LE CLARENCE DE HAUT BRION

2017 Pessac-Léognan Château Haut Brion

EN PRIMEUR

The blend is 55% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5,3% Cabernet Franc and 1,7% Petit Verdot. Haut Brion's second wine is very charming in 2017 - a smart - peppy blend that has lovely energy and a good, mid-weight of darker, riper berries and some morello cherry juice. Intensity grows in stature in the mouth - the lovely, tiny fine tannins build gently and add a satisfying bite - a tension and chew. A good and pleasing effort. Rating: 89-90 L&S (Apr 2018)

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The 2017 Le Clarence de Haut-Brion is laced with expressive dark red cherry, plum, rose petal and lavender. Pliant and inviting, yet also light on its feet, the Clarence captures all the freshness that is typical of the wines of this sector of Bordeaux in 2017. All the elements fall into place effortlessly. In many vintages, Le Clarence can offer a very good representation of the estate, but in 2017, the wine is a touch simple and lacking in structure relative to some recent editions. The blend is 55% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5,3% Cabernet Franc and 1,7% Petit Verdot. Rating: 89-91 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (May 2018)

The 2017 Le Clarence de Haut-Brion was picked from 31 August to 29 September, matured in 22% new oak. There is a little richness on the nose compared to the La Chapelle de la Mission, a touch more volume. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp acidity, lively and tensile with a precise and quite sustained and supple, almost pastille-like finish. Drinking range: 2021 - 2030 Rating: 89-91 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2018)

The 2017 Le Clarence de Haut-Brion is a blend of 55% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5.3% Cabernet Franc and 1.7% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it opens with aromas of red and black plums, black cherries and cinnamon over dried herbs, underbrush and tobacco nuances. The palate is medium-bodied with firm, grainy tannins and wonderful freshness, with lovely red fruit and an herbal lift on the finish. Rating: 89-91 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2018)

Leading off the two reds, the 2017 Le Clarence de Haut Brion is a bigger, rich wine compared to its La Mission Haut Brion counterpart. In 2017 it’s a blend of 55% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, all harvested between August 31 and September 29. Lots of cold fireplace, black fruits, and smoked earth notes emerge from the glass. It’s medium-bodied, has crunchy, vibrant fruit, building structure and plenty of length. It’s one of the few second wines that’s going to need short-term cellaring. Rating: 90-92 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (Apr 2018)

55% Merlot, 5.3% Cabernet Franc, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1.7% Petit Verdot. Deep cherry red. Smells sweeter and darker-fruited than the Chapelle de la Mission just tasted. Gentle dark fruit and light spice. Subtle but fruity on the nose. Firmer and more graphite-scented on the palate but with impressive fruit depth and generosity within a dry, fine-boned tannic structure. Fresh but not strident. Finely balanced and lovely persistence. Drinking range: 2024 - 2033 Rating: 17 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2018)

A fresh and bright red with currant, walnut and wet-earth character. Medium to full body, tight tannins and a fresh finish. Second wine of Haut-Brion is focused. Rating: 93-94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2018)

The second wine has a fairly similar blend to the grand vin, the most notable difference being the inclusion of 1.7% Petit Verdot alongside the 55% Merlot, 5.3% Cabernet Franc and 38% Cabernet Sauvignon. The fruit was picked on the same dates as the grand vin. There is a quite dusty and granular concentration to the nose, freshened up with a floral perfume, plus a little black violet, black olive and liquorice scent. A rather more tense style than La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion, more focused, with a shell of structure, carrying tense and desiccated cherry fruit, wrapped in a very fine oak jacket. The palate starts off quite textural and polished, with a cherry blossom and hedgerow fruit freshness. A sinewy style overall, wrapped up in dry but tightly grained tannins, quite prominent throughout, opening up to give a huge grip on the finish. A good second wine. Rating: 91-93 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2018)

1855 classification - Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Haut Brion is famously the only estate in Graves to have featured in the 1855 classification reflecting a long established reputation, even if, at the time, the crown was beginning to slip. During the 16th Century, Haut-Brion was briefly owned by Jean de Ségur of the Ségur family who at various times owned both Lafite and Latour. Jean de Pontac inherited Haut Brion as a wedding dowry in 1525 and, apart from a brief period during the French Revolution, his descendents owned the estate until 1801. The Pontacs were an interesting lot, including in their number a very pious Bishop, a politician, and François-Auguste Pontac who started a London inn called l'Enseigne de Pontac where Samuel Pepys enjoyed "a sort of French wine called Ho Bryan", finding it "hath a good and most particular taste". Jonathon Swift, however, thought the wine "dear at seven shillings a flagon" - 35p a bottle, if only! Haut Brion was the first Bordeaux wine known to have been imported into the USA when Thomas Jefferson had six cases shipped home to Virginia. Eventually, in the earlier years of the 19th Century, Haut Brion found its way into the hands of the Larrieu family. Preceding reputation was enough to get Haut Brion classified as a Premier Grand Cru Classé in 1855, and a string of copy cat estates appended "Haut Brion" to their names (a source of some litigation in the 1920's) but in reality the 19th and early 20th Centuries were not great times for the wines of Haut Brion. When the bank seized the assets of Milleret Larrieu after WWI, the estate fell into the hands of the Société des Glacières under who's unenlightened guidance much of the gardens were sold off the make way for expanding city of Bordeaux. They then offered Château Haut Brion to the City of Bordeaux, who turned it down, allowing American financier Clarence Dillon to realise his dream of owning a Bordeaux château, buying the estate in 1935. His descendents own Haut Brion to this day. The gravel soils of Haut Brion are planted with 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc for reds, and a more or less 50/50 split of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon for the whites. There are around 45ha under vine. Haut Brion were one of the first estates to ferment in stainless steel. After fermentation, red wines spend up to two years in oak, previoulsy 100% new for the grand vin but, now, more like 35%. The second wine of the estate was known for many years as Bahans Haut Brion, but was renamed recently as Le Clarence de Haut Brion in honour of Clarence Dillon.