2021 LE C DES CARMES HAUT-BRION Pessac-Léognan Château Les Carmes Haut Brion, Lea & Sandeman

LE C DES CARMES HAUT-BRION

2021 Pessac-Léognan Château Les Carmes Haut Brion

IN STOCK
Grapes Cab Sauv, Merlot, Petit Verdot
Colour Red
Origin France, Bordeaux
Village Pessac-Léognan
ABV 13%

Fresh and racy, with beautiful cherries, dried orange peels, peppercorn and spices. It’s so vibrant and agile on the palate, with medium body and crunchy, lively tannins. Juicy and tense. Firm but very fine and silky in the end. 62% cabernet sauvignon, 36% merlot and 2% petit verdot. Already attractive, but better after a year or two. Rating: 94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2024)

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The 2021 Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion contains 22% whole-bunch (to be exact). It has a lovely bouquet with peony and light white flower scents percolating through the black fruit. This is fresh and cohesive. The palate is medium-bodied with a very saline entry, showing black olive mixed with blackberry and bilberry fruit. Finely structured toward the finish, this is an absolutely delicious Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion that will get even better with bottle age. Drinking range: 2026 - 2045 Rating: 92+ Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Nov 2023)

A blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot, Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion 2021 has spent two years in barrel and one year in concrete vat. Hence this is a vat sample that hasn't been bottled yet. It has a deep garnet-purple color and it storms out of the glass with powerful notes of cassis, black cherries, and tar, followed by hints of crushed rocks, bay leaves, and pencil lead. Medium-bodied, the palate is bright, lively, and impactful, featuring firm, fine-grained tannins and loads of red and black berry sparks, finishing minerally. It should age very gracefully! Drinking range: 2025 - 2039 Rating: 92 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent (Nov 2024)

Gentle extraction, smoked earth and coffe bean, with grippy salinity and juice. Touch of reduction right now but it opens to show great drinkability, capturing the parts of 2021 that make for an enjoyable, approachable and nuanced wine, with savoury blueberry and redcurrant fruits, and a wave of sage spice. Harvest September 30 to October 14, 3.55ph. 20% new oak, 8% amphoras, 20% whole grape. Ageing in 30hl oak vats, plus amphora for 24 months then 6 months in a concrete vats. First release coming in December 2024. Drinking range: 2024 - 2032 Rating: 92 Jane Anson, Decanter (Apr 2024)

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.

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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