2001 Pichon Baron and 2001 Pichon Comtesse

[AlexR]

Hi,

Dinner at my house on Sunday started with Georges Vesselle Grand Cru (Bouzy) Blanc de Noirs, a steely, but not overly austere wine, followed by 1999 Mumm, which was completely different, with yeasty, biscuity overtones, but still rather fresh after 21 years.
After a wine from the Jura that I thought was bretty and virtually undrinkable, we compared the two Pichons in a year that most Bordeaux cognoscenti consider underrated: 2001.

As host, I was not at leisure to take notes, but I will give a thumbnail sketch as follows. The Comtesse had a lovely, classic Pauillac nose of graphite, earth, and truffle. It was understated, but complex. The wine developed beautifully on the palate and, while not exactly light was, shall we say "fluid" and soft, I’d say pretty much at peak. At first, several people at table said they preferred its feminine charms to the Baron’s more masculine ones, but over time most changed their mind. The Baron was more youthful in color, with a more backward nose of blackcurrant and bramble. The wine was definitely more dynamic and assertive on the palate and can improve further. It had a full, delicious follow-through and everyone liked it a lot.

We had a Sauternes too, 2005 Doisy Védrines. This took me by surprise, and was much better than expected. At age 15 it is still years away from peak and only a slightly short aftertaste makes it stop short of perfection. I know Doisy Daënes fairly well, but had only had Doisy Védrines on a few occasions. This bottle represented the estate extremely well. It is the only one, along with Mouton Rothschild and Langoa/Léoville Barton to have stayed in the same family (Castéja) since the 1855 classification was made.

Best regards,
Alex R.

[jckba]

Nice note and a nice treat for your guests.

[stefan]

I am glad that you "discovered" the vastly underrated Doisy Vedrines, Alex.

I underbought 2001 red Bordeaux. Big mistake.

[Blanquito]

Well done, thanks for the look-see. I very much enjoy 2001 Bordeaux from both banks. Most classified wines from this vintage are not at peak for my palate, but offer lots of enjoyment today nonetheless.

[brodway]

agree with Stefan

bought very little of 2001 but have a couple Las Cases and a La Mission so bought quality over quantity in the vintage. sounds like these may be drinkable now

[Nicklasss]

Nice notes Alex.

I had the chance to have dinner at your place 3 times. Always fun, instructive and full of "wine surprise".

I had the chance to taste the two 2001 Pichons a few years ago and it was the opposite: Comtesse was more ready with more body and complexity, while Baron was still young and promising with strong blackfruit.

For Doisy Védrines, i think i had the 2011 thatwas quite good too.

Nic

[brodway]

Nick

the 2001 Sauternes are off the charts good....bought a good amount that year as it was daughter's birth year. we tend to open a bottle or two every year and they are delicious consistently in 2001

[DavidG]

I missed out almost entirely on 2001 and 2002. My loss. Except 2001 Sauternes. I still have a few of those. They’re hard to resist. Emil, those will make great 21st birthday and wedding wines for your daughter.

[Comte Flaneur]

agree with Stefan

bought very little of 2001 but have a couple Las Cases and a La Mission so bought quality over quantity in the vintage. sounds like these may be drinkable now

Although it was a while since I had it last, the 2001 LLC was almost hilariously bolshy, by that I mean backwards, tannic and unwelcoming compared to say the much friendlier 2002. The intervening years may have changed that but I would be surprised if it is ready.

In fact a bit like the 2001 Lafite Alex kindly opened up two years ago, which even Alex conceded needed at least one Blanquito. I suspect of the two you mention LMHB would be the easier to drink.

Thanks for the notes Alex. It is always difficult to choose between the Comtessa and the Baron. They continue to pirouette to ever more dazzling heights.

My last two purchases of 2019 were six packs of Baron 2015 and 2016 to match the 2016 Comtesse I already have.

[marcs]

I bought a mixed case of these two wines on release (six 2001 Baron, six 2001 Comtesse) and still have half of it left (2 Baron and 4 Comtesse), so I am quite familiar with both of these. They are both very good but in my experience have quite different styles. The Comtesse is more plush and rounded and the Baron is very classically left bank styled, "sharper" and more angular. The Baron is almost a prototypical left bank cabernet style, like what you would give someone to taste to demonstrate classic Pauilliac, the Comtesse might almost sneak over as a right banker in a blind tasting. Both are quite enjoyable today but could definitely use more time -- three to five years would help.

The last time I had the 2001 Baron was this year at a wine tasting the night before Thanksgiving, it was good, but it never seemed to fully open up despite being open for 90 minutes. Had a very elegant and lifted midpalate with a lot of packed concentration underneath and the tannins were not obtrusive or unpleasant but did seem to clip the finish and "pinch" the midpalate, preventing it from filling out. So structured, like an elegantly tailored suit. We (Dave, Chris, myself and a few others) also had it at our Pichon Baron vertical back in February, 2019 and that bottle ended up more giving than the one I had at Thanksgiving, starting out rather pinched and tannic and opening significantly over the course of about three hours to reveal a lot more fruit depth than the more recent bottle. Perhaps we did not decant the Thanksgiving bottle enough.

Here is the thread for our PB vertical with notes from Dave and myself (Dave's is the better note on the 2001 PB):

http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com/ ... 56&p=71252

The last time I had the 2001 Comtesse was Christmas 2018 and I posted a TN here:

http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com/ ... f=4&t=8165

2001 Pichon Lalande -- this has the kind of nose where you know right away on a pop and pour that you are dealing with a very classy high end wine. Plush, layered, and rich with all kinds of Bordeaux blackcurrant, and a very Bordeaux scent I find difficult to describe, kind of a savory dark chocolate mixed with a bit of ash and an undercurrent of fresh water (if that makes any sense). On the palate, has a tangy charcoal-type quality with a rich sweetness lurking in the background. One thing that distinguishes Bordeaux from California for me is that the sweetness if a background element as opposed to in your face but it's definitely there -- this is tangy, savory, and fresh to the point of having a cranberry-ish edge but the sweetness is so strong that when I had a cookie after dinner this wine matched with it effortlessly. A very mouthfilling and powerful wine, but it still has a lot of tannin on the back end. A very good and interesting experience to drink now, worth opening if you have a lot, but it has still not come together fully. I would give it five more years. IMO 2001 left bank is a long-aging and tannic vintage where wines have some sharp edges and will take a while to really soften. But this one clearly has fruit to outlast the tannin.