Château Haut Bailly, Cru Classé, Pessac Léognan, 2019
This sample seemed to get lost in the post, so I didn’t have high hopes. How wrong I was. Despite this being well over a week old, it was one of the best young Haut Baillys I’ve tasted. Produced from 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. Beautiful floral fruit: violets, peonies, pure cassis, crème de mûre and a touch of cinnamon. The palate is plush and luxuriant; generous waves of silky hedgerow fruit and vanilla coat the palate. It’s all so harmonious and natural, the integration of oak, the seamless tannins, the effortless complexity – it’s a joy to taste right now!
critic reviews
Love the depth of the palate, this is delicious with a scrape of tannins that are ripe and powerful without straying over the line into heavy. Love the balance of this 2019, sculputed cassis and bilberry fruits, appealingly finessed and full of estate signature. Harvest September 23 to October 10. Axel Marchal and Valerie Lavigne consultants, Gabriel Vialard winemaker, Veronique Sanders director and CEO.
The 2019 Haut-Bailly has a deep garnet-purple color. It slowly emerges from the glass with notes of blackcurrant cordial, plum preserves, and cedar chest, followed by hints of cast-iron pan, dried Provence herbs, and pencil lead. The full-bodied palate has a firm, sturdy frame of grainy tannins and plenty of freshness, with an earthy finish. It was a little closed and broody compared to previous tastings, and I expect it will emerge from this phase in 4-6 years, blossoming gloriously.
The 2019 Haut-Bailly unwinds in the glass with complex aromas of dark berries, bay leaf, loamy soil and cigar wrapper, framed by a discreet patina of new oak. Full-bodied, velvety and elegantly muscular, it's powerful and concentrated, with lively acids and an abundance of ripe but youthfully assertive structuring tannin that will demand some patience.
The 2019 Haut-Bailly, matured in 50% new oak and bottled in April 2021, has a stunning, classy and sophisticated bouquet of blackberry, melted tar, Earl Grey and light minerally scents. This is extremely focused, almost pixelated. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, but there is real backbone and structure to this wine. Deep, intense, classy and classic in style, delivering an immense amount of sapidity on the enormously persistent finish. As I mentioned previously, this is a less flamboyant Haut-Bailly, but more intellectual.