1966 | Château Haut-Brion | Pessac-Leognan

Closed at first, the 1966 then opens with those disarming lanolin and wax resin scents, albeit without the delineation of previous bottles. The palate offers notes of dried pineapple, quite saline in the mouth, with strong and powerful honeyed notes towards the finish.

Reviews:

• Vinous: Having tasted the 1966 Laville Haut-Brion three times now, I know it can be an outstanding Pessac-Léognan. This was not in the same class as the bottle tasted back in 2015, although it still shows its class. Closed at first, the 1966 then opens with those disarming lanolin and wax resin scents, albeit without the delineation of previous bottles. The palate offers notes of dried pineapple, quite saline in the mouth, with strong and powerful honeyed notes towards the finish. This certainly improved in the glass, gaining more precision and mineralité. Superb. Tasted at a private dinner with a private collector in Tokyo.

• John Gilman: This was paired up with the ’66 La Mission Haut Brion, and it was the slightly less impressive bottle of the two for the first hours it was in the glass. However, it continued to grow and gain depth as the evening wore on, and it was clearly the superior of the two wines by the time it had fully unfolded. The nose is classic HB, offering up notes of roasted cassis, plums, cigar ash, black truffles, Graves earth, and a vague topnote redolent of violets. On the palate the wine is ultimately medium-full (having put on weight as it opened up), with excellent focus and balance, and fine length and grip on the polished and complex finish. I used to think that the ’66 was a bit more of the red fruity and brick dust-like side of Haut Brion, but the last several bottles that I have tasted have moved decisively over to the black fruity side of the ledger.

Producer Information

Château Haut-Brion is the oldest of Bordeaux's five first growths, and one of the most famous wines in the world. Located in Pessac-Léognan, south of the city of Bordeaux, the château is rather far removed from its counterparts, all of which are found in the Médoc. Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild and Latour are all in Pauillac, while Château Margaux is – unsurprisingly – in Margaux. The property is in the northern Graves on the outskirts of Bordeaux, and is now surrounded by encroaching buildings and roads. It is also flanked by La Mission Haut-Brion, which was bought by Haut-Brion's owners in the early 1980s. The majority of the estate's 51 hectares (126 acres) of vineyard is planted to red varieties with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot covering 48 hectares (118 acres) while three hectares (7.5 acres) are given over to Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. The Haut-Brion cuvée tends to have more Merlot than the wines from the Medoc, with Cabernet Sauvignon in more of a supporting role (this is reflected in the vineyard). As such, Haut-Brion is more rounded and softer than other Left Bank wines. The château describes the wine as having an empyreumatic (charred organic matter) bouquet. The château's second wine has been known as La Clarence de Haut-Brion since 2007.

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