Haut Brion - Pessac-Léognan 2021

Jamessuckling.com

97

byJames Sucklingthe4/19/2024

This is beautifully crafted and very perfumed, with ultra-fine tannins and vivid dark fruit such as blackcurrants, as well as dark chocolate, hazelnuts and hints of forest floor, mushrooms, tar, matchstick and oyster shells. Drink or hold.

Vinous

94

byAntonio Gallonithe4/2/2024

The 2021 Haut-Brion is an excellent wine. Despite its mid-weight structure, the 2021 possesses notable dynamic energy and layers of complexity that build with time in the glass. Scorched earth, leather, tobacco, incense, licorice and dried herbs are some

Vinous

94

byAntonio Gallonithe2/28/2024

The 2021 Haut-Brion is an excellent wine. Despite its mid-weight structure, the 2021 possesses notable dynamic energy and layers of complexity that build with time in the glass. Scorched earth, leather, tobacco, incense, licorice and dried herbs are some of the many notes that open with aeration. The 2021 is a quiet, understated Haut-Brion, but all its signatures are present. Today, the it is not quite as showy as it was en primeur, but it is a fine effort nonetheless.

Wine Advocate

97

byWilliam Kelleythe2/22/2024

The 2021 Haut-Brion confirms its fine showing en primeur, cementing its status as one of the wines of the vintage. Its complex bouquet of dark berries and cassis mingled with notions of cigar wrapper and burning embers unfurls in the glass. Full-bodied, deep and velvety, it’s concentrated and layered with a multidimensional core of fruit, sweet tannins and lively acids, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. Reflecting the timeless elegance of Haut-Brions from cooler years, the 2021 will delight Bordeaux purists.

matthewjukes.com

19

byMatthew Jukesthe8/2/2022

This is the darkest of the four reds from Domaine Clarence Dillon, and it is the richest and most indulgent, too. The oak is carefully judged, and while the tannins are powerful and command the entire back end of the experience, there is a lot of fruit up front. Unlike La Mission, it is allowed to stroll around on the palate relatively unhindered. The fruit is sublime, and the weight and tenderness in the mid-palate are heavenly. The balance and freshness are thrilling, and the touches of exoticism and variety of red and black fruit notes are kaleidoscopic. 19+

Jamessuckling.com

97-98

byJames Sucklingthe6/8/2022

A very structured young Haut-Brion with blackberry, blackcurrant, black-olive and mushroom character. Medium to full-bodied with a driving balance of firm and ripe tannins and gorgeous fruit. 50.3% merlot, 38% cabernet sauvignon and 11.7% cabernet franc.

Jeb DUNNUCK

95-97

byJeb Dunnuckthe6/2/2022

As with the Clarence, the 2021 Château Haut-Brion is a darker, richer, more powerful wine. Currants, smoked black cherries, graphite, chocolate, and tobacco notes all define the nose, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a straight, focused, beautifully precise mouthfeel, gorgeous yet substantial tannins, and a great finish. It's going to hit maturity in 7-8 years and have 30 years of longevity or more. The 2021 is mostly Merlot, checking in as 50.3% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11.7% Cabernet Franc, hitting 13.8% alcohol and resting in 73% new French oak.

Bettane & Desseauve

96-97

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/24/2022

Forte couleur, nez puissant, précis, bien formé, plus sur le réglisse et la fleur que sur les fruits noirs ou rouge, pas aussi monumental de corps que dans les millésimes précédents mais structuré, long, racé. Finalement très classique de son terroir. Belle complémentarité des cabernets et du merlot. Grande longévité probable.

The Vintage Journal

95-96

byAndrew Caillard MWthe5/17/2022

Deep crimson. Intense elderberry, dark cherry, praline aromas. Well concentrated and richly flavoured with dense dark cherry, elderberry fruits, plentiful fine chalky tannins, hint roasted chestnut nuances and fresh juicy acidity. Still elemental but very good balance. Bittersweet notes at the finish. 50% merlot, 12% cabernet franc, 38% cabernet sauvignon. 72% new oak. 13% alc

Alexandre Ma

97-98

byAlexandre Mathe5/16/2022

Fresh, juicy, and ethereal. How is it possible? I bet that no one would have guessed this Haut-Brion is born in the rainy and cool vintage 2021 on blind tasting. Like many other Châteaux, Haut-Brion also raises the blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, creating extraordinary freshness of rosin around the glass. The alcohol is milder, so the inner beauty is even more prominent there. It offers me the silky tannins, mellow body, and lingering length, I can't help fancying it as a legendary pearl shimmering in the darkness. It is a precious wine worth sharing with your precious friends. ??,??,????????!????,??????Haut-Brion,???????????????2021??????????,Haut-Brion????????????,??????????????????????,??????,????????????????????????????????????Haut-Brion,?????????????,????“???”,?????????????“???”,???????????????

