Carmes Haut Brion - Pessac-Léognan 2012

Wine Advocate

93-93

byNeal Martinthe9/20/2022

The 2012 Les Carmes Haut-Brion has a classic tobacco and pencil lead bouquet, well-defined with ample black fruit. Just a little old school in style, but in the positive sense. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, good weight, smooth and harmonious with a caressing finish, touches of allspice and graphite on the aftertaste. Excellent. Tasted blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting.

Vinous

90

byNeal Martinthe4/30/2022

The 2012 Les Carmes Haut-Brion was the first vintage with whole bunches (40%) and 18 months in barrel. It was the introductory vintage under current winemaker Guillaume Pouthier. This is much more enticing on the nose after the 2011: well-defined black cherries, cola, peppermint, light rose petal scents and a hint of marmalade that emerges with time. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, more freshness and tension than the 2011, and frankly, you would never be able to tell there was whole bunch here. This appears to be maturing with style and panache, but it will give another decade or more of drinking pleasure. Tasted at the Les Carmes Haut-Brion vertical at the château.

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

93

byJane Ansonthe2/7/2022

The first year with Guillaume Pouthier as technical director, and (not coincidentally) the first where stems were being introduced into the winemaking process (they went straight in with 30%). A richer, more gourmet vintage than 2011 generally, and you feel it - certainly there is no indication that using stems is making the wine less concentrated, as this has a significantly more precision and punch than the 2011, and for me is more successful. Sappy juice runs through the plate, along with raspberry, red cherry and blackberry fruits, creamy brioche through the mid palate, with smoked cedar and campfire. Fresh acidities on the finish and a tingle of minerality perhaps give a hint of something different happening in the winemaking. 3.65ph, 40% new oak.

Wine Advocate

94

byRobert Parkerthe4/30/2015

An inky, bluish-black color, this wine has deep black raspberry and blueberry notes mixed with charcoal, graphite and subtle smoke. Rich, full-bodied and silky textured, this complex, stunning Pessac-Léognan from this tiny jewel of a vineyard near Haut Brion is hitting all the high notes in 2012. It should drink well for 15-20. This is another bottled wine that dramatically out-performed its barrel sample.

Jamessuckling.com

92

byJames Sucklingthe2/15/2015

On the nose and palate this red suggests blackberries with cedar notes and hints of spices. Full body, silky tannins, fresh acidity and a long finish. The minerality and length is wonderful. This keeps getting better and better. Drink in 2020.

Wine Spectator

91

byJames Molesworththe2/10/2015

Features a smoldering tobacco edge around the core of steeped plum and raspberry fruit, while hints of dried anise and alder line the finish. Shows range and character, with well-embedded acidity bolstering the length. Best from 2016 through 2022. 2,833 cases made. –JM

Jancis Robinson

16,5

byJancis Robinsonthe12/11/2014

Healthy ruby. Unusually ripe with meaty, savoury nose and no obvious overripeness. Refreshing and defintely silky and Graves-y. Well done! The tannins are still in evidence but this is proper claret as opposed to a tarted-up vintage rescue.Drink 2019-2030

Jancis Robinson

16,5

byJancis Robinsonthe10/23/2014

Healthy ruby. Unusually ripe with meaty, savoury nose and no obvious overripeness. Refreshing and defintely silky and Graves-y. Well done! The tannins are still in evidence but this is proper claret as opposed to a tarted-up vintage rescue. 2019-2030

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

89-91

byIan D'Agatathe6/30/2013

(44% merlot, 38% cabernet franc and 18% cabernet sauvignon; 14% alcohol; 53% selection for the grand vin):  Saturated ruby with purple highlights.  Dark plum, blackberry, ink and minerals on the knockout nose.  Silky and deep for 2012, but with no shortage of underlying structure.  Quite full and complex, with sneaky concentration and building sweetness to the mineral, dark berry and floral flavors.  Finishes with superb persistence, very fine tannins and a delicate herbal nuance. This is impressively silky for the year, and one of the best Les Carmes in memory, although I would have preferred just a little less alcohol.  Les Carmes was purchased in December 2010 by Patrice Pichet, one of France's leading real estate developers, based in Bordeaux.  At the time, the purchase price of 3.8 million Euros per hectare (18 million for the total property) set a new record for vineyard land in Bordeaux.  Pichet is surrounded by talent:  the régisseur is Guillaume Pouthier, recruited from Chapoutier, while Stéphane Derenoncourt and Simon Blanchard consult.  Incidentally, the estate's second wine, Le Clos des Carmes, from younger vines on argilo-calcaire soils (as opposed to the graves of Les Carmes Haut-Brion), is also sweet and successful in 2012, and is one of the few second wines from this vintage that really deserves consumer attention.

