The 1997 Harlan Estate is one of the greatest Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines I have ever tasted. A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this enormously-endowed, profoundly rich wine must be... Read More
Deep garnet-black colour going brick at the rim. Alluring aromas of warm blackcurrant, eucalyptus, cloves and a sprinkling of Chinese five-spice. A dense, full bodied palate packed with emerging layers of intense dark berry, dried... Read More
The extraordinary Harlan Estate, which I awarded 100 points seven years ago, offers no justifiable reason to doubt its perfect score. It is still a baby, with an inky purple color and notes of smoky camphor intermixed with creme... Read More
Very deep garnet-black colour with a purple rim. Comparably simpler, fruit-forward nose with aromas of blackberry and warm cassis plus a touch of star anise. Very big, ultra-full-bodied style of wine comes through on the palate,... Read More
Very deep garnet-black colour with a purple rim. Though still very youthful and muted, this vintage is already subtly revealing a wide array of aromas including blackberry tart, cedar, violets, truffles, liquorice and all spice.... Read More
Espresso, mocha, dark red berries, rose petals and spices are some of the many notes that emerge from the 2008 Harlan Estate. The wine fleshes out beautifully in the glass as it shows off its class and true pedigree. This is a... Read More
Tasted at the château, the 1998 Haut-Bailly is a wine that exploits what was a fine vintage in Pessac-Léognan, and appears to slowly improve with age. Having not reached adulthood yet, it has a simmering, powerful bouquet with... Read More
The 2016 Haut-Bailly is medium to deep garnet-purple in color. The nose opens with beautiful floral notes of violets and lavender accented with earthy notions and sparks of crushed rocks over a core of kirsch, cassis and wild... Read More
The 2017 Haut-Bailly is composed of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. Very deep garnet-purple colored, it has a wonderfully spicy nose of cinnamon stick, cloves, anise and fenugreek with... Read More
The 1949 Haut-Brion (tasted 12/95) revealed some of the textbook cigar, ashtray, tobacco-scented notes, as well as scents of roasted herbs and ripe fruit. The color was a medium garnet with considerable rust at the edge. This... Read More
I know Jean Delmas, whom I respect as one of the world's greatest wine producers, has always thought the 1982 Haut Brion was similar to the 1959, but I have yet to see that. It seems to me the 1989 is closer to the 1959, another... Read More
Haut-Brion has been the most consistent first-growth over the last decade, producing top-notch wines, even in such tough years as 1987, 1993, and 1994. The 1989 is one of a handful of truly profound wines from a vintage that tends... Read More
1990: In terms of the brilliant complexity and nobility of the aromatics, scorched earth, black currants, plums, charcoal, cedar, and spices, the 1990 offers an aromatic explosion that is unparalleled. It is always fascinating... Read More
This wine has been brilliant on every occasion I have tasted it. More accessible and forward than the 1996, it possesses a saturated ruby/purple color, as well as a beautiful, knock-out set of aromatics, consisting of black fruits,... Read More
As reported over the last two years, this is a prodigious Haut-Brion. It exhibits a dense ruby/purple color in addition to a tight, but incredibly promising nose of smoke, earth, minerals, lead pencil, black currants, cherries,... Read More
As for the 2010 Haut-Brion, it does not have the power of Latour's 2010 or the intense lead pencil shavings and chocolaty component of Lafite-Rothschild, but it is extraordinary, perfect wine. It has a slightly lower pH than... Read More
The 2016 Haut-Brion is blended of 56% Merlot, 37.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6.5% Cabernet Franc. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the nose is at once profound and arresting, offering drop-dead gorgeous Morello cherries, lilacs... Read More
The 2018 Haut-Brion is a blend of 49.4% Merlot, 38.7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11.9% Cabernet Franc, harvested September 6 to October 2. Deep purple-black in color, it is much more closed than the La Mission. It holds back for the... Read More