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  • Country ranking ?

    111
  • Producer ranking ?

    11
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2035
  • Food Pairing

    Sizzling Shrimp Scampi

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This full-bodied blend of 54% Sauvignon Blanc and 46% Semillon has a level of concentration and intensity that makes it the dry white wine of the vintage. Loads of minerality, a hint of subtle spice, but mostly just pure orange marmalade, candle wax, honeysuckle and caramelized melons make for a full-bodied, distinctive style of wine to drink over the next 50+ years.

Score: 98 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (205), March 2013

A blend of 54% Sauvignon Blanc and 46% Semillon, this singular, compelling white exhibits notes of orange blossoms, lemons, melons, crushed rocks, spice and flowers. It is a sensational, provocative, full-bodied dry white to enjoy over the next 40 years.

Score: 94/97 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (194), May 2011

Tasted at Chateau Haut-Brion. There is a slight floral aspect to the nose of the Haut Brion Blanc with hints of almond, white chocolate and fresh pear underpinned by fine minerality. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp citric fruit on the opening. It is slightly more phenolic than recent vintages, just a hint of white pepper tingling on the tongue with a well-balanced finish that is persistent. Good potential. Tasted November 2012.

Score: 95 Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, February 2013

Tasted at the chateau. Compared to the La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc 2009, I find that this does not have quite the same degree of vigour at the moment, yet the palate is very harmonious and showing great complexity with notes of dried ginger, lemon peel, crushed stone and a little spice. There is wonderful focus and precision towards the finish, a white HB deserving long-term cellaring. Tasted September 2011.

Score: 96 Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, December 2011

A blend of 35% Semillon and 54% Sauvignon Blanc, the Haut-Brion Blanc has a little more attack on the nose compared to the La Mission Blanc with notes of grapefruit, linden, a touch of brioche and cooking apple. The Semillon is pronounced even though the blend is more Sauvignon Blanc. The palate is well defined with more volume and flavour than the La Mission Blanc, with lovely citrus lemon, crushed stone and green lime flavours that persist long in the mouth. Excellent. Tasted April 2011.

Score: 93/95 Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, April 2011

This great white is very impressive indeed with cream, honey and mangos and a depth of minerals as well. Full-bodied and very round with pretty fruit and lots of lanolin, lemon peel and sliced apple character. Very juicy and soft. A wine of intense contrasts of tropical fruits and citrus. Bright and intense acidity, but it's all in harmony. Try in 2016.

Score: 99 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, February 2013

This is insane. I am speechless. It twists your palate with so much character and intensity. Better than the 2005 and I gave it 100 points. Full yet refined. Intense yet reserved. It?s a wine of intense contrasts of tropical fruits and citrus. Bright and intense acidity, but it's all in balance

Score: 100 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, March 2011

46% Sémillon, 54% Sauvignon Blanc. Slightly more yellow than La Mission but still greenish gold. Broad and honeyed on the nose (the Haut-Brion whites always prove supremacy of terroir over variety). Massive and broad and pungent. SO far from New Zealand! A bit less distinctive than the La Mission Blanc 2010 but a great wine. 14.4%

Score: 18 Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2011

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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.

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Wine Information

2010 Overall impression: It is always difficult to talk objectively about one's children. This is what we have to do as winegrowers when we describe the new vintage every year: it is like our youngest child. This year, the key word will certainly be "balance". However, it was by no means easy. Once again, the various components in the grapes all beat their previous records, in quantitative terms. The winegrower's skill this year was in adapting to nature's generosity, in order to achieve a perfect balance. 

The main climatic feature of this vintage: a dry year with an arid summer. 

The weather during the growing season, from early April to late September, was the driest since 1949. Total rainfall was just over half the average for the past 60 years: 225 mm compared to the usual 400 mm. (For your information, the wettest summer was 1992, with nearly 700 mm! Interestingly, 2005 was the second-driest vintage after 2010, with 229 mm).

This water deficit caused dehydration in the vines, concentrating the grape juice and producing the highest values ever measured, particularly in terms of sugar content.The very cool nights promoted the accumulation of anthocyanins, so the 2010 red wines are the deepest-coloured in recent years.

