When I visited Chateau Pichon Longueville during a family vacation to France a few years back, it was a dream come true to tour and taste at this incredible Chateau, and you can read about that visit here in this article: Wine 101ers Dream Part IV: Visiting Bordeaux’s Château Pichon Baron.

Now come to find that it was time – according to my husband, aka the keeper of the cellar door key – to open a 2000 vintage of my own from the same Chateau. My mouth was set to watering mode.

This is one of six articles I hope to do on a total of six 2000 vintage Bordeaux wines we removed from my cellar that are ready to be opened with care, decanted with a strainer and tasted over some very nice long meals.

2000 CHÂTEAU PICHON LONGUEVILLE LALANDE

Tasting Notes

Color: Clear, a youthful red garnet with a scant brown edge.

Bouquet: Perfumy, worn leather, crushed berries, dust, cedar, toasted marshmallow, cigarette, green bell pepper and what a good wine friend tasting the wine with me found on the nose: green olive tapenade. Interesting, right?

Flavor: Tart berries, smoke, a big round mouthfeel and with firm tannins that held for a lush long finish.

Pairing: We enjoyed this wine with the seemingly several-foot long cheese and charcuterie “Valley Board” – with olives, nuts, honeycomb, pears, grapes, chorizo, prosciutto, Brie, cheddar, Manchego and more – at the Newhall Press Room. From there the wine also worked perfectly with rich Bolognese pasta and rare filet.

94 Eve pts.

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From Wine Spectator (online)

Score: 95

Release Price $130

Current Auction Price $227

Country France

Region Bordeaux

Issue Web Only – 2016

Tasting Note

This has pronounced bay and cassis bush aromas that impart lots of peppery and herbaceous lift, but this is hardly on the lean side as there’s a well of gorgeously pure currant and blackberry fruit notes at the core. The finish is sleek and glistening as an iron note takes over.–Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2028.

–JM

Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits. You can also seek her marketing advice via Eve@EveBushmanConsulting.com