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 2015 Haut-Brion has a gorgeous bouquet of great amplitude, featuring lush but controlled red berry fruit laced with chestnut and hints of game, all generous and intoxicating yet not overblown. The palate is medium-bodied with quite an oaky, coconut-tinged entry. Surprisingly savory, almost animally in style, it feels warm and fleshy and also a few years more mature than I would have anticipated. Thoroughly enjoyable, but a strange showing compared to previous encounters that were sheer perfection. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.
Tasted blind. Bright crimson. Pretty jazzy array of exotic aromas. Draws you in. Very sweet " too sweet " on the palate to be digestible. Reminds me of a joss stick. Very pinched on the end. Charred, drying effect on the palate. Thick and dramatic.
Anticipated maturity: 2028-2050
"A blend of 50% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Haut-Brion is reticent to begin, languidly revealing crushed black cherries, ripe black plums and wild blueberries with sparks of cinnamon stick, cloves, nutmeg, espresso, unsmoked cigars, tapenade, crushed rocks and lavender. The full-bodied palate possesses wonderfully complementary contrasts of bold black and blue fruit richness and delicately nuanced cherry fruit, baking spices and floral accents, strutting ripe, finely pixelated tannins and seamless acidity that is placed firmly in the background, finishing very long and with plenty of attitude. This impeccably poised, exquisitely perfumed 2015 Haut-Brion possesses the most alluring yet seemingly effortless beauty. While it bears only a passing resemblance in its opulent personality to the now legendary 1989, like that vintage the 2015 cannot fail to hedonically satiate and intellectually edify all lovers of great Bordeaux who drink it. What’s more, it also has the blue-blooded tenaciousness to remain this jaw-droppingly impressive, throughout its many guises over time, and for a very, very long time."
Anticipated maturity: 2024-2064
