity.
Château Pichon Baron 2020 shows layers of rich dark, black and dark red fruit, followed by smoke, tobacco, Cuban cigars, spice and dark chocolate.
A Bottle To Understand It
Choose Château Pichon Longueville Baron 2021. Its label joins the estate name, Pauillac appellation and vintage to a Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot bottling. Les Tourelles de Longueville is the separate second wine, so the first pour stays with the wine carrying the estate name.
Final Word
Château Pichon Longueville Baron is a Pauillac Second Growth led by Cabernet Sauvignon, with Les Tourelles de Longueville as its separate second wine.