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  • Country ranking ?

    1 259
  • Producer ranking ?

    89
  • Decanting time

    1h
  • When to drink

    Now
  • Food Pairing

    Beef

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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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Wine Information


1964 A VERY GOOD YEAR
The grapes were ripe and very fragile. Haut-Brion started its harvests very quickly, and they were nearly finished before the rains. The wine is today flavorful, long, with finesse needing more time to achieve fulfillment.

Weather conditions
Sum of temperatures : 3327 °C
Rain : 339 mm
Days where temperature above 30 °C : 31
Harvest : from 28/09/1964 to 06/10/1964

Current vintage notes
An early year with much good weather. June and July were dry and hot. August had its typical storms, and September was very hot, so that the harvest had to be completed quickly. From October 5th on, rain fell constantly for 3 weeks, ruining the hopes of those who had waited too long to harvest.

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Vintage 1964

Pour beaucoup, le millésime 1964 évoque des images d’une année vraiment unique. C’était cela en Bourgogne, mais pas à Bordeaux, même si le ministre français de l’Agriculture a déclaré que c’était le millésime du siècle à Bordeaux. Il a fait sa déclaration avant que les pluies d’automne ne commencent à tomber. Le millésime a été, en tout cas, très bon, rappelant assez celui de 1962, dont les grandes récoltes produisaient d’excellents vins.

L’hiver doux et humide a été suivi d’un printemps chaud. Les conditions idéales pendant la période de germination sont restées sèches et chaudes tout au long de l’été. Les raisins ont mûri magnifiquement jusqu’au 8 octobre, date à laquelle trois semaines de pluies extrêmement fortes ont pénétré dans Bordeaux, causant les plus grands dégâts dans le Médoc, principalement à Pauillac et Saint-Estèphe. Certains producteurs de la région avaient réussi à ramener toute leur récolte avant les pluies. L’un de ces chanceux était Château Latour. L’un des moins chanceux fut le Château Lynch-Bages, qui finit par récolter le 24 octobre. Ce millésime privilégie cependant les vins de Merlot de la rive droite, qui mûrissent bien avant les pluies. Il y a très peu de vins buvables à l’heure actuelle. Une fois de plus, le Cheval Blanc et le Pétrus s’élèvent au-dessus de l’autre, également en prix. Un développement intéressant en 1964 a été l’acquisition par Mouiex des actions de Pétrus.

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

Ruby with thin garnet rim. Cedar, cigars, blackcurrants, extremelly elegant, a bit tender and fragile, great mature Bordeaux. Some prunes and figs, leather and medicinal. Very elegant, sweet morellos and red plums, great ballance, complex, exceptional length. Not decanted. 91

  • 91p

Château Haut-Brion 1964 / Bright, clear cherry red colour with an orange hue. Appealingly open, complex and developed concentrated fragrant nose with intense red berry aromas and flowers. Dry, medium-bodied palate with crisp delicate acidity and very supportive ripe tannins. Sweet intensive fruit with roasted pine nut aromas are highlighted in the long finish. Lovely wine with balance and harmony

  • 93p
Tasted in April 2014. Elegant and mature wine, polished, fine balance and complexity. Light but with great finesse.
  • 91p
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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

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