1986 | Château Haut-Bages Libéral | Pauillac

An outstanding Left Bank offering with blackcurrant and dark cherry notes accompanied by notes of tobacco leaf and smoky new wood, structured by beautiful tannin structure.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The percentage of new oak casks used at Haut-Bages-Liberal was increased and the selection process tightened, and the result in 1986 is their finest wine since the 1975, and certainly one of the best wines ever made at the property. Dark ruby/purple, with an expansive bouquet of plums, sweet toasty oak, and black currants, this dense, full-bodied, chewy wine has a suppleness that will allow it to be drunk in the early nineties. But it also has the balance, richness, and tannin content to age well for at least another 20 years.

• Wine Spectator: Remarkably intense and lean with spicy cedar, red cherry, plum and currant flavors that are crisp, ripe and rich. Has the tannic structure for long aging.

Producer Information

Château Haut-Bages Libéral is a certified organic and biodynamic Bordeaux producer in the Pauillac appellation, making Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant red wine. It is one of the 18 estates deemed a Fifth Growth in the 1855 classification of the Médoc and Graves. The modern estate is has 30 hectares (74 acres) of vineyards. These are planted roughly with around 75 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 25 percent Merlot. Parcels are located in several locations within Pauillac. The largest is situated next to Château Latour, with a smaller section by the winery and chateau, down the road next to Château Pichon Lalande. Both lie relatively close to the Gironde estuary, while the third plot lies further inland near Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste. Soils are mainly deep gravel over a limestone base. Organic and Biodynamic certification was achieved in 2019. The wine is made and 16 stainless steel tanks and 16 cement vats all with temperature control. Volumes range from 4700 to 17,000 liters (approximately 1250 to 4500 US liquid gallons). From 2018 a 20 percent component of the wine has been aged in amphorae. The remainder is aged in French oak barrels, with 40 percent new wood, for 14 to 18 months. Besides its grand vin, Libéral makes a pair of second wines, La Chapelle de Bages and La Fleur de Haut-Bages Libéral. The third wine is Le Haut-Médoc de Haut-Bages Libéral. This can be 100 percent Merlot. The name references the site of the château on top of the small Bages plateau that falls between the communes Pauillac and Saint-Julien. It is also named for the Libéral family, négociants (wine brokers) who owned the property in the 18th Century, and helped establish the reputation that made it a classed growth. For a number of years the wines were made at neighboring Château Pontet-Canet when both properties were owned by the Cruse family. They owned Haut-Bages Libéral from 1960 to 1983. Then they sold Libéral to the Taillan Group headed by Jacques Merlaut. Merlaut's granddaughter Claire Villars-Lurton has owned and managed Haut-Bages Libéral, as well as Ferrière and La Gurgue (both in Margaux) since 2000. Together with her husband Gonzague Lurton's property Château Dufort-Vivens, they form the G&C Lurton group.

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