Haut-Brion’s history has been marked by many famous men: Count Joseph de Fumel (Field Marshal, Governor of the Province of Guyenne, and Mayor of Bordeaux), Talleyrand (Foreign Minister of Napoleon I, Emperor of France) and, more recently, C. Douglas Dillon (American ambassador to France and US Secretary of the Treasury during the Kennedy administration).
In 1961, Haut-Brion was the first of the great growths to use stainless steel fermentation vats, and continues to be in the forefront of innovation thanks to the meticulous selection of the ideal clones for each grape variety used at the estate.
Classified a First Growth in 1855, Haut-Brion has done everything possible ever since then to maintain its standing.
TERROIR
Château Haut-Brion’s vineyard is located in the commune of Pessac, just a few miles southwest of Bordeaux’s city center.
It was upon a terrace overlooked by two small hills and flanked by two streams, that approximately 2000 years ago, Romans came and discovered the virtues of these tiny quartz pebbles called “graves” (gravel). During Gallo-Roman times, the concept of terroir was already beginning to emerge. It was subsequently validated, in Burdigala (Bordeaux), by the identification of this very terrace with the toponym of “Haut-Brion”, used both in medieval manuscripts and on ancient maps.
The nature of the gravel at Château Haut-Brion, consisting of small stones of various types of quartz, is a key element contributing to the particularly valuable wine-growing potential of the soil.
The gravelly soils lie upon a unique subsoil of clay, sand, limestone and shelly sand formed at the end of the Tertiary era, then during the Quaternary era, throughout the ice age.
VITICULTURE
Sustainable farming. Protection of the environment is age-old, linked to safeguarding the terroir, passed down from one generation to the next. This involves showing careful consideration for the soils and their characteristics, limiting the number of interventions and using no insecticides.
WINEMAKING
Manual harvest. Fermentation: Temperature controlled in vats. The best wines are selected and placed in barrels for 18 to 20 months. Maturation is also the art of integrating the barrels’ woods, to ensure that the new barrels’ woodiness never overwhelms the wine. Every year the percentage of new barrels is reviewed, according to the vintage’s characteristics and the wine’s profile. The wine is then bottled to continue the slow ageing process.This wine is a superb ruby-red colour with purplish highlights. The initially closed-in bouquet opens up nicely on aeration. The wonderfully subtle aromas follow through in quick succession, starting with oaky overtones, followed by red-berry fruit, leading into terroir character: cocoa powder, roasting coffee, and Havana cigars. The initial softness on the palate gradually evolves to reveal the tannic backbone. Despite their dense structure, the tannins are amazingly silky. The overall freshness carries the flavours through into an aftertaste that goes on and on. This wine has all the depth and smoothness of the 1989, the density of the 2000, the freshness of the 2005, and the richness of the 2009.
Best served with rich and heavy steaks, grilled and roast lamb, aged Parmesan.
*Please note the image is of a representative bottle. For pictures of the actual bottle please contact us.