| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pessac-Léognan |
| Colour | White |
| Type | Still |
The undisputed king of Bordeaux's dry white wines. It is 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 Sémillon and 1/3 Sauvignon Blanc.
The harvest here started on August 16th. Only the 2003 (picked from the 13th was earlier).The blend is 51.5% Semillon and 48.5% Sauvignon Blanc.
This shows superb structure with a tight and intense center palate of fruit and phenolics. It's full-bodied but extremely reserved and muscular with very fine texture. The palate shows apples, pears, lemons and some crushed stones. Lilacs as well. Really minerally. A great Haut Brion blanc. Drink after 2029.
More flamboyant and expressive than La Mission, the 2022 Haut-Brion Blanc reveals aromas of white fruits, spices, ripe orchard fruits and spring flowers. Full-bodied, seamless and fleshy, with bright acids and a pure, lively profile, it's long and elegant, concluding with a saline, penetrating and delicately mordant finish. 2028 - 2042
The 2022 Haut-Brion Blanc has a complex bouquet with touches of Anjou pear, peach skin, melted wax and lanolin. It needs time to unfurl in the glass and perhaps never achieves the same complexity as the best vintages. The palate is well balanced with pear and green apple on the entry before segueing into a surprisingly spicy, peppery mid-palate with hints of stem ginger and white pepper. This will be intriguing to observe age in bottle, but I was not moved by this vintage.
A hit of wood smoke is immediate on the nose here, together with poached pear and pineapple. The palate has a satiny profile, with a full bodied, glycerol-laced texture and moderate acidity. Texturally impressive, it has layered stone and exotic fruits together with more of that toasty barrel and cedar spice. Broad and long on the finish.
The 2022 Haut-Brion Blanc, 51.4% Semillon and 48.6% Sauvignon Blanc aging in 40.4% new oak, charges from the glass with vivacious notes of lemon juice, lime zest, and yuzu, plus wafts of sea spray, jasmine tea, and crushed rocks. The medium to full-bodied palate shimmers with vibrant, energetic citrus and mineral flavors, supported by a racy backbone, finishing long with a spicy lift.
Nectarine, peach pit, biscuit, liquorice root, charcoal, gunsmoke, this is a thoroughly well structured white wine that has 3.3ph, a little higher than in some vintages but delivers grip, freshness, complexity and ageing ability. 41.9% new oak. Harvest August 16 to 23.
Delivering aromas of peach, sweet orchard fruit, spring flowers and lemon oil, the 2022 Haut-Brion Blanc is a full-bodied wine with a seamless, enveloping profile. Its glossy, textural mid-palate that segues into a sappy, racy finish of crystalline purity. A blend of 51.4% Sémillon and 48.6% Sauvignon Blanc, this wine is fatter and fleshier than the more tensile La Mission Haut-Brion and will in all likelihood offer a broader drinking window.
Dried lemon and lime with honeysuckle and stone aromas, that follow through to a full body with fantastic length and energy at the end. Phenolics give it great length and stature. 51.4% semillon and 48.6% sauvignon blanc.
