Château Haut Brion, Pessac-Leognan, 1er Grand Cru Classe 2019

Château Haut Brion, Pessac-Leognan, 1er Grand Cru Classe 2019

Expert tasting note: (2019 vintage)

"Deep, dark, but not opaque ruby-red in color. The aromas are of concentrated dark fruit enhanced by hints of sweet spices. The palate is sumptuous & rich textured with warming alcohol. Concentrated black fruit (pontefract cakes) has lifted raisined top notes. The fruit is initially well-integrated & smooth. The mid-palate is supple, full-bodied & supple. There is a long, fresh, juicy finish. A wine of monumental proportions." - 10/23 DCAMW

Robert Parker The Wine Advocate

Wafting from the glass with aromas of blackberries and plums mingled with notions of pencil shavings, burning embers and creamy new oak, the 2019 Haut-Brion is full-bodied, rich and fleshy, with a textural attack that segues into an ample and enveloping core of fruit, concluding with a long, expansive finish. Broad-shouldered and muscular, its rich, powdery tannins are already seamlessly integrated; and though it's labeled at 15% alcohol, far higher than the great vintages of yesteryear, it avoids any sense of over-ripeness.

Jean-Philippe Delmas is delighted with his 2019s, and justly so, as this rich, dramatic and unusually powerful vintage is a great success for Château Haut-Brion (and its neighbor, La Mission Haut-Brion). In the vineyards, a touch more Cabernet Sauvignon is being planted these days, but the evolution is subtle, as the 2019 blend remains very much in line with tradition at this address, at 49% Merlot and 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the balance Cabernet Franc. That predominance of Merlot, combined with Haut-Brion's warm mesoclimate, have delivered an above-average alcohol level, labelled at 15%. On the white side of the ledger, we can expect a touch more Sauvignon Blanc in the future, as Delmas notes that Sémillon tends to lose its acidity rapidly in warm vintages. In both colors, the vineyard team are working to mitigate the effects of climate change and minimize the quantities of copper employed in treatments throughout the year. In the cuvier and chai, winemaking remains very classical, with fermentation in Haut-Brion's proprietary two-tier stainless steel tanks, designed to maximize the quantity of high-quality free-run juice; malolactic fermentation in tank; and maturation in new oak barrels, some 80% of which are produced in house by Séguin Moreau (complemented by purchased barrels from Demptos and Taransaud). White grapes are whole-cluster pressed with great attention to pH, the musts protected with dry ice, and bottled with some 25 parts per million free sulfites, without much in the way of dissolved carbon dioxide.
- Reviewed by: William Kelley