Haut Batailley - Pauillac 2020

Vinous

95-95

byNeal Martinthe2/28/2025

The 2020 Haut-Batailley is another Pauillac that appears to be blossoming in bottle. It has a very complex bouquet with pencil-box-infused black fruit that unfurls gracefully in the glass. Quintessential Pauillac. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent tannins, real depth and concentration and plenty of cassis toward the precocious yet controlled finish. Superb. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Vinous

93

byNeal Martinthe4/2/2024

The 2020 Haut-Batailley has a seductive and opulent bouquet with precocious black fruit, though it doesn't quite boast the complexity of the previous vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with an edgy opening, lightly spiced with a grippy, tarry finish. Gi

Vinous

93

byNeal Martinthe2/23/2024

France

Vinous

95

byNeal Martinthe1/1/2024

The 2020 Haut-Batailley is another Pauillac that appears to be blossoming in bottle. It has a very complex bouquet with pencil-box-infused black fruit that unfurls gracefully in the glass. Quintessential Pauillac. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent tannins, real depth and concentration and plenty of cassis toward the precocious yet controlled finish. Superb. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Wine Advocate

92

byWilliam Kelleythe4/6/2023

The 2020 Haut-Batailley is rich and demonstrative, offering up aromas of blackberries and cherries framed by sweet spices, smoke and new oak. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, it's broad and expansive, with more overt ripeness, body and texture than was formerly the case for this estate.

Wine Spectator

95

byJames Molesworththe3/31/2023

Dark, winey, structured and very Pauillac, this is laden with cassis and blackberry puree flavors scored by charcoal and warm earth, with tobacco and cast iron notes. Very long, focused and seriously well-built finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2027 through 2040.

Jeb DUNNUCK

94

byJeb Dunnuckthe3/30/2023

The Grand Vin 2020 Château Haut-Batailley is a step up and checks in as 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot. This medium to full-bodied, ripe, layered, elegant Pauillac has lots of classic Cabernet darker currant fruits, some chocolate, leafy herb, and damp earth nuances, a great mid-palate, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It already offers pleasure yet will evolve for 15-20 years.

Vinous

93

byAntonio Gallonithe2/24/2023

The 2020 Haut-Batailley is a huge, somber Pauillac, just as it was from barrel. Huge swaths of tannin wrap around a core of black fruit, gravel, incense, tobacco, smoke, cured meats and charcoal embers. Readers will have to be patient. I imagine the 2020 will always be a big, virile wine, certainly more about power than finesse.

Vinous

94

byNeal Martinthe2/15/2023

The 2020 Haut-Batailley, matured in 60% new oak for 14 months, has a vivacious nose with mint-infused blackberry and raspberry fruit, a light pencil lead note underneath. Certainly one of the more intense aromatics in Pauillac with disarming purity. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins and a wonderful bead of acidity keeping it tensile throughout. There's a sweet core of plummy fruit, hints of orange rind towards the finish that contains plenty of energy. Excellent.

Wine Spectator

95

byJames Molesworththe11/30/2022

Dark, winey, structured and very Pauillac, this is laden with cassis and blackberry puree flavors scored by charcoal and warm earth, with tobacco and cast iron notes. Very long, focused and seriously well-built finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2027 through 2040.

Vinous

91-93

byAntonio Gallonithe6/1/2021

The 2020 Haut-Batailley is a powerful, brooding Pauillac. Black fruit, grilled herbs, menthol, licorice, smoke, dried flowers and leather add to the wine's virile feel. Here, too, the tannins are pretty imposing. It will be interesting to see what time brings.

Jeb DUNNUCK

92-94

byJeb Dunnuckthe5/28/2021

Also made in a more medium-bodied, elegant style, the Grand Vin 2020 Château Haut-Batailley offers a beautiful perfume of both black cherry and darker berry fruits as well as classic Pauillac cedar, chocolate, and leafy herb-like aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, beautifully balanced, and seamless on the palate, they’ve done a wonderful job with the tannins, the purity of fruit is spot-on, and this will certainly be an impressive Pauillac, with 20-25 years of prime drinking ahead of it.

Vinous

92-94

byNeal Martinthe5/27/2021

The 2020 Haut-Batailley was opened for a good hour before I commenced penning my note. This will be matured for 14 months in 60% new oak. It gently unfolds in the glass to reveal blackberry, faint sea spray scents (a whiff of the old Gironde estuary) and just a touch of crushed stone. This is well defined though not powerful. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins on the entry that frame the bright blackberry and raspberry fruit. This Pauillac conveys superb energy, especially toward the Japanese nori-infused finish, awakening and revivifying the senses. It is a classically sculpted and very harmonious Haut-Batailley that will give 25–30 years of drinking pleasure, but should be cellared for 5–6 years.

Decanter.com

93

byJane Ansonthe5/25/2021

Clear salinity and the fennel aniseed touch that I get in Verso de Haut-Batailley also. Gorgeous texture here, this has real balance and a sense of careful walking through the palate, a juice and a tension, with a saline kick. An enjoyably sleek wine, not as powerful as the Lynch Bages, and not intended to be either. Some chocolate notes as it opens, but this has an elegance to it that almost makes it more of a St-Julien, certainly not the powerhouse Pauillac that you get in Lynch Bages. Harvest from September 14 to 29. 3.85pH, 60% new oak, for 14 months. The Cazes family has almost doubled the size of the vineyard since taking over, up to 39ha.

The Wine Cellar Insider

93-95

byJeff Levethe5/21/2021

Richly colored, right off the bat you find tobacco, cedar, savory herbs, earth and spicy red currants on the nose and mid-palate. Full-bodied, concentrated and with a big blast of sweet, juicy cassis that carries through to the finish, this is a soft textured, fruit-filled, elegantly styled Pauillac that should provide a lot of pleasure before it hits its 10th birthday. The wine blends 62% Cabernet Sauvignon with 38% Merlot. 93-95

Wine Advocate

92-94

byLisa Perrotti-Brownthe5/20/2021

A blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot aging in French oak barriques, 60% new, the 2020 Haut-Batailley weighs in with 13.6% alcohol, a pH of 3.85 and an IPT of 81. Deep purple-black in color, it opens with seducing, beautifully pure notes of blackcurrant jelly, juicy blackberries and warm plums, plus hints of chocolate mint, lilacs and forest floor with a touch of ground cloves. The refreshing, medium-bodied palate gives a great burst of crunchy black berries, framed by finely grained tannins, finishing with a minty lift.

Jamessuckling.com

94-95

byJames Sucklingthe5/12/2021

This is really minerally and stony with lots of chewy tannins. Medium-to full-bodied with a clean, fresh finish. Very classic Pauillac. Salty at the end with bitter citrus.

Anthocyanes

93-95

byYohan Castaingthe5/11/2021

Cassis, framboise, très beau nez de fruits noirs "al dente". Bouche suave, bel enrobage avec une allonge et un côté mentholé superbe. Aérien et frais. Très belle bouteille en devenir.

Falstaff

92-94

byPeter Moserthe5/10/2021

Dunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, dezente Randaufhellung. Zart rotbeerig unterlegte Pflaumenfrucht, reife Kirschen, feine Kräuterwürze, ein Hauch von Nougat. Mittlerer Körper, dezente Süße in der Textur, reife Tannine, gute Frische, rote Konfitüre, helle Schokolade im Abgang, bleibt haften, verfügt über Entwicklung- spotenzial.

My Bettane + Desseauve

92

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/7/2021