CHÂTEAU LES CARMES HAUT BRION
2020 Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan
| Grapes | Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Merlot |
| Colour | Red |
| Origin | France, Bordeaux |
| Village | Pessac-Léognan |
| Classification | Cru Classé |
| ABV | 13% |
Market Insight: One of the few Chateau to not really change their price from 2018 to 2019, and why should they? With the momentum Carmes has, it appears it will be like a rolling stone, or perhaps even snowball. The 2019 is now £525/6 and will doubtless continue to creep up. L&S (May 2021)
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Or, check the RELATED PRODUCTS below for different vintages or wines of a similar style.
Gorgeous aromas of crushed berries with orange peel. Fresh spices. Flowers. Salty. Full and so bright and vivid, with an elegance and beauty at the beginning and then it goes on and on. You see the intense fine tannins at the end. Dusty and bright. Unique wine. 55% whole cluster. 80% new wood, 10% amphora, and 10% foudra. Rating: 98 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2023)
The 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a total stunner. For the first time I can remember, Les Carmes Haut-Brion marries all of its elements so well that nothing stands out. In the past, the high percentage of Franc and/or the whole clusters were evident. The 2020 is the first modern vintage in which all the elements are so well balanced. Dark red/purplish fruit, rose petal, mint, lavender, dried herbs and incense all build in a ravishing Pessac-Léognan that will take your breath away. The 2020 is 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot, picked between September 14 to 26, which is early here. Whole cluster was 55%. Vinification took place over five weeks, using very gentle extraction, with no pumpovers or punchdowns. Aging was 80% new oak, 11% 18hL foudres and 9% amphorae. In tasting, the 2020 is simply magnificent. There are no soloists, just the most exceptionally vivid, breathtaking orchestra imaginable. The 2020 is a masterpiece from Technical Director Guillaume Pouthier and his team. Don't miss it! Drinking range: 2030 - 2070 Rating: 100 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
Inky plum colour, violet and peony aromatics followed up by orange zest and pencil lead on the opening beats. Just so much depth, quality and characte, chalky tannins are softening just enough to show the form of the fruit bneath, giving a sense of architecture and form. Sculpted blue and black fruits appear as things expand through the mid palate, with crushed mint leaf and mouthwatering oyster shell on the finish. The flavours evolve and the character emerges the longer you linger over this glass, and it's an excellent vintage of Carmes, with sculpted delicous fruits. 3.58ph, 55% whole cluster, 80% new oak, 10% foudres, 10% amphora for ageing. Drinking range: 2028 - 2048 Rating: 97 Jane Anson, Decanter (Feb 2023)
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.
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RELATED PRODUCTS
2019 LE C DES CARMES HAUT BRION Pessac-Léognan
Bordeaux France 13% Red
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot.
A blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot, the 2019 Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion was made with 28% whole-bunch fermentation and has a pH of 3.7. It rolls effortlessly out of the glass with open sce...(read more)
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent
2009 CHÂTEAU HAUT BAILLY Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan
Bordeaux France 13.5% Red
.
Dark crimson to black. Good nose of fresh dark fruit with hints of smoke and spice. Entry is crisp and suave, an immediate (and continued) sense of real vineyard balance. Good concentration and density through the mid-pa...(read more)
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