| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pessac-Léognan |
| Colour | White |
| Type | Still |
View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Haut Brion
Easily the top wine of Pessac-Léognan, the 2012 from Haut-Brion has extraordinary flesh and intensity, with an unctuousness and thickness that is almost hard to believe for a dry white wine. The high proportion of Semillon in this blend has given the wine an almost liquid mandarin orange note intermixed with caramelized citrus, honeysuckle, fig and crushed rock. This absolutely profound dry white wine is full-bodied and capable of lasting 40-50 years. Drink 2015-2065.
Tasted blind at the Southwold 2012 tasting. The 2012 Haut-Brion Blanc has an entrancing bouquet of honeysuckle, fresh pear and greengage that is beautifully defined and seamlessly enmeshed with the oak. The palate is well balanced with just a patina of new oak, smooth and harmonious, fine mineralité here with a spicy finish that leaves the tongue tingling. This is very well crafted and it will just get better and better. Yes, my drinking window does advise ten years in bottle, since in my experience only this and the late Laville Haut-Brion age so magnificently. Therefore, that score may well rise in the future if I am ever afforded a chance to re-taste this superb white Bordeaux. Tasted January 2016.
This is super subtle and dense yet so complex and beautiful for the great white of Haut-Brion. It's like a tightly wound ball of cashmere. The texture certainly is impressive. The aromas and flavors of dried fruits with papaya and passion fruit are rich yet very refined. A wine about precise contrasts.
55% Sauvignon Blanc, 45% Sémillon. Bright greenish greyish. Very fine and sleek and gorgeous. As Steven Spurrier remarks at my side, this is Chevalier to La Mission Blanc's Bâtard-Montrachet. Minerals and vibrato. So appetising.
Haut-Brion's white is not for the faint-hearted. It's a rich, creamy dollop of a wine with
masses of flavour and power. But there's good acidity and flavours of citrus, pear and pink
grapefruit beneath the tropical notes. The oak is subtly woven into the blend, with attractive
vanilla spice and a touch of reduction. The concentration of this wine is impressive.
Drink: 2013-22
A prodigious blend of 55% Sauvignon Blanc and 45% Semillon, the 2012 Haut-Brion blanc is the Montrachet of Bordeaux. Incredible notes of crushed rocks, spring flowers, lemon butter, tangerine oil, honeysuckle and candle wax soar from the glass of this full-bodied white. It totally hides any evidence of being aged in 100% new oak. Sadly, there are fewer than 800 cases of this fabulous Pessac-Leognan. It should age well for a half century. Bravo!
The Haut Brion Blanc is a blend of 45% Semillon and 55% Sauvignon Blanc, picked between 5th to the 14th September. It has a lifted gooseberry, chalk dust and bruised apple bouquet that opens beautifully with time. The palate is lively on the entry like La Mission although I am not quite so sure it has the same complexity. It is beautifully balanced though and with a lovely waxy texture towards the finish courtesy of the Semillon. Tasted April 2013.
