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  • Country ranking ?

    1 190
  • Producer ranking ?

    75
  • Decanting time

    5h
  • When to drink

    now to 2040
  • Food Pairing

    Lamb Stew with Spring Vegetables

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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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

A VERY GOOD YEAR 2003
The harvest had shown high sugar levels.Tannic richness is vast, reaching record levels in the Merlots and above all the Cabernets. The lush tannins are also extremely ripe. They are copious, silky, and smooth, filling the mouth and coating the palate with delight. Strangely, the crispness of the fruit usually fades in such conditions. Nothing could be further from the truth in 2003. The wine has retained a highly discernible, smooth and ripe fruitiness, while staying very crisp.

Weather conditions
Sum of temperatures : 3696 °C
Rain : 263 mm
Days where temperature above 30 °C : 49
Harvest : from 19/08/2003 to 15/09/2003

Current vintage notes
2003 was without a doubt a very exceptional year in terms of the weather. Although it did not beat the record for lowest rainfall, attained in 1961 (258 mm) for the period April to September inclusive, 2003 comes immediately afterwards with 263 mm. The hundred-year average is 410 mm and in the wettest year; in 1992, 697 mm of rain fell. However, in terms of temperature, all the records were broken. Accumulated average daily temperatures for the above period were around 3,161, with the hottest year (1997) until then reaching 3,494, but for 2003 the figure was 3,696; while the average for very hot days above 30°C/86°F is 16, there were 49 in 2003, more than three times as many!

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Vintage 2003

2003 was the hottest vintage ever seen in Bordeaux. The most successful châteaux have passed their exceptional 2000s and some claim to have made their greatest wines in living memory.

Very dry and extremely hot summer days and nights (16 days > 95°F compared to 2 in 2000, 6 in 2005, 4 in 2009). Need to eliminate the superscript here. I can't figure out how to do it.) The deeply colored reds, low acidities and high tannins are a departure from the classic Left Bank profile. St.-Estèphe and Pauillac are the most successful. The reds have largely reached their peak. It remains a controversial vintage, with opinions sharply divided as to its intrinsic quality. The white grape harvest began in mid-August. Rich, fatty whites, some acidified, not for long storage.

The extreme summer heat presented winemakers with a significant challenge. Sugar levels increased dramatically in late summer as some growers took the plunge and harvested early to preserve acidity. However, winemakers who waited until their grapes were fully ripe were rewarded with rich, concentrated, dark-colored wines displaying astonishing depth of fruit and plenty of complexity.

Generally speaking, the great wines of 2003 come from the northernmost communes of the Médoc: and in particular from Pauillac and Saint-Estèphe. Highlights include Lafite, Latour, Pichon Baron, Montrose and Cos d’Estournel. Quality was more uneven in the south of the Médoc although Château Margaux, true to form, produced one of the wines of the vintage.

The right bank properties of St Emilion and Pomerol, where temperatures were even warmer, produced inconsistent wines and volumes were massively reduced. Vieux Château Certan, which usually produces 4,000 cases per year, only produced 800 last year. Estates that have resisted this model and produced exceptional wines include Figeac, Ausone, Fetyit Clinet and Angelus.

Graves and Pessac-Lèognan fared better, but many châteaux produced wines that were alcoholic and expansive, but lacked the fresh, linear fruit core that distinguished the best of 2003. The exceptions are Haut-Bailly, the powerful and concentrated Domaine de Chevalier, and of course the thoroughbred stable of wines from Haut-Brion and La Misson Haut-Brion.

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Tasting note

ending

Long, Round and Flavorful

flavors

Blackberry, Blackcurrant, New-oak and Spice

nose

Intense and Ripe

taste

Average in Acidity, Medium tannin, Balanced, Concentrated and Silky tannins

Verdict

Impressive

Written Notes

Tasted twice - last time in August 2007. Consistent notes. Haut Brion came up with a stunning wine, packed with blackcurrants, tobacco and chocolate, intense and concentrated. There was not even a trace of overheated fruit or jammy character in this wine. 2015-2030.
  • 95p
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Information

Origin

Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Value For Money

Good

Investment potential

Good

Fake factory

Be Cautious

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

96 points Wine Spectator

  Complex aromas of black licorice, tobacco and cedar with red fruits. Full-bodied, with superseductive, silky tannins, loads of fruit and a finish that lasts for minutes. A beauty in all the sense of the word. Best after 2012.   (3/ 2006)

95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  Even better, and clearly the best wine made in the Haut-Brion stable in 2003 (the last vintage of the great Jean-Bernard Delmas as administrator), the 2003 Haut-Brion is a blend of 58% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc that hit 13% natural alcohol, which seemed high at the time, but given more recent vintages is modest. Dark ruby/plum in color, with no amber or orange at the edge, the wine exhibits an abundance of roasted herbs, hot rocks, black currants, plum, and balsamic notes. Quite rich, medium to full-bodied and more complete, with sweeter tannins than La Mission Haut-Brion, this full-bodied Haut-Brion has hit full maturity, where it should stay for at least a decade. Bravo!  (8/ 2014)

94 points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

  Deep ruby-red. The freshest on the nose of the 2003s at this address, offering slightly high-toned smoky raspberry, minerals and graphite and a suggestion of medicinal austerity. Offers great breadth and early charm, but also possesses very firm underlying structure. Finishes with big, ripe tannins and outstanding grip and length.   (6/ 2006)

Jancis Robinson

  Dark ruby. Opulent and sweet with some real depth of flavour. The slightly burnt note was more indicative of Haut-Brion's 'warm bricks' character than sunburnt grapes. Long, rich and quite satisfying. Lively and very fresh with a cool, dry finish. Not remotely like the stereotype of an overripe 2003. Neat and dry on the end. 18/20 points. Drink 2011-2023.   (3/ 2013)

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