Chteau Haut-BrionPessac-LeognanAppellation de Haut-Brion contrle5112000-15000Chteau Haut-BrionPremier Grand Cru

Chteau Haut-Brion is a French wine, rated a Premier Cru Class (First Growth), produced in Pessac just outside the city of Bordeaux. It differs from the other wines on the list in its geographic location in the north of the wine-growing region of Graves. Of the five first growths, it is the only wine with the Pessac-Lognan appellation and is in some sense the ancestor of a classification that remains the benchmark to this day.

Appellation:
AOC Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux

Type:
Red/Rouge (Still)

Grape Varieties:
50% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc

Tasting Notes:
While in some vintages La Mission Haut-Brion and Haut-Brion can be close in quality, that is not the case in this vintage. The 1996 Haut-Brion is clearly on a higher plane than the La Mission. There is something much more expansive and complete on the nose: greater depth of fruit, more harmonious with scents of underbrush, tar, black olive and this bottle perhaps less “feral” than I have noticed on previous examples. The palate is very well balanced with dark cherries, sous-bois and cedar. This is one vintage where I think the Cabernet Franc plays an important role and lends more complexity. This is a 1996 that has retained and built upon beguiling fleshiness and it will continue to evolve with style and panache.