Château Haut-Brion, 1er Cru Classé, Pessac Léognan, 2025
Haut Brion is some wine in 2025. Perhaps not as together and composed as the majestic La Mission, but all the elements are here in abundance. Full of promise, this adolescent Haut Brion is not fully-formed but the sheer persistence and concentration implies greatness for those prepared to wait... Produced from 62% Merlot, 26.2% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11.8% Cabernet Franc, it opens with a brooding bouquet of violets, irises, tilled earth, crushed rocks and glorious bramble fruit. Pure and elemental, this is rippling with waves of chewy black fruit, crème de mûre and griotte, interspersed with notes of truffle, pipe tobacco, nutmeg and a hint of spiced blue fruit. This is a wonderful composition with fantastic energy, supremely long and luxurious with a regal, floral accented finish. It may not be as complete as the magnificent Margaux at this stage, but this superb Haut Brion has enormous potential. Magnificent!
critic reviews
The 2025 Haut-Brion was picked from September 1 (slightly later than La Mission) to September 18 at 29 hl/ha. Aged in 59% new oak, this has a very pure and elegant bouquet with ebullient brambly red fruit, crushed stone, potpourri and touches of Earl Grey. Wonderful delineation and a little more refined than, say, the 2020 or 2022. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, and there is more complexity here than La Mission, more depth and minéralité. Fresh and marine-tinged towards the finish that makes you want to come back. This year, the First Growth has put a bit of distance between itself and La Mission.
Such a taut, slate-strewn journey through the palate here, slow burn, love it. An exceptional Haut-Brion, with beautiful toasted cumin and sandalwood notes, cloves, cassis, pomegranate and cocoa beans. Muscular, structured, brooding, this is going to run and run. 59% new oak. 27hl/ha yield. Alcohols among lowest on record, and yet intensely concenrated. 3.72ph Harvest September 1 to 18. 59% new oak. 62% of production in this 1st wine.
The 2025 Haut-Brion is, as usual, more reserved and austere at this stage than La Mission, unwinding in the glass to reveal notions of dark wild berries mingled with spices, pencil leaf and licorice. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and layered, it’s built around a multidimensional core of fruit framed by structuring yet well-integrated tannins, delivering a notably controlled expression of power and concluding with a long, perfumed, subtly ethereal finish. While still tightly knit at this stage, it possesses considerable depth—IPT (an alaytical measure of tannic concentration) levels exceeding 100, rarely observed—that is perfectly controlled and will require extended cellaring. Recent refinements in the estate’s approach, notably in viticulture, are translating into fruit of greater balance and freshness, even under the warm, dry conditions of 2025. It stands as one of the more impressive renditions of Haut-Brion in recent years.