Carmes Haut Brion - Pessac-Léognan 2020

Vinous

95-95

byNeal Martinthe2/28/2025

The 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion has an opulent bouquet of black cherries, blueberries and violets, with just a patina of new oak to be fully subsumed. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy, ripe tannins. Very well balanced, it's quite a lascivious Pessac-Léognan, with a caressing and very peppery finish. Certainly, this represents one of the best vintages in the modern era under Guillaume Pouthier. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Jeb DUNNUCK

98

byJeb Dunnuckthe10/24/2023

From a bottle purchased stateside, the 2020 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a riviting, utterly classic Pessac-Leognan that offers textbook darker currant fruits, scorched earth, tobacco, lead pencil, and smoky, truffly nuances, as well as a subtle floral hint with time in the glass. Based on 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance Merlot that saw a plenty of stems as well as 80% new oak, it's deep plum/ruby hued, has medium to full-bodied richness, a graceful, layered, elegant mouthfeel, polished, fine grained tannins, and a gorgeous finish. It's more approachable today than I would have imagined from barrel, and it actually reminds me of the 2019 with its understated elegance. It deserves a solid 7-8 years of bottle age and will be a 30, 40, 50+ year wine. It's another heavenly wine from Guillaume Pouthier that you probably couldn't have too much of in the cellar.

Wine Advocate

97

byWilliam Kelleythe4/6/2023

The 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion has turned out beautifully, wafting from the glass with aromas of blackberries, red fruits, exotic spices, rose petals, raw cocoa and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and layered, it's intensely flavored but weightless, with a compelling sense of harmony and a long, orange-inflected finish. A blend of 52% Cabernet Franc, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot, it was vinified with some 65% whole bunch and attained 13.5% alcohol. This is the first vintage where Pouthier's methods (whole bunch with weighted cap and long élevage incorporating larger vessels) were applied writ large, and the results are striking.

Jamessuckling.com

98

byJames Sucklingthe3/29/2023

Gorgeous aromas of crushed berries with orange peel. Fresh spices. Flowers. Salty. Full and so bright and vivid, with an elegance and beauty at the beginning and then it goes on and on. You see the intense fine tannins at the end. Dusty and bright. Unique wine. 55% whole cluster. 80% new wood, 10% amphora, and 10% foudra.

The Wine Cellar Insider

99

byJeff Levethe3/22/2023

Medium/full-bodied, concentrated, vibrant, fresh, refined, elegant, and completely focused on its purity of fruit. Initially, you find notes of flowers, tobacco leaves, thyme, red pit fruits, mint, and an array of spices. The fruit gracefully unfolds on your palate with nuances of sea salt, herbs, spices, red, and black currants, cocoa, and espresso. The long, seamless, vivacious finish, with its spicy, mint, and oceanic edge takes its time building in intensity and width as it lingers. Drink from 2027-2060.

Vinous

100

byAntonio Gallonithe2/24/2023

The 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a total stunner. For the first time I can remember, Les Carmes Haut-Brion marries all of its elements so well that nothing stands out. In the past, the high percentage of Franc and/or the whole clusters were evident. The 2020 is the first modern vintage in which all the elements are so well balanced. Dark red/purplish fruit, rose petal, mint, lavender, dried herbs and incense all build in a ravishing Pessac-Léognan that will take your breath away. The 2020 is 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot, picked between September 14 to 26, which is early here. Whole cluster was 55%. Vinification took place over five weeks, using very gentle extraction, with no pumpovers or punchdowns. Aging was 80% new oak, 11% 18hL foudres and 9% amphorae. In tasting, the 2020 is simply magnificent. There are no soloists, just the most exceptionally vivid, breathtaking orchestra imaginable. The 2020 is a masterpiece from Technical Director Guillaume Pouthier and his team. Don't miss it!

Decanter.com

100

byGeorgina Hindlethe1/3/2023

The best 2020s seem to be confident without showing off or shouting too loudly and this Carmes does just that. Focused and precise, this is complex and characterful, rich yet vibrant with a texture and taste that makes an impact straight away. Fresh black fruits, floral notes and sensational minerality do the talking - it has weight, density and structure - broad and bold yet svelte, it has direction and persistence, building quickly then settling and elongating with such clarity and purity. This is a wine you want to drink. Cool, classic, sharp and decisive with a flawless texture. Whereas 2019 was more generous, this is more classic and easy to understand. An excellent job - seemingly effortless winemaking in 2020 - and a bottle that is sure to be emptied pretty quickly.

Vinous

95-97

byAntonio Gallonithe6/1/2021

The 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is dazzling, but it is also a wine of reserve and understatement. I image it will be some years, at the very least, be fore the 2020 is ready to show all it has to offer. Today, it is not particularly expressive. The aromatics, which are usually so penetrating are quite shy, although the significant presence of Cabernet Franc that distinguishes this wine comes through in its energy and sense of drive. I can't wait to taste the 2020 from bottle, and won't be at all surprised if it turns out even better than this note suggests.

Jeb DUNNUCK

96-98

byJeb Dunnuckthe5/28/2021

On another level, the flagship 2020 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion is one heck of a dense, backward, concentrated wine that’s going to require bottle age. Coming in with the same technical analysis (acidity and alcohol) as the 2018, this full-bodied beauty offers a thrilling nose of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, charcoal, and gravelly earth. Full-bodied on the palate, with a terrific mid-palate and wonderful purity, it holds things close to its vest yet has flawless balance, impeccable purity, and just a great, lengthy finish. Nevertheless, this is one big bruiser of a wine that’s going to demand bottle age. Do your best to hide bottles for 7-8 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following three to four decades.

