2021 Haut Brion

Tasted blind. Headily sweet on the nose. A bit tight and tough. Still quite youthful but it lacks charm and is decidedly chewy on the rather hot end. (JR)

This is beautifully crafted and very perfumed, with ultra-fine tannins and vivid dark fruit such as blackcurrants, as well as dark chocolate, hazelnuts and hints of forest floor, mushrooms, tar, matchstick and oyster shells. Drink or hold.

In comparison to its sibling La Mission Haut-Brion, the 2021 Château Haut-Brion is firmer and much more masculine, with an impressive, almost austere style in its smoky red and black fruits, salted meats, graphite, tobacco, and crushed stone-driven aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and elegant on the palate, it picks up density and suppleness with time in the glass and has plenty of tannins, a seamless, layered mouthfeel, and a great finish. It's clearly in the fresher, elegant style of the vintage, yet this brings a serious, age-worthy style that will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and evolve and drink brilliantly over the following two decades. The blend is 50.3% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11.7% Cabernet Franc, hitting 13.8% alcohol, with the elevage in 73% new French oak.