CHÂTEAU LES CARMES HAUT BRION
2015 Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan
Dense and broad, with warm dark plum, fig and blackberry confiture flavors rolling over one another, backed by a broad swath of tar and roasted apple wood. This is packed with serious grip, featuring bramble, licorice snap and intense sweet tobacco notes on the back end, all of which combine with the fruit for a powerfully rendered finish. Distinct and impressive. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 95 L&S (Jan 2018)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
The first wine made in the extraordinary and rather beautiful new Philippe Starck-designed chai, which resembles a cross between a submarine and a dreadnought battleship. We'd love to share a photo but it has been firmly embargoed until the unveiling date of the 28th of June. 45% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot. Vinified using a technique learned by winemaker Guillaume Pouthier from Chapoutier in the Rhone, where he previously worked, with layers of destemmed and whole bunch fruit in the vats. They used balloons inflated in the top of the vats to submerge the cap and allow it to infuse very gently, avoiding remontages. Very dark colour, with a surprisingly garnet edge. Rich and plush with patisserie fruit - ripe blueberry pie. Big volume and smooth delivery, still with real expression and this velouté dark fruit. 'Crémeux et sensuelle' says Guillaume. Quite an extreme wine, but but it remains within bounds: nicely done. Rating: 92-94 L&S (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Les Carmes Haut-Brion has a lifted, finely delineated nose with black cherry, wild mint and a dab of cough candy in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with plush tannins, but there is structure behind that slightly glossy façade. This has gentle grip and the right amount of black pepper that lends complexity on the finish. It just requires a bit of time. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting at Farr Vintners. Drinking range: 2027 - 2042 Rating: 93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2025)
The 2015 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is the first vintage vinified with 100% infusion, including 55% whole bunches. This has a much more intense bouquet compared to the 2014: copious blackberries, blueberry and crushed violet scents, hints of blood orange and a light cassis touch with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine density and precision, good grip, edgy tannins with clearly more mineralité percolating through the finish. Excellent. Tasted at the Les Carmes Haut-Brion vertical at the château. Drinking range: 2023 - 2050 Rating: 93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Oct 2022)
The succulent depth and width to this wine is clear as soon as your nose hovers over the glass. Concentrated tannins hum underneath a more sculpted aerian side of fragrant peonies and raspberry leaf that take off through the palate. This was a warm vintage and we are on a warm site here, and yet you feel a freshness, with crushed mint leaf and juicy cranberry that belies the vintage and speaks to deft winemaking. This is the point at which Carmes begins to fully take on its own personaity that is not necessarily reflective of the appellation as a whole. 3.7ph, 40% new oak. Drinking range: 2024 - 2044 Rating: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter (Feb 2022)
The 2015 Les Carmes Haut-Brion has a clean and fresh bouquet with blackberry, terracotta tiles, undergrowth and tobacco scents, all very detailed and demonstrating more complexity than its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, taut and linear, lace-like in texture with a fine bead of acidity toward the finish. Guillaume Pouthier made a fantastic Pessac-Léognan that may warrant a higher score in the future. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jul 2019)
Very polished and poised with an immensely powerful core of tannin that drives incredible length on the palate. Fruits are deep in the dark-berry spectrum, encapsulating a terrific sense of freshness through the finish. Great wine. Drinking range: 2024 - Rating: 97 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2018)
Cabernets are dominant and 50% whole-bunch pressed. Deep crimson. Smells riper than the Pessacs and Graves tasted so far but still pure dark fruit. Savoury, dry and elegant, more length than depth at the moment and less fruit depth than I expected from the nose, but I think it will flesh out in the bottle. Drinking range: 2020 - 2032 Rating: 16.5 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Nov 2017)
This bijou property has way less Cabernet Sauvignon in its blend than its more famous First Growth neighbour, but this certainly doesn’t lack structure or ageing potential in 2015. Mint, dried herbs and dense damson and blackcurrant fruit are supported by a frame of tannin and extract. Impressive stuff. Drinking range: 2025 - 2035 Rating: 93 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (May 2016)
A Stéphane Derenoncourt wine. Dark crimson. Sweet and thick. Not really enough lift and drive. Not obviously a Graves. Too heavy. Drinking range: 2023 - 2035 Rating: 16 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2016)
The 2015 assemblage is 44% Cabernet Franc, 32% Merlot and 24% Cabernet Sauvignon. This is plush, quite savoury, the black-cherry fruit here really rather smoky and convincing. A beautifully textured style on the palate, plush but nicely formed, with a tense frame beneath the polished and perfumed black cherry and black plum fruit. A lovely ripe poise to the tannins, with a fresh acid backbone giving it lift. This is a really impressive, quite imposing wine, with savoury depths and a long, warming, tannin-rich finish. Rating: 17-18/20 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2016)
