James Chu

9.1

1hr decant. Smoked oak, dark grapes tannins. Wonderful, well balance Bordeaux. Like many say, this vintage will have a few years to go before peak. One of my favourite. Full but can be fuller body. — 4 years ago

with Yijia

Nishith Jobanputra

9.2

Amazing. Decanted 1 hour. — 6 years ago

Simone M

9.1

Nice and buttery, not anything super special — 6 years ago

Mike Hartz

9.2

Delicious, blend of the kitchen sink, but full bodied and full of flavor, delicious — 8 years ago

Rick Jordan

9.0

VINTAGE: 2004
BOTTLE: 375ml
APPEARANCE: Deep red, garnet meniscus, viscous legs.
NOSE: Allspice, white pepper, bell pepper, dark fruits.
MOUTHFEEL: Round, medium - acidity, medium + tannins.
PALATE: Cinnamon, tomato leaf, leather, hints of vanilla.
FINISH: Long with sandalwood throughout and some cocoa at the very end.
NOTES: Picked this up in December of 2017, thinking the 375 bottle will have made this ready to drink immediately. Was not wrong, it is drinking well, but there is sufficient backbone left in this wine to age for many more years to come, even in a 375. Nice layers of complexity that were fun to tease out, but still many notes that I don’t yet have the ability to properly identify. I look forward to trying again with more years under its belt. — 8 years ago

Conrad Green

9.3

Broad and round. Tobacco and dark fruit. Still quite gnarly. Good presence and lots of potential. — 9 years ago

with Maya and Naoko

Leslie Ungs

9.0

Terlato's take on Chateau Margaux. Medium-bodied, well-balanced Bordeaux blend. — 10 years ago

with Vivek

C. Cole

9.0

Very nice, drinkable wine from a wonderful winery. Has yet to disappoint. — 10 years ago

Michael Maggitti

9.2

08 sat in my wine frig until Fathers Day. Smooth, mellow black cherry accented the appetizer round — 11 years ago

Mike Anderson

Owner/Winemaker for MTGA Wines

9.5

As soon as I write a blog post about why I'm not the biggest fan of Napa Cab I start finding a few I love. Coincidence? I think not. — 12 years ago

Patrick Ford

9.2

Capital grille — 13 years ago

Leo Gentile

9.4

Deep purple without a hint of any other suggesting improper storage. Classic if a bit understated Napa nose. Soft yet appropriately firm tannins. Ripe black fruits. Luscious wine. Suggest drinking sooner rather than later owing to fruit ripeness. — 5 years ago

Chris Freeman

9.5

I love wine club months. Love at first taste. Very alive on the pallet, almost tingly. Cab sav essence is strong with dense dark fruit. Smokey, Spicy, elegant and complex. I will get more — 6 years ago

Jessica Williams

9.5

GNO @ Chuck’a Fish. — 6 years ago

Lauren Cadell

10

Deep, dark red, cherry, vanilla and warm briar fruit aromas. Full and silky with spunky tannin kick on the mid palate. Juicy and jammy with a mild sweetness. Good with any meal.
Jacoby’s — 8 years ago

Pete Turley

9.6

One of my favorites from Turley... Smooth, with beautiful structure... Love the black pepper notes.. — 9 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

I have to say this is my favorite Chateau to stand in front of and gaze. On the nose, spice, wild blackberries, dark cherries, blueberries, black plum, plum, leather, cedar, dark moist soil, wet stones, mint, tobacco leaf and dark fresh & dry flowers. It's drinking nicely with silty medium-medium + tannins & full bodied. Ruby, ripe wild blackberries, dark cherries, blueberries, black plum, plum, leather, cedar, dark moist soil, wet stones, crushed dry minerals, mint, tobacco leaf and violets, dark fresh & dry flowers. The acidity is round and mouthwatering. The long finish has great elegance, beauty, length, tension & balance. It's just starting to hit it's stride and has plenty of life ahead of it. Another 15-20 years. Who said 04 was a difficult vintage? This will continue to improve and will stun with another 10 years in bottle. Photos of the the exterior Chateau front & side, tasting room and Christian Seely Managing Director. Chateau Pichon Baron and Chateau Pichon Lalande were originally part of the same estate. Pichon Baron got it's name when Therese, daughter of the founder, received the estate as a dowry when she married Jacques de Pichon Longueville the first President of the Bordeaux Parliament. Chateau Pichon Baron changed because of the Baron Joseph de Pichon Longueville. He took over managing Pichon Baron when he was only 19 years old! When the Baron passed away at 90 in 1850, he divided his Pauillac estate. The sons were awarded what became Chateau Pichon Baron and the daughters were given what later became Chateau Pichon Lalande. Pichon Baron went through three rough decades in the 60's, 70's and 80's. Part of the issues were, lack of investment and they machine harvested. The first really great vintages for them were 89 & 90 after Jean Rene Matignon, Jean-Michel Cazes join them and AXA Insurance Company purchased them adding capital. The 73 hectare vineyard of Chateau Pichon Baron are planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. However, the Cabernet Franc and the Petit Verdot are reserved exclusively for the second wine. The terroir is mostly deep gravel, sand clay soils. Pichon Baron uses 80% new French oak and rests in barrel 18 months. @ FogoDeChao

