| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pessac-Léognan |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
This small (7.82 hectare) property is planted with 35% Merlot , 44% Cabernet Franc (the Bouchet clone as found at Lafleur) and 21% Cabernet Sauvignon. It has a stunning new winery designed by Philippe Starck. This is the closest vineyard to the city of Bordeaux and is a "clos" - surrounded by a stone wall as in Burgundy. Consequently they never suffer frost here and bud burst and flowering are regularly ahead of everyone else. Winemaker Guillaume Pouthier previously worked at Chapoutier in the Rhône, and regularly uses up to half whole bunch fermentation. This is currently one of Bordeaux's hottest properties and when we said to Guillaume that the style reminded us of Jamet Côte Rôtie he understood that this was high praise indeed from Farr Vintners! There was huge praise and massive scores from the critics for the 2019 and 2020 vintages, the 2021 came in the top three at the annual "Southwold Group" tasting and the 2022 received a perfect 100 point rating in the Wine Advocate. Les Carmes Haut Brion is rapidly becoming a superstar! Make no mistake, this unique château is producing wines of first growth quality which currently sell for a fraction of the price. This is a property to watch and a wine to buy.
In 2025, the crop was picked from September 7th to 19th. There was 65% whole bunch used which has helped keep the alcohol down to a modest 13% (the grapes were picked at a potential 14.1 ABV). It is 54% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot. It is being aged in 70% new oak, 19% in 18 hl foudres and 11% in amphora. No pump-overs or pigeage. Guillaume told us that "this has the texture of the 2022 with the freshness of a cooler vintage". Another unique wine that tastes like nothing else in Bordeaux.
The 2025 Les Carmes Haut-Brion comes from clay-limestone soils and was picked from September 7 to 19, with a high level of Cabernet Franc (54%) and lower Merlot (17%). This vintage has 65% whole cluster, similar to 2022, raised in 70% new oak barrels, 19% in 18hl foudres and 11% amphoras. This takes time to open on the nose: blacker, darker fruit than the Le C, black plum and touches of iris flower. Very pure, very well defined. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chalky tannins on the entry, crunchy in the mouth, black fruit interlaced with Earl Grey, subtle ash-like notes. Linear towards the finish but very sustained in the mouth, there is plenty of energy in this Les Carmes-Haut-Brion and it should age with style and grace. More sapidity on the finish than the Dead Sea. 13.1% alcohol. Drinking Window 2032 - 2060
This year's Carmes is another excellent effort - it brings together the property's idiosyncratic style since Guillaume Pouthier's arrival with a clear sense of place. Notably deep in colour, the nose has real focus with dark cherry and fresh blackcurrant, pressed dried flowers and salted plum. The palate is absolutely delicious, already moreish and very appetising. This is a wine that is just as much about its harmony as its style - the acids are vibrant and line the ripe, dark fruit, lifting it into floral notes. There is a saltiness, a herbal complexity and just a touch of wood spice, there is no doubting the complexity here - but it all knits together so well that you just want to drink it already. Energetic and very long with a tightened focus on the finish, this is another brilliant wine from an estate at the very top of its game.
The 2025 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a blend of 54% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot, one of the highest proportions of Cabernet Franc at the estate and comparable to 2016. It was vinified with 65% whole clusters and matured in 70% new oak. It reveals a complex, harmonious bouquet of pomegranate, iris and peony, intertwined with cassis, mulberries and dark berries. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and structured, it’s deep and layered, its concentrated core of fruit framed by velvety structuring tannins, concluding with a long, mineral-inflected finish. Combining tension with an ethereal profile, it delivers remarkable clarity, freshness and elegance. While slightly more overtly structured at this stage than the prodigious 2022, it remains impeccably balanced.
The precision is so seductive and intellectual, with aromas of fresh flowers, iron, graphite, cedar, blood oranges and black fruit. It's medium-bodied with a compact palate of intense tannins that melt into the wine. Rather weightless in nature. It kicks in at the end with incredible intensity and focus. 13% alcohol. 65% whole cluster. 54% cabernet franc, 29% cabernet sauvignon and 17% merlot, mostly co-fermented.
I was a little nervous to be honest about Carmes Haut-Brion, worried that this would be too sliced-through with steel acidity this year with the high Cabernet Franc, but I was worrying unnecessarily. It's totally beautiful, sleek, grilled campfire, a ton of momentum and there is a spherical feel through the mid palate, expanding and deepening the fruit flavours. High floral as you would expect, a crush of peony, iris, violet right on the first nose, chalky and slate edge to the tannins, full of energy, 14%abv at picking then whole cluster brought it down to 13%, 3.6ph, 65% whole bunch during fermentation. 38hl/h yield (compared to 24hl/ha yield last year after selection), 70% new oak. 3.59 pH. Harvest September 7 to 19, this is highest levels of Cabernet Franc to date. 2035-2055.
The 2025 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a huge, powerful wine that is going to need many years to come into its own. Dark red/purplish fruit, lavender, incense, melted road tar and licorice make a bold entrance. Fertility in the Merlots was low. As a result, the 2025 has the highest amount of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon ever, 83% in total as opposed to the more typical 70% or so. Whole clusters, always a part of the approach here, are 65%. Time on skins was 45 days at 27°C (80.6°F) compared to the 35 days at 30°C (86°F) that is more typical. Readers will find an especially deep, potent Carmes, a wine that will need the better part of a decade to shed some of its considerable baby fat. It's a telling example of the vintage, with 1% less alcohol than in most recent years. Today the 2025 is a mere infant. It's another exceptional wine from Technical Director Guillaume Pouthier and his team. 2033-2075.