The highest proportion of Cabernet Franc on the Left Bank at 45%, with just over 1ha of ungrafted vines more than 80 years old. Additional 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot. Light touch and great concentration for the future. There’s body, movement and energy to the dark cassis fruit, 70% aged in new oak, 30% in clay amphora. Stéphane Derenoncourt oversees an increasing move to biodynamic farming. One of the best ever wines produced here; an estate to watch. 3.7pH, 14.1%abv. Drinking range: 2023 - 2038 Rating: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Les Carmes Haut Brion is a blend of 30% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Franc and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon that was cropped at 25 hl/ha between 24 September and 11 October. This vintage includes around 45% whole cluster fruit and it went through a four-week ferment with just one pump-over and one pigeage, using a bladder inside the tank to submerge the cap (like an infusion tea). It is aged 10% in clay amphora and 90% in oak barrels, which includes 20% in Stockinger barrels, around 60% new wood. The alcohol degree is 14% and a pH of 3.7. "This vintage is very sensual because of the softness of tannin. I think it is very typical of Pessac," ex-Chapoutier winemaker Guillaume Pouthier told me. The nascent wine is inky purple in color. The nose is very closed and demands a lot of coaxing from the glass, reluctantly giving up black cherries, cassis and iodine scents. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannin, extremely pure, hints of black olive and Japanese nori infusing the black fruit. It has a very fine structure with good grip on the finish. The Cabernet Franc comes through strongly here, defining the start and finish and in some ways, it needs the Merlot to become more expressive to "fill in the gaps." Of course, that is precisely what élevage is for. This is an intriguing Pessac-Léognan that reminds me of Pomerol (Lafleur perhaps?). Difficult to judge now, I look forward to retasting this once in bottle, because it may well deserve a higher score. Drinking range: 2025 - 2050 Rating: 92-94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
Once again, Les Carmes Haut-Brion stakes its place as one of the most distinctive wines being made in Bordeaux. The 2015 exudes richness, power and intensity. Layers of dark red stone fruit, cedar, tobacco, smoke and pomegranate build as the wine shows off its voluptuous personality. Les Carmes Haut-Brion stands out for many reasons, including its high percentage of Cabernet Franc, which is unusual in Pessac. In 2015, winemaker Guillaume Poutier also added a dollop of whole clusters to give the wine more aromatic lift. The use of whole clusters is of course quite common in Burgundy and the Rhône (were Poutier formerly made the wines at Chapoutier), but is very rarely seen in Bordeaux. This full-throttle Pessac will drink well for decades, but it also needs time to shed some of its considerable baby fat. The blend is 44% Cabernet Franc, 32% Merlot and 24% Cabernet Sauvignon. Simon Blanchard is the consulting winemaker. Tasted three times. Rating: 90-93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
Deliciously pure and velvety, with plum and blackberry sauce notes gliding along, enhanced by black tea and anise accents. Seductive in feel. Rating: 92—95 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2016)
This shows incredible texture with the finest velvet mouthfeel. Super character of chocolate, walnut and orange peel. Great length and subtlety. Lots of whole berry fermentation and maceration gives the wine grace and fruit. Then it kicks in. Great power and structure at the end. Very unique. 45% cabernet franc, 25% cabernet sauvignon and 30% merlot. 30,000 bottles made. Rating: 96-97 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Mar 2016)
Château Les Carmes Haut Brion
The core of this property is a five hectare vineyard, the only one with an address in Bordeaux itself, Carmes Haut Brion (although neighbouring Haut Brion and co. in Pessac). The little vineyard of Carmes HB, with a dominance of Cabernet Franc - very rare in the area - is planted at a high density of ten thousand vines per hectare. It was once part of Haut Brion, but was given by its owner to an order of nuns, the 'Carmes Blanc', hence the name.
When it was bought by property developer Patrice Pichet in 2010, the vat room consisted of three huge vats, one for each grape variety. Since then the vineyard has been completely restructured, and a new winery has been built.
Pichet has also bought one half of a property called Le Thil, and renamed it the 'C de Carmes'. As such it is not a second wine, but an entirely different property. The other half was bought by Smith Haut Lafitte.
M Pichet has also built a rather beautiful new chai, designed by Philippe Starck and the architect Luc Arsène-Henry, which resembles a cross between a submarine and a dreadnought battleship.
the winemaker/general manager is Guillaume Pouthier, who previously worked at Chapoutier in the Rhone, and he has brought with him the technique of using up to half whole bunch fermentation, creating layers the destemmed and whole bunch fruit in the vats. They also age part of the wine in amphorae. This is a very, very slick team and the property has been building a huge and well-deserved reputation over the last fifteen years.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.