— 9 years ago

Nena Madonia

9.6

Delicious the best smooth — 11 years ago

Jeffrey Lew

9.2

53 years in waiting for this group... What can I say. Started off much younger than the label would say.. Like the old grand dame of St Estephe.. Nice fruit, wonderful nose, and a pleasant finish to round out a great bottle of wine from a era gone by. Shared with friends like it should be. Looking forward to 2015 to do it all again. — 11 years ago

Kim Pinion

9.7

Very delicious white — 12 years ago

Randy Nielsen

9.3

Gift from Erik and Brenna. Really good — 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Been awhile since I pulled out an Insigna.

The 03 Pichon Lalande is the better wine and steak pairing. However, Napa Cabernet is the choice to finish steak and enjoy on its own after. You never want to do Napa before Bordeaux IMHO. It’s much harder to adjust from sweeter to something more earthy.

Enjoyed the 05 as my score reflects. I don’t remember it being as sweet as it was in previous tastings. Still quite good. It just tipped my sweet scale a little too much.

The body is, rich, lush & round. It’s achieved good evolution after 13 years in bottle and will continue to improve over the next 6-8 years and last another 15 years. As I mentioned, the fruit was ripe & sweet. Blackberries, black plum, black raspberries, plums, hints of blueberries and strawberries haunting the backend. Rich, dark earth, Rutherford dusty tannins and dry soils, purple cola, touch of fresh tobacco & graphite, light baking spices of; cinnamon, dash of clove, nutmeg and vanillin, anise to black licorice, saddle-wood, used leather, dry stems, some dry, crushed rocks/limestone with red, dark, purple and blue florals. The acidity round and nicely executed. The finish was similar wire to wire. It’s, lush, rich, elegant, touch too sweet, polished, well balanced & knitted with a soft, persistent, dark spice on the long set. Very enjoyable second bottle.

Photos of; Joseph Phelps Winery & sloping estate vines, inside lounge are with views of the back side, tasting terrace and front lobby/salon area upon entering past check in. — 6 years ago

with Christina and James

Jocholla

9.1

Tannin Vanilla delicious fruit. Blueberry pie. — 7 years ago

Brian Thompson

Sales & Marketing Krupp Brothers Winery, Stagecoach Vineyard

9.0

Frangrant and fruit-driven with aromas of cherry, blueberry and sage. Subtle herbaceous notes on the palate. — 8 years ago

Lewis Chester

9.6

1996 vintage. At Hotel TerraVina with my pal, Gerard Basset MW. Unfortunately we didn't get time to decant it sufficiently prior to having with lunch. Typically I would have had at least a 2 hour decant before serving. Medium garnet hue, very bright. The nose is simply stunning and evolved constantly in the glass. Blackberry, black plum, cedar wood, lots of spices, cocoa and hints of roasted coffee bean. Tertiary notes have developed but there still seems to be a bit of development to be teased out of this wine yet. The palate exhibited an enormous amount of structure - high acidity and high tannins that are ripe but chunky. There's nothing round here - more linear and angled than curvy. Almost light bodied but with a big two-step punch of a finish: there's an initial hit and then a powerful umph of additional rev's that makes your head bob up and down in joy and happiness. Though it's drinking extremely well now, this will hold for decades to come. Fabulous. — 9 years ago

Andrea De Michieli

9.0

One of our wine clubs. Lino loves Meritage wines. — 9 years ago

Larry Frierson

9.4

At peak. Garnet to the rim. Decanted for an hour. Just classic St. Estephe. A tiny bit short. — 10 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.2

5-Oh Bday Dinner... From a half bottle. Deep red and purple color. Mostly opaque and thick in the glass. There is still some good fruit in the nose with gravel and soil notes. Very round in the mouth. The wine hung in there over the hour it was consumed. Nice experience with an 80+ year old wine. — 11 years ago

Missi Goss

9.5

Good cab. — 12 years ago

Andy Hsu

9.6

My Duckhorn Wine Club shipment. One of my favorite wineries. Can't wait to go there with all my favorite people in January. — 12 years ago