LA CLARTÉ DE HAUT BRION

2019 Graves

EN PRIMEUR

The 2019 La Clarté de Haut-Brion has a bold and powerful nose, quite reduced at first and with a hefty dose of sulphur. The palate is likewise powerful and oaky, reductive with a nutty and smoky finish. This pales against the bottle poured at the château just after bottling. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. Rating: 0 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)

* 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 2019 La Clarté de Haut-Brion is every bit as compelling as it was last year. Today, as back then, what stands out most is the interplay of rich fruit and energy. Orchard fruit, lemon confit, white flowers, mint and white pepper all grace this super-expressive, racy white. La Clarté is obviously not as complex as its two siblings, the Blancs from Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, but it is absolutely exquisite. Drinking range: 2024 - 2034 Rating: 92 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2022)

The 2019 La Clarté de Haut-Brion Blanc has a straightforward bouquet of grapefruit, quince and light orange pith aromas, the oak nicely integrated. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity. A dab of lemongrass enlivens proceedings toward the finish. Fine. Drinking range: 2023 - 2030 Rating: 89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2022)

Clear Sauvignon led nose even with the high degree of Sémillon in the blend, 2019 was a warm year but Clarté has maintained a deliciously sappy and nuanced feeling. Touch of gunsmoke reduction on the nose, with lemongrass and dill freshness. They used a little more new oak than usual (45%) but it has been eaten by the acidities, and is felt only in the texture of the wine. Pulses of smoke and minerality pulse through the palate from beginning to end. 60hl/h yield, 45% new oak. Drinking range: 2022 - 2030 Rating: 92 Jane Anson, Decanter (Jan 2022)

The 2019 La Clarté de Haut-Brion is clear with green tints. This has a very tempting bouquet with subtle tropical fruit, passion fruit and even a touch of lychee, all very well defined, hints of orange blossom developing with time in the glass. The palate is well balanced with a slither of sour lemon on the entry and alerting the senses. Moderate depth, quite spicy relative to previous vintages with veins of stem ginger towards the finish. This is a very stylish La Clarté that should offer a decade of drinking pleasure. Drinking range: 2023 - 2033 Rating: 92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2020)

La Clarté de Haut-Brion is the second wine of both Haut-Brion Blanc and La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc, produced from the declassified selections from both estates. This vintage is a blend of 51.7% Sauvignon Blanc and 48.3% Semillon, harvested from the 29th of August to the 10th of September. The estimated label alcohol degree is 13.5%. The 2019 La Clarté de Haut-Brion needs just a little swirling and coaxing to begin to shake loose lovely scents of Golden Delicious apple, ripe peaches and lemongrass with nuances of allspice, white pepper and shaved almonds. The medium-bodied palate offers a great intensity of spiced stone fruit flavors along with a satiny texture and seamless freshness, finishing savory. Rating: 90-92 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Jun 2020)

Dense and thick with lots of dried-apple and peach character and hints of apricots. Full and round. Chewy at the end, but remains fresh. Rating: 93-94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2020)

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.

Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those on the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do contact our private client team via email or on 020 7018 0187.

Ordering

Prices are all in bond by the case size stated.

Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price is within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.

Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought-after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.

Confirmation

All orders will be confirmed by email and are binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of email confirmation. Pre-orders are not binding if the release price is above your upper price band.

Invoices are all raised at the in bond price (excluding any duty and VAT) which will become payable at the prevailing rates when the wines arrive in the UK, should you wish to take duty paid delivery.

Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We regret we cannot accept credit cards for en primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.

Delivery

  • Shipment to our bond (at 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 £500. Orders below this total will be charged an administration and handling fee of £16.50+ VAT when invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
  • Delivery of 2022 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2025. Delivery dates may vary as wines are shipped from Bordeaux at different times.

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). Immediate payment of invoices is then required by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option but please note that confirmed orders are still binding even if the final invoice has not yet been issued.

Please specify on your wishlist order form where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. If this is to a third-party bonded warehouse, please specify the relevant account details. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue a second invoice for duty and VAT at the prevailing rate when the wines are available for delivery.

Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.

One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the format you want. While most of our listings are for 75cl bottles, we can source wines in any format that is offered by the Château. Please note that format requests cannot be changed once wines have been invoiced. Additional charges for special formats do apply and are as follows:-

  • +£18.00 per case of 12 half-bottles
  • +£30.00 per case of 24 half-bottles
  • +£7.50 per case of 3 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
  • +£11.00 per case of 6 Magnums
  • +£45.00 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
  • +£60.00 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.

Storage Options:

Wines bought en primeur won't arrive in the UK until 2025. If you do not wish to take home delivery at that point, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our private client team for more information.