Delectable Wine

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9.6

One of my all time favorites, the 1982 Cristal is magnificent. Fresh, nuanced and exceptionally beautiful, the 1982 remains one of the all-time great Cristals. Apricot, almond and chamomile nuances suggest the 1982 is just starting to turn the corner into its plateau of maturity. This bottle lacks a bit of excitement, but, then again, the 1982 Cristal is not exactly the sort of wine I get to taste on a regular basis, so it is possible this is not the best showing. Hopefully, I will get a chance to taste it again soon. Even so, well-stored bottles will drink well for another decade-plus. “In my opinion, 1982 is the first vintage of climate change in Champagne,” Lécaillon explains. “Sugars were higher than we were used to seeing. As a comparison, the 1981 Cristal is also concentrated, but it is concentrated by low yields. In 1982, we had high yields and elevated ripeness, meaning it was the sun that ripened the fruit.” (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, December 2018) — 7 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

James Isom

9.3

Enjoyed at The French Laundry. I thought that the tannins were still fairly strong, but the berry notes were discernible. Excellent. — 9 years ago

LM Segal

9.3

I don't understand Caymus-haters. Sure, the setting didn't hurt, but with a half-hr decant the nose was rich cassis, vanilla. Showing a little age, the dark red fruit, tobacco and oaky-rich tannins were smooth as silk. Ready but could go for 5-10 years. Not sure I could've picked this out from an '05 Special Selection I tried a few months back. — 10 years ago

Paul T, Missing My Beautiful Wife 24/7

9.0

Its been a while since my last BV, but 15.2 alcohol is quite a bit more than I remember, always thought they were that classic napa 12.5-13.7,
— 11 years ago

Marty Winters

9.2

Pleasantly surprised everyone seemed to really feel like these wines were never going to age, but here we are and they are tasting great. Wonder what another 10-15 will show. — 11 years ago

Swii Yii Lim

8.9

An old favourite. Several previous bottles tasted in the past year or two were holding or fading a bit, but this one is still lovely and fresh. — 11 years ago

Max Coane

9.7

Are we sure this isn't old Bordeaux bottled in a napa cab bottle??? The 80's in napa were much more pleasant apparently — 12 years ago

Beau Carufel

Winemaker/Owner Random Wine Company

9.7

1983. Birth year wine. Delicious stuff. A touch of brett was beautifully integrated, and the secondary flavors were awesome. — 13 years ago

Boxer Briefs

10

Opened two bottles, both were in great shape. Manageable Brett, slight bottle variation, one seemed to be more concentrated than the other. Fun stuff, corks were in great shape. These aren’t getting better. — 8 years ago

Martin G Rivard

10

I completely forgot to post this. My brother from another mother Kirk Alexander uncorked these 2 Absolutely Phenomenal 100 point beauties for us to enjoy just because I came over!!!!!! ! Damn., I’ve got to go to his house more often!!!!!! All kidding aside., we were celebrating Veronica’s (his beautiful wife) birthday and what a truly special Evening.it was. There’s nothing better than uncorking a special bottle with friends that have become like family.
We love you Veronica!!! And put up with Kirk just because of you🤣😜🤣
— 9 years ago

with Dov and Christine

Ted Corvey

9.3

Take this with a grain of salt because at this point in the night my taste buds were a little scorched. Very fragrant red fruit on the nose. Initially this was still tremendously wound up. I wish we had opened it and decanted for longer as after two hours it was still slightly tight but the lovely fruit flavors persisted over cocoa and tobacco leaf undertones. All in, I wish I had let this rest for a few more years, but still drinking pretty well now. — 9 years ago

with Scott and Kyle

Tom Kobylarz

9.8

If there were ever an archetypical Syrah, Jamet's Cote-Rotie would be a strong candidate. To me this is a pure expression of a classic Northern Rhone Syrah. It is not a single site, but a blend of terroirs, encompassing over 20 sites mostly from hard rock schist bedrock with little to no topsoil. There is NO Viognier in this wine like one might expect from most Cote-Rotie that might have 1-5% co-fermented.

Importantly, there is also a lot less of the oak character that can dominate and overwhelm many Northern Rhone wines. The oak maturation, while not short at 22 months, only uses 15% new oak with no trace of it on the palate as it is perfectly integrated. Grape bunches are whole cluster fermented and macerated for up to 3 weeks.

