2015 CHÂTEAU LES CARMES HAUT BRION Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan, Lea & Sandeman

CHÂTEAU LES CARMES HAUT BRION

2019 Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan

Grapes Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Merlot
Colour Red
Origin France, Bordeaux
Village Pessac-Léognan
Classification Cru Classé
ABV 13%

Again a wine which no one has tried, but which everyone wants - except a few died in the wool traditionalists. But, modern as Guillaume Pouthier's wines are, there's a lively sense of balance and they really sing. L&S (Jun 2020)


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The 2019 Les Carmes Haut-Brion has a perfumed, quite floral bouquet with red cherries, sloes, blackcurrant and a touch of marmalade. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, and gentle grip. Quite structured with plenty of substance on the finish, just a touch of espresso lingering on the aftertaste. Distinctive, is a positive sense. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. Drinking range: 2026 - 2050 Rating: 95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)

The 2019 Les Carmes Haut-Brion contains 60% whole bunches, matured for 26 months in 82% new oak with 9% each of amphora and foudres. This has a beautifully-defined bouquet with pure Dorset plum, wild mint and incense aromas, just a hint of lavender in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with chiselled tannins, crisp acidity, tensile from start to finish with a long mineral, sapid aftertaste. It will vie with the 2016 for best recent vintage. Tasted at the Les Carmes Haut-Brion vertical at the château. Drinking range: 2026 - 2060 Rating: 95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Oct 2022)

Rippling violet and peony waves alongside creamy blueberry and raspberry fruits, this is a gorgeous 2019 that continues a strong run of vintages at the estate. Slate-textured, salt-licked stones, rosemary and saffron-edged, white truffle spice. Takes its time and stretches out through the palate, tingling and enticing. Technical director Guillaume Pouthier has created something here that stands on its own, with complexity and nuance. Give it a full five or six years before opening. 3.59ph. 60% stems, and once again you see the difference it makes not only in nuance and philosophy but also in the actual physical properties of the wine. Drinking range: 2027 - 2044 Rating: 97 Jane Anson, Decanter (Feb 2022)

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 'Clos des 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. We'd love to share a photo but it has been firmly embargoed until the unveiling date of the 28th of June 2016.

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. One to watch.

This wine isn't currently part of a mixed case, but you can always browse our full selection of mixed cases here.
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