2018 | Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion | Pessac-Leognan

The essence of black fruit here, offering blackberry and brambleberry aromas with dried flowers and licorice. Crushed stones and some iodine, as well as nuts. Full-bodied palate that opens and delivers an encompassing mouth feel of fine, creamy tannins.

Reviews:

• Decanter: A beautiful nuance of salty caramel is clear even on the nose. On the palate, the concentration and focus is immediately clear, uplifted by touches of gentle salinity. There is really a sense of place and of being itself which I always love about this wine. It's closed of course, but with an unrolling of sappy black fruits, and a freshness that gives you confidence in its future. So much pleasure to be had here, with notes of chocolate, peony and liquorice. Extremely successful, as it was en primeur. 3.62pH. 53% whole-bunch fermentation. IPT95. Harvested 13-28 September. Ageing is mostly in large oak casks, 76% new, plus 9% aged in amphorae.

• Jeb Dunnuck: The 2018 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a rock star of a wine and is based on a unique blend of 37% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 29% Merlot that was brought up in 80% new French oak. Offering a deep ruby/purple color as well as a thrilling bouquet of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, chocolate, violets, damp earth, and truffle, it hits the palate with a full-bodied yet almost understated, building style that carries ripe, supple tannins, gorgeous amounts of smoky black fruits, and an endearing, layered, multi-dimensional texture that keeps you coming back to the glass. A dead ringer for a great vintage of Haut-Brion, it is far from unapproachable today yet needs 7-8 years of bottle age for the fireworks to develop and will have 50-years or more of longevity! Hats off to Guillaume Pouthier for a magical, seamless, singular beauty!

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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