The 2007 we have here was drinking superbly for a young wine, showing lively and racy layers of peppercorn spice, roast beef, and warm blackberry and currant fruit from the hot 2007 vintage. While from a warm vintage, not a hair is out of place. Density and purity exude from the nose and hint at what a brilliant future this wine has. Perfect acidity and fleshy ripe tannin provide the backbone structure for father time to peel back the layers of this beauty. I will be chceking back in 5 years at the earliest. — 9 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.7

Reddish orange purple. Opaque and dark. Nose that immediately says old La La. Really rich fruit and structure in the mouth. Really long finish. Guesses were around the 82/83 Mouline or Turque area but no, it was old Hermitage. This was as good as my experiences with the 78 version of this wine. Stood out on a night of great wines. — 10 years ago

Mark Blatty

9.2

1/2 bottles of these three for dinner in New Orleans. All were great. — 11 years ago

with Jenny

David Landrum

9.7

Old man look at my life, I'm a lot like you were..... Hottubbin' with Christian... Fab juice. 1989 was a good year... 13% cali bord blend... Say what?! — 11 years ago

Jason Chow

9.6

Oh my gosh! Talk about complex. On the nose: ripe black cherries, dried leaves, leather, cloves, black berries, plums. On the palate: plum and cherry skins, leather, and herbs with a bit of dirt; rough tannins. After decanting: smells of all the above and fastest of ripe cherries, plum skins, blackberry jam, conifer needles. Before decanting, this wine proved very harsh for drinking and very terroir forward showing dirt like and mineral like qualities. After decanting though, the tannins were soft and supple and it boosted the fruitier characteristics. A wonderful wine to drink on its own or with some charcuterie — 11 years ago

Mark Yandle

9.1

A bit past it's prime, but delicious regardless. Leather and mild cigar on the nose along with subtle floral notes. Fruit flavours were very light blackberry and plum. Very warm earthy tones. Tannins were all but gone. A great way to celebrate a birthday! — 12 years ago

Jason Owens

10

Oh how I wish these were in my cellar! 2-1985 Romanee Conti, 1.5 liter 1978 La Tache and 2 1945 Mouton Rothschild. This was to me a once in a lifetime tasting even though I've tried the 45 and 85 many years ago. But to have a little sip back to back to back was heaven! Couldn't even tell you which was the best. It didn't matter, I was drinking history! — 13 years ago

Kirk F

9.4

Mag. The cork blew up and we had to Macgyver our way out of the dust but the contents were superb. — 8 years ago

Tony Capone

9.4

‘98 was a very difficult year, but the wine proves there were great wines to be had. No oxidation, red garment , it still has a lot of life , eucalyptus, figs and plums . Still some acid with a long finish. If you find it open let it breathe and you won’t be disappointed. — 8 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.4

85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc
A little closed up, but that's to be expected from such a young wine built for aging. Air helps to unfold the layers buried within. While 2014 was a cooler year, the weather played well to the style of Sassicaia as its target is 12.5-13% abv every vintage, so the conditions here were less of an issue. The acidity and density are here to last for some time, probably more than you think and should go the distance just fine. Elegant, yet powerful, with pure red currants and cassis, a touch of bright blueberry fruit, with a savory and spicy edge from the Cabernet Franc, then graphite and lavender florals appear, this is a beautiful young and fresh Sassicaia. Rocks and stone on the nose hint at minerality. Elegant and persistent on the medium+ palate, gorgeously pure and distinct with firm medium+ grain tannin. A long, dense, tightly wound finish that is fresh and persistent, entirely to young but with loads of potential. — 9 years ago

James Wells

9.3

A standard favorite in our home and one my father and I were able to enjoy together...a real treat! — 9 years ago

Diane Kessler

9.0

This has improved and I enjoyed it more than a couple of other bottles that were opened a couple of years ago. Tannins have softened and the fruit and cedar dominate. Don't know that it will improve, but quite nice now. — 10 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.0

Very rich Cali style and tasting of new oak. — 10 years ago

Jonas Mendoza

9.2

Dark cherry, "sweet" dirt, black raisin, dried mushroom, dried jerky, hoisin. Admittedly, the flavors were all over the place, but regardless a very complex wine where the primary fruit flavors are evolving into secondary and tertiary ones. — 10 years ago

Craig Benner

9.3

Had this after about 100 martinis so our taste buds were shot, but we all enjoyed it immensely. — 11 years ago

Robert Bodack

9.0

Compelling Rhone, beginning to show its age, but exceedingly nuanced. Previous bottles were bold with earthy fruit, undeniably, old school French. It could be said, that God himself, made this wine, to go with the Lamb Chops we grilled! 89, maybe 90, at this point. — 11 years ago

Victor Hwang

9.6

Wow. Lives up to the hype. Incredible perfume - blueberry, lilac, some eucalyptus. Almost Syrah like in the nose. Layers of fruit and balanced acidity. Long finish with soft tannins. Wish we decanted it properly as the last sips - after 45 minutes- were the best by far. — 12 years ago

Sean Shafik

9.1

Showed great tonight. A bit more savory than last time I tasted it and aromatics were more old world...still had classic Hirsch strawberry but more going on since last visit... — 12 years ago