The Wine Cellar Insider

95-97

byJeff Levethe5/16/2022

Flowers, tobacco wrapper, chocolate, burning wood, ash, cigar box, currants, black cherries and spice. On the palate, the wine fresh, bright, vibrant, lifted and floral. The wine is elevated, refined, soft and silky with refreshing, silky edge to the fruits in the finish. There is richness and waves of fruit on the palate, but the waves are small and continuous. This is a good example of a modern classic Haut-Brion. The wine blends 50% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Cabernet Franc, 13.85% ABV. Harvesting took place September 13, finishing October 8, making this one of the longer harvest periods for Haut Brion. 48 hectoliters per hectare, with 43% of the harvest placed into the Grand Vin. Drink from 2027-2060. 95-97

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

95

byJane Ansonthe5/13/2022

Vinous

95-97

byNeal Martinthe5/12/2022

The 2021 Haut-Brion has a more extravagant, charming bouquet compared directly with the La Mission at the moment, offering copious blackberry, black truffle, undergrowth and menthol scents. The palate is very well balanced, harmonious and poised, with fine-grained tannins and an almost pixelated finish. This Haut-Brion seems to have reveled in the cooler growing season, and at 13.8% alcohol, there is almost a degree less than recent vintages. Jean-Philippe Delmas has fashioned a contender for wine of the vintage.

Vinous

95-97

byAntonio Gallonithe5/11/2022

The 2021 Haut-Brion is all class, all finesse. Naturally the overt intensity of recent vintages is replaced by a more understated style in 2021. Silky tannins caress a core of dark cherry/plum fruit. Hints of lavender, new leather, cloves and menthol gradually open. The trademark Haut-Brion aromatics are going to need a number of years in bottle to develop. The 2021 is hardly a blockbuster, and yet in many ways it is so primary.

vvwine

96-98

byAdrian Van Velsenthe5/10/2022

50% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc. Rubinrot, strahlender Glanz. Was für eine schöne Nase, noch einen Tick komplexer als bei La Mission, rote und dunkle Beeren, florale Töne die mich an Veilchen erinnern, ein herrlicher Duft, dazu kommen Tee und Kräuternoten, faszinierendes Aromenspiel. Der Gaumen ist hochelegant, zeigt noch etwas mehr Druck und Kraft als La Mission, doch keinerlei Schwere, ungemein präzis, frisch und lebendig, die Tannine sind von höchster Güte, alles ist an seinem Platz. Im Abgang langanhaltend und sehr frisch. Eine wahre Freude. 2025-2050 (Verkostet im April 2022. Château La Mission Haut-Brion)

Anthocyanes

95-97

byYohan Castaingthe5/6/2022

Assemblages réalisés. Avec un éclat de fruits noirs magnifiques, de réglisse, de gentiane et de fleurs de printemps, Haut-Brion 2021 propose un bouquet à la fois élégant et légèrement racinaire. Plutôt tendu, le toucher de bouche est frais, droit, légèrement tannique ce qui correspond à la force du terroir en matière de tanin. Un Haut-Brion dans l'épure et qui tiendra parfaitement dans les années à venir. Bravo ! 95-97+

Wine Advocate

96-98

byWilliam Kelleythe4/29/2022

A candidate for the title of wine of the vintage, the 2021 Haut-Brion unwinds in the glass with aromas of rich red and black fruit mingled with notions of cigar wrapper, licorice, black truffles, loamy soil and burning embers. Full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's elegant and multidimensional, with superb depth at the core, lively acids and ultra-refined tannins. Combining the classical proportions of the vintages of two decades ago with the viticultural and winemaking of today, it's a timeless classic in the making, but it's difficult to find an obvious analogy with an older vintage. When pressed, Jean-Philippe Delmas suggests a superior version of the 2014 vintage, and to me, a more concentrated, serious version of the 2012 vintage also comes to mind. What is clear, however, is that this is one of the real high points of 2021. The blend is 50% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Cabernet Franc, and it attained 13.8% alcohol—a percentage point or so lower than in 2020 or 2019.

Decanter.com

97

byGeorgina Hindlethe4/1/2022

One of the absolute stand out wines on 2021 with an electric appeal almost unrivalled in the vintage. Blackcurrant leaf, dark chocolate, cocoa powder, rose petals, sweet cherries and bramble fruits on the nose. Incredibly lively and energetic on the palate with a burst of sharp, sweet and sour fruits that just fills the mouth coated by chalk, slate and pencil lead mineral tannins that give a intensity while the fruit persistency lingers above and through to the long finish. Such delicacy yet multi-layered and full of concentration, clear ripeness and power, though delivered with suaveness and style. Tannins are firm and robust, mouthfilling, no doubt about that, but they give the structure and frame to the plush and plump fruit which also has such a crystalline purity to it. I love the intensity and also these spicy bitter dark chocolate and liquorice elements on the finish which give nuance.