| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pessac-Léognan |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
The 2014 Haut-Bailly has a very attractive bouquet. Blackberry, raspberry, rose petals, tobacco and incense are well defined and very focused. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a fine bead of acidity, fresh and focused with a very harmonious and elegant finish. This is beginning to drink beautifully now and will continue to meliorate. Superb. Tasted at the Haut-Bailly vertical at the château. Drink 2021-2048.
A very well-made, modern wine with ripe cherry and cassis notes but rather discrete oak. The bright fruit and lively acidity balance the moderately dry tannins very well, and the finish is long and quite complex. Compacted. Needs time to open. Beautiful.
Tasted blind. Mellow nose with rather austere drying tannins but everything seems in place for the future.
Drink 2025-2040
This classic Graves property is managed by Véronique Sanders and produced from an approximate 50:50 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The vineyard is planted with 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 34% Merlot. The 2014 blend is 66% Cabernet Sauvignon and 34% Merlot. The harvest took place from 24th September to 15th October, at 43hl/ha. Deep ruby colour. The nose is elegant and perfumed, with spring flowers, black cherries, white chocolate and vanilla. The palate is fresh and clean with very silky texture, elegance and poise. The fruit is ripe, crunchy and fresh with black cherries, a litte blackcurrant and some plum. The tannins are soft, ripe, rounded and fine. There is a delicious purity to this wine which has a long black and blue fruit finish.
This shows admirable density for the vintage, with a strong loamy echo amid the core of dark currant, fig and plum compote flavors. Loads of tobacco and tar details join in on the finish, while the fruit easily keeps pace. Rock-solid. Best from 2020 through 2035. 6,665 cases made.
Black fruits on the nose fragrant and floral the start of the palate has bilberry freshness quite firm. Rich in the middle the fruit is ripe the tannins well handled a mix of cassis and black cherry layers of flavour. Fresher at the back slightly herbal gravelly then sweet fruit comes and gives richness on the finish. 2018-30
An ambitious Haut-Bailly that's made with one eye on the future. Bold, concentrated and savoury but with considerable underlying finesse, this has gravelly tannins, bright acidity and sinewy tannins. The fruit sweetness is there, but it needs time to emerge from the wine's shell.
The 2014 Haut-Bailly has a sophisticated bouquet with cedar and gravel-infused red berry fruit, gaining intensity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, quite supple tannins that manage to form a firm frame that should see this repay cellaring. There is plenty of attractive, lightly spice red and black fruit, segueing into clove and black olive notes towards the finish. Excellent. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. 2021 - 2045
The 2014 Haut Bailly has a charming, quite intense bouquet with layers of blackberry, raspberry coulis, black olive and melted tar scents that soar from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, well-judged acidity, harmonious and focused with superb density and precision towards the finish. This is a classy number and alongside Domaine de Chevalier, it is one of the standouts from the appellation in this vintage. Drink date 2020 - 2045
The Château Haut-Bailly 2014 is a blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon and 34% Merlot picked between 24 September and 15 October. Véronique Sanders explained that it represents a much higher percentage of Cabernet because of its quality, the Merlot undergoing some saignée due to the size of berries. Matured in 50% new oak and including 8% vin de presse, it has a lovely bouquet with superb delineation, touches of undergrowth and tobacco infusing the pure black fruit, stirrings of black tea emerging with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with edgy, crisp tannin on the entry and good acidity (ph 3.7), perhaps more than say, the 2012. There is a fine sense of energy here and at dovetails into a lightly spiced, slightly saline finish. This is a slightly less ostentatious than recent vintages, a little more restrained but the terroir really shows through. Excellent. Expect this to land at the top of my banded score.
A subtle and refined wine with savory, salty and delicately fruity character. Full body, fine tannins and a fresh finish. Compacted and tight. Lovely tension. Precise.
