Ch. Haut Brion
1st Growth Grand Cru Classe
Pessac-Leognan
2010

The producer

Haut-Brion is part of the essence of the long wine-making history of the Bordeaux region, established just outside the old city itself, and now surrounded by ever-encroaching suburbia that would have been the death knell for any vineyard of lesser fame and worth. Owned by the Dillon family since 1935, the latest generation has added a touch of royalty to the estate by marrying the Prince of Luxembourg. For many years through the 60s and 70s, it was often outshone by its neighbour La Mission Haut-Brion but that was settled easily when the Dillons purchased its competitive neighbour in 1983.

Always an early-ripening vineyard, this has been exacerbated by the warmth of the suburban surrounds, making for early picking and relatively high alcohol wines even by current Bordeaux standards. However, its usual mix of 50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc results in a highly aromatic wine of impeccable balance despite its depth and inherent power. A thing of beauty.

The wine

Haut-Brion was always an earlier ripening vineyard, than the rest of the region, this has been further exacerbated by the warmth of the suburban surrounds, making for early picking and relatively high alcohol wines even by current Bordeaux standards. The Grand Vin blend usually has a bit more Merlot (50%) than Cabernet Sauvignon (45%) with Cabernet Franc making up the remainder. Ageing is in barrels, from the estate’s own cooperage, with up to 80% new oak.

The wines have a truly unique complexity and depth, and are highly aromatic with impeccable balance despite the inherent power. Haut Brion is indeed a thing of beauty.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.