Area under vines: 48.35 hectares
Soils: mixture of clay, sand and clay
Average age of the vines: 35 years
Production: 10 000 to 12 000 cases a year
Ageing: in 80% new oak for 18–22 months
Grape varieties:
Second wine: La Clarence de Haut-Brion (previsouly Bahans)
Learn more about Chateau Haut Brion here
The 2012 Haut-Brion is beginning to flex its muscles. The bouquet is perhaps one of the most backward of the five First Growths, the Merlot firmly in the driving seat. Blackcurrant mixes with pitted black olives and cedar, and light sous-bois scents percolate through with time. The palate is medium-bodied with lithe tannins, very good weight, plummy and lightly spiced with plenty of weight on the slightly meaty finish. This is an excellent Haut-Brion, but it needs bottle age. Tasted blind in Bordeaux.
Anticipated maturity: 2025-2052
Similar depth of colour to Le Clarence de Haut-Brion and a just a little purpler. More reticent nose. Denser on the palate than the Clarence but at the moment much less communicative. It’s a bit of an impenetrable lump at the moment, though it has good persistence. Dry finish with some tobacco-leaf element.
Anticipated maturity: 2027-2043
Tasted blind at the Southwold 2012 tasting, the 2012 Haut-Brion has an open and generous bouquet with blackcurrant pastille, cassis and briary aromas the exude very pure Merlot. The palate is medium-bodied with a sumptuous opening that is rare in 2012: rounded and generous, caressing in the mouth with black plum and blackcurrant towards the finish, residues of truffle and white pepper lingering on the aftertaste that turn very savory after 15 minutes-bacon fat or Italian cured meats. There is a lot to love about this Haut-Brion although in this blind showing I scored it the same as La Mission Haut-Brion. Who will stick their neck out as the two wines mature? Tasted January 2016.
Anticipated maturity: 2022-2055
