| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Graves |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Bahans Haut Brion
The 1989 Bahans Haut-Brion is so good that one wonders why Haut-Brion bothered to produce a second wine in this vintage. More immediate than Haut-Brion itself, the Bahans bursts from the glass with aromas of roasted black fruit, burning embers, Cuban cigar and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, supple and fleshy, it's charming and expressive, with melting tannins, ripe acids and a long sweet-savory finish. Today, Bahans Haut-Brion is showing better than all the Médoc first growths. 1999 - 2030
I am amazed by just how delicious the 1989 Bahns Haut-Brion continues to be. Although it is approaching full maturity, it reveals no signs of amber. The 1989 is a textbook Graves in its sweet, black currant, tobacco, roasted-herb nose. Medium to full-bodied, with succulent texture, rich, fleshy flavors, and low acidity, it is a pure, beautifully made wine. It should continue to drink well for 5-8 years. Last tasted, 11/96.
While I have not drunk a bottle of the brilliant 1989 Château Haut-Brion since the Hart Davis Hart tasting back in 2012, their second label of Bahans Haut-Brion is simply outstanding in the 1989 vintage as well. The bouquet is deep and complex, offering up a blend of roasted cassis, charred earth, cigar ash, lovely, tobacco leaf elements and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, complex and beautifully resolved today, with a plush core of fruit, fine focus and grip, moderate tannins and a long, soil-driven and very well-balanced finish. This remains the single finest vintage of Bahans I have ever had the pleasure to taste.
The four finest second wines (wines made from declassified first-growth cuvees) I have ever tasted are the 1982 and 1990 Forts de Latour, 1989 Bahans-Haut-Brion, and 1995 Pavillon de Chateau Margaux. I am amazed by just how delicious the 1989 Bahans-Haut-Brion continues to be. Although it is approaching full maturity, it reveals no signs of amber. The 1989 is a textbook Graves in its sweet, blackcurrant, tobacco, roasted herb-scented nose. Medium to full-bodied, with succulent texture, rich, fleshy flavors, and low acidity, it is a pure, beautifully made wine. It should continue to drink well for 5-8 years.
