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Wine Description
The Story
Haut-Brion Blanc is as renowned as it is scarce, with only about 8,000 bottles available per vintage for a very demanding market. It is often regarded as the greatest white of Bordeaux, although Haut-Brion Blanc’s sibling, Laville Haut-Brion, sometimes equals and occasionally surpasses it. The white vineyards at Haut-Brion are planted to 63 percent Sémillon and 37 percent Sauvignon Blanc, a weighting that gives this wine its particularly plush combination of Sémillon-driven body and Sauvignon-influenced scent of musk. Haut-Brion Blanc ages beautifully.
White Bordeaux does not come much more layered and powerful than this. Strong oak roasted nut notes are evident on the nose but dissipate quickly on the palate. Taut yet shapely refreshing but rich. A large framed wine that manages to find harmony. Alongside exotic touches of stone fruit there are some wonderfully energising fruit characteristics of crystallised lemon rind, grapefruit and lime. Long, complex and very intense without being too weighty.
Wine Information
Château Haut-brion's tasting notes / Fruit aromas gain the upper hand over floral notes. At first, ripe Sauvignon dominates, through fresh mint with a touch of anise, telltale musk emboldened with suggestions of almonds and hazelnuts ever so slightly caressed with praline. But floral cadences are still present: those of the vine itself, all in delicacy and finesse, but mint, elder flower and linden are also easily distinguished. The wine offers a plump yet elegant structure, mellow and very complex. Aromas typical of the best dessert wines are also revealed: toasted almonds, with a hint of incense and beeswax. Exceptionally long finish.
Weather conditions
Rainfall: 436 mm
Total production Gironde: 6.80 million hl
Number of days above 30°C/86˚F: 21.
Date of the harvest: 13th to 29th September.
Current vintage notes
A mild start to the year, a very wet, hot spring, followed by a dry, scorching summer: such were the weather features of this year, which has become legendary both through its date and the quality of wine produced.
Temperature records were broken: 1.5°C above average over the twelve months – a massive difference. September, hot and dry, followed suit, allowing harvesting to take place in the best possible conditions.
Vintage 2000
Weather conditions / The 2000 vintage was proclaimed from the start as one of the best vintages of modern times. In the spring of 2003, I had many opportunities to find out if we really had a true dream vintage on our hands.
During the 2000 harvest, while doing a “personal inspection” in the vineyards, I noticed that something extraordinary was on the way. The grapes looked extremely healthy.
While the sorting table was rolling, I observed that there were few leaves, stems and weeds among the grapes. This is why sorting the grapes was so easy and quick. This must be one of the characteristics of the 2000 vintage, because normally even great vintages require a lot of work at the sorting table.
The 2000 vintage is a classic, extravagant and extremely long Bordeaux with dark and extremely dense wines, which have a huge concentration of fruit, length and superbly concentrated tannins. The tannin is not allowed to dominate, as it is well enveloped by the fruit. A scent of under-ripeness is only present in a few wines. One of the hallmarks of this vintage is an intense, deep aroma of dark berries, such as blueberries, blackberries and black cherries.
All red grape varieties have reached perfect maturity, including Bordeaux's most temperamental and unruly grape variety, Petit Verdot. Petit Verdot brings to wines the long-awaited addition of backbone and power.
Additionally, the grapes for whites, such as Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle, ripened perfectly and produced extremely fine dry white wines. The sweet white wines have unfortunately transformed into some light, elegant and charming wines, based 100% on the September harvest. From October 11, it rained a lot in Bordeaux and this continued until the end of the year.