 

Human intervention:

Our team started leaf-thinning as early as the end of June. We removed the leaves on the east- and north-facing sides in the fruit-bearing zone. This ventilates the grape bunches so that any humidity dries more rapidly. It is also beneficial in a drought, as it reduces evapotranspiration via the leaves.Bunch-thinning started in mid-July, to reduce the yield on each vine and spread it more evenly. The objective was to produce less than one bottle per vine. 

After this operation, mainly aimed at controlling quantity, we decided to carry out bunch-thinning a third time in each plot this year. The focus was essentially on quality, eliminating any second-growth grapes from the upper part of the canopy and removing any late- or poorly-set fruit (underdeveloped grapes due to problems during flowering). Finally, we trimmed some grape bunches for the same reason, cutting off the parts commonly known as "winglets".

 

We maintained relatively low temperatures during fermentation, to preserve the fruity aromas. Skin contact was relatively short this year, as there was no need to "flesh out" the wines. 

It is becoming increasingly difficult to make the best blend, as the wines had certainly never reached such a high level of overall quality. That was the paradox: to identify the wines, among all the samples of each grape variety from each plot, that would compose the best-balanced blend. We did not hesitate to set aside wines from the best vineyards if they had too marked a structure and were likely to spoil the overall balance. We spent one month testing over thirty blends before we found the "Holy Grail". 

However, this quest for perfection required a number of sacrifices. The "first wines" represent less than half the total production at both estates. As yields in 2010 were the lowest in the past 10 years, the production of our "first wines" is significantly lower than last year ‒ indeed, this is one of the smallest vintages since 1991.

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Vintage 2010

Drought and cool temperatures contribute to optimal ripeness

The sum of summer temperatures in 2010 was close to that of summer 2009 (962°C compared to 982°C), but decidedly chillier than those of 2005, which totalled 1052°C. These cool temperatures had a substantial influence on the balance of our wines, preserving a good level of acidity and attractive aromatic freshness. 

Very little rainfall (only 267 mm) from March to August 2010 generating a drought of similar intensity to that of 2005, when only 227mm of rain fell. 

Another feature of the 2010 vintage is the low temperatures above all in the first three weeks of August, which made for the preservation of good levels of acidity in the grapes while also maintaining attractive aromatic freshness.

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

12 tasting notes

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Written Notes

The 2010 Haut Brion Blanc has notes of lively grapefruit, apricots, and peach, and the 54% Sauvignon Blanc adds freshness and an herbaceous dimension to the wine. Although 2010 was a dry growing season, the vines, which are between 35 and 40 years old, were able to find water in the depths of the gravel and limestone soil. Though its complex flavours are fairly restrained, the wine has incredible depth and body and leaves one marveling at a truly aristocratic Haut Brion Blanc!

  • 99p
Haut Brion 2010 white 99p Tasted twice - last time in September 2013. Consistent notes. This wine had very intense aromas of pear, pineapple and acacia flower, was formidably knitted together, impeccable balance, stunning acidity and depth and extremely long aftertaste. Fantastic stuff.
  • 99p
TASTINGNOTE Den extra andelen av Sauvignon var perfekt för denna årgång, vilket ger mer kropp och aromatisk potential för Haut-Brion i jämförelse med La Mission. Sensationell friskhet och energi på finishen. Lätta citrusdrag, mycket raffinerad, Sauvignon-näsa, klassiskt eleganta proportioner med tillräcklig syra, mogen torr, lång, varm, komplex och försiktigt elegant, subtilt mineral, varm och fyllnig; utmärkt längd. Mer kraft, om än mindre densitet än La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc. Helt makalöst vin med en minimal produktion av 500 lådor till hela världen att dela på… MOGNAD 2018–28+.
  • 96p
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Information

Origin

Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

Below Average

Fake factory

None

Other wines from this producer

Château Haut-Brion

La Clarté de Haut-Brion

Le Clarence de Haut-Brion

Plantiers de Haut-Brion

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