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  • Country ranking ?

    708
  • Producer ranking ?

    49
  • Decanting time

    3h
  • When to drink

    now to 2030
  • Food Pairing

    Lamb Stew with Spring Vegetables

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The Story

Château Haut-Brion is the oldest and by far the smallest of the "Premiers Grands Crus" vineyards of the Gironde 1855 classification. Château Haut-Brion is one of the few remaining family-owned domains of the Bordeaux region with a history going back to the 16th century. It has been owned by the American Dillon family since 1935.

 

There is an amazing dual hit of black fruit and fine-grained tannins here, which is rounded off with a wonderful creaminess. The fruit is encased in a huge structure, which is not always easy to assess when tasting en primeur, but it has a lovely fleshiness to it and the wine is multi-layered with flavours evolving in the mouth. Notes of cocoa, vanilla and tar show towards the finish and it all ends completely seamlessly. The tannins are extremely ripe and well-integrated. Ch. Haut-Brion is often understated at this stage, which serves to underline how fine this wine will be.

 

Château Haut-Brion Thomas Jefferson, the american ambassador to Paris and later President of the United States of America, visited Haut Brion on May 25th 1787 commenting in his journals about the soils of the vineyards as well as mentioning that there were four vineyards of first quality Château Margaux, Château Latour Ségur, Château Haut Brion and Château La Fite. He also wrote:"Haut Brion is a wine of the first rank and seems to please the American palate more than all the others that I have been able to taste in France.“ Jean de Pontac began constituting the Haut-Brion vineyard, in the Graves region, in 1525.

 

His descendants went on to produce "New French Claret," the precursor of today's great wines. Their efforts enabled Arnaud III de Pontac to sell his wine under the estate's name as early as 1660. Called “vin de Pontac”, then Haut-Brion, it gained a fine reputation and enormous success in London. The first of the Bordeaux great growths was born. Through the centuries, the owners and managers of Haut-Brion have been obsessed with perpetuating the château's reputation for quality. Classified a First Growth in 1855, Haut-Brion has done everything possible ever since then to maintain its standing. To perpetuate its Grand Cru status, an estate and its constituent parts have to be maintained over the centuries, suitable grape varieties for each plot have to be chosen, and a relentless selection process carried out. Today, a great American family, the Dillons, has been continuing this tradition for seventy years.

 

 

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

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Written Notes

Tasted four times - last time in October 2009. Consistent notes. Haut Brion (57% Merlot + 41% Cabernet Sauvignon + 2% Cabernet Franc) delivered great performance in 2006 vintage, but wasn't as hedonistic as its 2005 version. Very aromatic on the nose with dark cherries and blackcurrants added big portions of ripe and round tannins, densely knitted, rich and with exquisite structure. Will easily keep for 25-30 years.
  • 96p
Chateau Haut Brion 2006 Beginning to mature. Nose; lovely cigar box. Elegant. Maturing nicely. Palate: Very raw and intense. Strong cigar box. Very hard and not nearly ready for drinking.
Ruby, tobacco, minerals, smoke, cassis, refreshing acidity, ripe tannins. Slightly edgy now, had a rounder bottle last time, needs time to refine itself, very young. Long.
  • 94p
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Information

Origin

Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Above Average

Value For Money

Poor

Investment potential

Below Average

Fake factory

None

Glass time

2h

Other wines from this producer

Château Haut-Brion Blanc

La Clarté de Haut-Brion

Le Clarence de Haut-Brion

Plantiers de Haut-Brion

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