Region | |
---|---|
Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pessac-Léognan |
Colour | White |
Type | Still |
The undisputed king of Bordeaux's dry white wines. Truly great, but produced in miniscule quantities. The 2.8 hectare vineyard rarely makes much more than 500 dozen bottles a year from a blend of around 2/3 Semillon and 1/3 Sauvignon Blanc.
An ethereal nose with very bright and delicate lemon citrus, dried-grass nuances, fresh-pastry notes and a lemon-blossom edge. The palate is astutely focused, energetic and quite taut, in a restrained style. A thread of fresh acidity holds long and seductively smooth into the fresh, cashew and hazelnut-infused finish. Unwaveringly precise. A blend of 70.5 per cent sauvignon blanc and 29.5 per cent semillon. Try from 2023.
The 2016 Haut-Brion Blanc is a blend of 70.5% Sauvignon Blanc and 29.5% Semillon. It is incredibly closed and hard to read to begin, but with patience it slowly offers glimpses at key lime pie, orange blossom, and yuzu scents, followed by wafts of honeycomb, fresh ginger, and blanched almonds. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is taut and tightly knit with so many latent layers and beautiful tension, finishing with epic length and an achingly gorgeous texture.
This opens very beautifully in the glass with a high level of aromatics, but just needs a few minutes to reveal these tight citrus peel and pink grapefruit flavours. Haut-Brion have navigated a tough year for whites far better then most, as you would expect. This has volume through the mid-palate and a well constructed, dancing minerality on the finish. 30% grand vin for the white, from a blend of 70.5% Sauvignon Blanc and 29.5% Sémillon aged in 35% new oak.
Drinking Window 2019 - 2035
Mineral and citrus the nose is floral and fragrant the start of the palate bright and fresh. Ripe fruit in the middle white peach, tropical fruits, a hint of pear the richness underpinned by mineral and lime the finish bright and long. 2018-26
There’s very little of this wine produced - and what’s made isn’t cheap - but it’s one of the great whites of the world, even in a tricky vintage when acidity was at a premium. Broad, textured and intense, with leesy richness, stylish oak and a saline flourish. 2020-32
The Haut Brion 2016 Blanc is a blend of 70.5% Sauvignon Blanc and 29.5% Sémillon picked from 1-13 September. I found a little more complexity and mineralité here compared to the La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc this year, scents of chalk and lime flower complementing the citrus fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannin, notes of lime cordial, orange zest and grapefruit, almost flinty towards the finish that lingers long in the mouth with great vigor from start to finish. This is excellent, but not the best Haut Brion Blanc that I have tasted in recent years.
Drink Date 2020 - 2045
Layered with a round and rich texture and body. Full and flavorful. Lots of dried-apple and pineapple character. Very long finish. Exotic and ripe. We will see which is better.