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Château Haut-Brion 2018

Château Haut-Brion, Bordeaux, France

Château Haut-Brion
Bordeaux France
  • 100
    Points
  • The 88 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 22 Pros of
    22 recommend
    this wine
855 100
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    72

  • Producer ranking ?

    8

  • Decanting time

    5h

  • When to drink

    from 2030

  • Food Pairing

    rack of lamb

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98-99 JAMES SUCKLING: "The length and texture to this wine is so very impressive. It’s not so much the sheer power that is impressive here, rather the form, tension and exquisite form that the abundant, fine-grained tannins provide. It lasts for minutes on the palate. A classic beauty in the making." 

98 DECANTER: "A beautiful Haut-Brion that combines generosity and elegance. It´s rich, and velvety, with a vibrant ruby rim, all conveying st...

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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 wonde...

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Vintage 2018

2018 Bordeaux Vintage Report and recommendations

by Andrew Caillard MW

2018 is an exceptional year. The Bordeaux whites and sauternes are very good, but from an Australian perspective the excitement is all in the red wines. All sub regions produced examples of really good wines, but some performed better than others. Generally the very top estates made exemplary wines illustrating that the human factor and wealth can have a major impact ...

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

Ruby. Intense, lush dark fruits, spices, liquorice, blueberries, vanilla, intense, deep and powerful nose. Both 2017 and 2018 has needed a few hours open after pouring the first glass to reveal their layers, very compact wines and Haut-Bailly had a similar tightness to them this vintage. Or maybe it was the shipment. But they have needed a good six to eight hours of following. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, dense, sort of a blockbuster, with silk cravat and Savile Row suit, Rocky Balboa going to visit the Queen. This is somewhat different for Haut-Brion, plusher, lusher, alcohol is high, but they have been for quite a few vintages now. There is so much of everything in here, but does it have the grace of 1989? 2017 besides it lacks some elements, but also gains in finesse. At least at this stage. This may go higher, as with many 2018’s, it depends on where they stand when the baby fat goes. How well do they then cope with some of the excesses? Still a grand vin, no doubt about it. 98

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  • 98p

Haut Brion - tasted in February 2021, and it looks like this wine's shut up the "doors" after bottling. Tight and not revealing that much, but you can sense the awesome structure, depth and complexity just waiting to come out. For the moment, it's 97-98p point wine, but will, with time, surely come up to touch my rating from the barrel (98-100p).

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  • 100p

The length and texture to this wine is so very impressive. It’s not so much the sheer power that is impressive here, rather the form, tension and exquisite form that the abundant, fine-grained tannins provide. It lasts for minutes on the palate. A classic beauty in the making.
Barrel Sample: 98-99

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  • 99p

The grand vin 2018 Haut-Brion (49.4% Merlot, 38.7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc) is as deeply colored as its stablemate but has a darker, smoky bouquet of blackcurrants, roasted herbs, tobacco, and gravelly earth. Silky, polished, and ethereally textured on the palate, with beautiful tannins as well as mid-palate density, it's one of the most regal, classic wines in the vintage. Barrel Sample: 97-99.

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  • 99p

Great sap, magnificent construction in the mouth, noble tannin, great style, we will never see its climax.

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  • 98p

Deep crimson. Deep plum praline vanilla aromas with herb garden notes. Generously proportioned wine with rich dark plum dark chocolate fruits, brambly chocolaty textures, lovely mid palate viscosity and mineral length. Still in evolution.

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  • 96p

This delivers a very fresh, juicy ball of red and black currant preserve flavors laced liberally with bramble, roasted apple wood and sweet tobacco notes. Shows terrific purity, energy and drive, with a piercing echo of minerality through the mouthwatering finish.

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  • 98p

Dark purple red colour with violet hue and black core. Rich and opulent nose with lush fruit, dark berries and black stone fruit, elegant toasting aroma in the background, hints of minerality with typical graphite touch. On the palate an impressing with power yet elegance, great depth and excellent length, lush fruit, elegant roasting aroma, dark berries in the aftertaste. A multi-layered wine of great quality and precision with an enormous potential. 

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  • 99p
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Information

Origin

Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux

Other wines from this producer

Château Haut-Brion Blanc

La Clarté de Haut-Brion

Le Clarence de Haut-Brion

Plantiers de Haut-Brion

Inside Information

(49.4 Merlot, 38.7 Cabernet Sauvignon, 11.9 Cabernet Franc) | 62% new oak | 14.2 – 14.4% alc | 72 IPT | Harvested between 6th September and 2nd October Like Le Clarence, Haut-Brion majors on the black fruit spectrum and it looks dark and menacing warning off all-comers. The tannins are superb here and they have none of the dryness and tart characteristics of La Mission, preferring to be super-fine and powdery. They don’t get in the way of the flow, but the fruit, while complete, is refusing to budge an inch. I can detect some serious complexity here but this is a belligerent wine and it refuses to open up in the glass. The intensity of the flavour is staggering and I venture that this will be another great Haut-Brion, but you have to be extremely patient for it to emerge from its chrysalis.
Score: 19+ Matthew Jukes, MatthewJukes.com, April 2019

97-99 JEB DUNNUCK: "The grand vin 2018 Haut-Brion (49.4% Merlot, 38.7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc) is as deeply colored as its stablemate but has a darker, smoky bouquet of blackcurrants, roasted herbs, tobacco, and gravelly earth. Silky, polished, and ethereally textured on the palate, with beautiful tannins as well as mid-palate density, it´s one of the most regal, classic wines in the vintage."

96-98 WINE ENTHUSIAST: "This wine has an immense structure that’s powered by tannins, yet backed by a dry core and bright acidity. The black currant flavor is very fine and concentrated while also having a juicy freshness that marks the vintage. It has all the structure that should be expected from this estate."

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