2017 | Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion | Pessac-Leognan 18L

Aromas of graphite and spiced wood here. The fruit is nicely ripe, in the redder end of the berry spectrum. The palate has good depth and weight. Quite fine, fresh tannins carry plenty of red-plum flavor.

Reviews:

• Vinous: One of the real highlights of the vintage, the 2017 Les Carmes Haut-Brion possesses off the charts aromatic intensity and tremendous depth. An exotic mélange of sweet tobacco, menthol, rose petal, licorice, dried herbs and sweet dark fruit builds in a wine endowed with extraordinary beauty. Energetic and vibrant to the core, Les Carmes Haut-Brion was magnificent on the three occasions I have tasted it so far. Don't miss it.

• Jeb Dunnuck: Offering an Haut-Brion-like level of purity and precision, the 2017 Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion (41% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot, and 29% Cabernet Sauvignon) sports a vivid purple color as well as perfumed notes of blueberries, blackberries, unsmoked tobacco, crushed violets, and spring flowers. It’s not a blockbuster in the mold of the 2015 or 2016 (or 2018), but it has medium to full body, a beautiful elegance and purity, notable minerality, and an exceptional finish. It opens up with time in the glass, and I was able to follow a bottle for 3 days without it ever showing a hint of oxidation. Give bottles 4-5 years of bottle age and enjoy over the following 30 years or more. Guillaume Pouthier and consultant Stephane Derenoncourt have unquestionably raised the quality from this estate, and this 2017 ranks with the gems of Pessac as well as all of Bordeaux.

Producer Information

Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a Bordeaux estate that was once part of the famed First Growth Château Haut-Brion. Situated in Pessac-Léognan, in the southwestern outskirts of Bordeaux town and on the "left bank" of the Garonne river, the vineyards and wines are Merlot and Cabernet Franc dominant with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon – an uncommon ratio for the commune. Located in the heart of the oldest part of Bordeaux, it is the only château located within the bounaries of Bordeaux and therefore, is one of the last enclosed urban vineyards of the region. In the 16th Century, Jean de Pontac owned the Haut-Brion property. The historically much larger grounds encompassed the estates of the modern Pessac-Léognan châteaux Haut-Brion, La Mission Haut-Brion, Laville Haut-Brion, La Tour Haut-Brion and Les Carmes Haut-Brion. The Les Carmes property was created when Pontac donated a mill and its surrounding property to a mission of the Carmelite Order in 1584. The Carmelites owned and tended the property for two centuries, recognized in the modern château's name of Les Carmes. After the French Revolution, the estate was run by the Chantecaille-Furt family for generations. In 2010, Les Carmes was bought by Groupe Pichet, a Bordeaux real estate company, for roughly US$25 million – a record-breaking price for the region at the time at more than US$5m per hectare. Under new ownership the property has been expanded significantly, from 4.7 to 29.6 hectares (12 to 73 acres), most of which is under vine. Planted almost evenly to Cabernet Franc and Merlot (39 and 41 percent, respectively), it has arguably the highest proportion of Cabernet Franc in any Pessac-Léognan vineyard. Soil types here are gravel dating from the Mindel glaciation on a clay-limestone bedrock. The estate produces a second wine, formerly called Clos de Carmes, now titled Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion. Prior to bottling, the wines are barrel-aged for 18 to 24 months in up to 30 percent new french oak. The estate employs famed Bordeaux winemaker Stéphane Derenoncourt as a consultant.

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