Yvesbeck.wine

99-100

byYves Beckthe5/27/2021

40% Bouchet, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot
Le terme HD devrait également être appliqué pour les vins et celui-ci, en l’occurrence, mériterait même l'appellation "Full HD". Bouquet précis, subtile, révélant des nuances de cerises, d'iris et de graphite. Touche de garrigue et de poivre gris. L'attaque est exceptionnellement fine, détaillée et même saline en attaque. Le vin gagne lentement en ampleur grâce ses tannins qui atteignent leur amplitude en fin de bouche où ils sont de pair avec la structure acide. Cette dernière est mordante, croquante mais sereine et surtout très efficace car elle porte l'expression aromatique jusqu'en finale.
Les légères notes d'amertume en fin de bouche ont le mérite de non seulement canaliser et contrer toute cette énergie, mais également de favoriser l'expression fruitée. Nuances crayeuses et salines en finale. Un vin d'une rare précision et d'une puissance sereine. Un vin identitaire, unique, même touchant de par cette capacité à nous transporter dans un univers qui frôle la perfection. Peut-êtrecela basculera du côté du graal, l'exceptionnel étant déjà acquis. 2027 2065 99-100/100

Vinous

94-96

byNeal Martinthe5/27/2021

The 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion was picked at 38hl/ha and matured in 80% new oak, 11% foudres and the remainder in clay amphorae. It has an intense bouquet of blackberry and wild strawberry, plus some light torrefactory scents, undergrowth and black pepper, all delineated and focused. The palate is medium-bodied with beautifully defined black fruit and delicate touches of mint, bell pepper and cracked black pepper. Though it shares the same surname, it is interesting to see how, stylistically, it is cut from a totally different cloth than Haut-Brion and La Mission, which each possess their own distinct attributes. Quite thickly textured and weighty on the finish with a long, spicy aftertaste, this is a serious Les Carmes Haut-Brion with a very long future ahead.

Decanter.com

96

byJane Ansonthe5/25/2021

Clear violet edging to the colour, vibrant and enticing. This is elegant and full of personality, with high floral aromatics, a ton of dark fruits, and a blueberry dominance that gives a classic Carmes Haut Brion feel. Slightly austere, slightly bitter, both in the best possible expression of those terms, where it is mouthwatering and moreish. A juicy salinity ensures this is a wine that doesn't overpower, its flavours are revealed slowly and carefully, tugging backwards, with a texture that heads towards linen rather than silk - meaning that you don't glide through, you carefully step through well-placed tannins and fruits. There is clear delicacy here, and with 55% whole bunch fermentation - the highest level that they have done to date. 3.62pH (they harvested this at almost 1% ABV higher), fermented with their own natural yeasts. Highest percentage of the two Cabernets on recent record (before 2010 Carmes was regularly at 50% Merlot). Strong candidate for the score moving upwards when in bottle.

The Wine Cellar Insider

96-98

byJeff Levethe5/21/2021

Garnet in color, the wine opens with tobacco leaf, cigar box, thyme, herbs, flowers and red berries. Medium/full-bodied, vibrant, fresh and focused on its purity of fruit and elegance, this sublime wine is silky, sweet and sensuous. This finish is long and refined, with sweet, ripe cherries, dark cocoa, spice, herbs and cigar wrapper with a cool touch of salt and crushed rock in the endnotes. The wine was made using 55% whole bunch clusters during fermentation. From a blend of 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot, 13.7% ABV. The wine is aging in 80% new, French oak which is already close to fully integrated. 96-98

Wine Advocate

95-97

byLisa Perrotti-Brownthe5/20/2021

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion issues forth a beguiling array of savory scents—black olives, charcuterie, bouquet garni and Sichuan pepper—over a core of bright redcurrant jelly, black cherries and cassis scents, plus fragrant hints of rose petals and preserved mandarin peel. The medium-bodied palate is refreshing and elegantly styled yet with a rock-solid backbone of firm, finely grained tannins and bags of freshness, finishing long and perfumed. This is a stunning expression of the vintage that should be long lived and age with fantastic grace.

Anthocyanes

98-100

byYohan Castaingthe5/11/2021

Avec un éclat aromatique tout simplement magnifique, ce Carmes Haut-Brion 2020 semble plus profond et plus complexe que les millésimes précédents. Cassis, myrtille, fleurs de printemps, iris, menthol, un peu graphite. La structure est juteuse, vibrante, énergique avec une fraicheur magnifique et un grain de tanins cristallin et malgré cela très profond. Des notes de Zan apparaissent à l'aération. Un vin encore plus racé que les années précédentes d'autant que le côté viril des cabernets sera magnifié par les élevages totalement maitrisés par Guillaume Pouthier. Tout simplement superbe !

Falstaff

94-96

byPeter Moserthe5/10/2021

Dunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, dezente Ockerrandaufhellung. Mit einem Hauch von Edelholz unterlegte reife Herzkirschenfrucht, zart nach Nou- gat, Waldbeeren, kandierte Orangenzesten, einladendes Bukett. Saftig, reife Herz- kirschen, feine Süße in der Textur, gut integrierte, reife Tannine, etwas Gerbstoff im Abgang, pfeffriger Nachhall, gutes Entwicklungspotenzial.

My Bettane + Desseauve

94-95

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/7/2021

Jamessuckling.com

97-98

byJames Sucklingthe5/4/2021

Exotic fruit aromas of blackberry, blueberry, peach and orange peel. It’s full-bodied with a vertical flow of layered, chewy tannins that are integrated and intense. Extremely polished and focused. Crushed stone to the fruit in the aftertaste. Some bark and forest flowers, too. Great potential.