Le Point

13

byJacques Dupontthe5/16/2013

Fruits noirs, grillé, bouche puissante, tannique, fondue en première séquence, extraite, boule de tanins en finale. O= 2016 G= 7 ans

Asian Palate

88

byJeannie Cho Lee MWthe5/15/2013

Plush, generous tannins and full body in this modern style red Bordeaux with nice depth of fruit. Dark berries, cedar and plums. This property is just next to Haut-Brion but a different owner.

Wine Advocate

90-92

byNeal Martinthe5/3/2013

Tasted from a barrel sample at en primeur. The Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a blend of 38% Cabernet Franc, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon and 44% Merlot. It has a fine, gravelly bouquet with well-defined black fruit and well-integrated oak. It unfurls nicely in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins. This is actually more structured and masculine that I expected. Classic Pessac-Leognan with a touch of chewiness and sinew on the finish, a second sample tasted one week after the first exhibited the persistency and depth that the first lacked. This could be a very fine Les Carmes after bottling. Tasted April 2013.

Wine Spectator

90-93

byJames Molesworththe4/30/2013

Juicy and direct, with solid plum, raspberry and bitter cherry notes pushed by woodspice, singed alder and charcoal. Nice range, and with a pleasantly chewy, grippy feel. —J.M.

matthewjukes.com

17.5

byMatthew Jukesthe4/30/2013

Wine Advocate

89-91

byRobert Parkerthe4/26/2013

The 2012 seems to be a move in that direction. A blend of 44% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, it tips the scales at 14.1% alcohol. Only 53% of the crop made it into the grand vin as they have introduced a second wine called Les Clos des Carmes. The medium-bodied, fragrant 2012 Les Carmes Haut Brion offers lots of unsmoked cigar tobacco, red and black currant, scorched earth and toasty notes. This wine, which is now being looked after by Guillaume Pouthier, whom I met when working with Michel Chapoutier in Tain l’Hermitage, has considerable talent, so readers take note. This 2012 possesses impressive purity and density along with its tell-tale elegance and finesse. It should drink well for 10-15 years. This property changed proprietors several years ago and is now owned by a Bordeaux real estate magnate who appears to be committed to pushing Les Carmes Haut-Brion up to the level of its nearby neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion and Haut-Brion – a courageous as well as expensive proposition.Drink: 2013 - 2028

The Wine Cellar Insider

90-93

byJeff Levethe4/26/2013

With licorice, smoke, blackberry and earthy notes, this wine has plush, soft, polished textures and a sweet blackberry and dark chocolate finish. 90-93 Pts

Decanter.com

16,75

bySteven Spurrierthe4/22/2013

Good ripeness and depth, natural warmness of vineyard is there, quite broad and will gain complexity. 16.75/20pts ( 89/100pts)Drink: 2017 - 2027

Jancis Robinson

15,5

byJancis Robinsonthe4/19/2013

Drink 2019-2027Very dark purple. Almost excessively sweet, coconut-like oak – the sort I just happen not to like though I'm sure some people do. An awful lot of work has gone into extracting and polishing this fruit. But the overall effect lacks the freshness that is to me characteristic of Graves. Even a bit bitter on the end. Exaggerated wine that lacks a bit of soul. Overworked.

Jean-Marc QUARIN

16,3

byJean-Marc Quarinthe4/19/2013

Le propriétaire, Monsieur PICHET, a acheté 40 % du château Le Thil Comte Clary situé non pas à Pessac mais à Léognan. Dans l'assemblage de 2012 beaucoup de merlots viennent de cette nouvelle propriété. Ils ajoutent une complexité liée à un sol plus argilo-calcaire.Couleur sombre et intense. Nez fruité de type mûr et un peu discret. Bouche moelleuse, tendre qui devient très fruitée en milieu et évolue avec une certaine puissance, toujours juteuse et savoureuse vers une finale au grain de tannins fins malgré la richesse. Bonne longueur savoureuse. Une réussite. Assemblé avec 60 % de merlot et 40 % de cabernet franc.

Jamessuckling.com

92-93

byJames Sucklingthe4/4/2013

This shows amazing fruit with blackberries and licorice character. Smoky too. Full body, with wonderful fruit and tannins. Goes on for a very, very long time. 40% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon.