- CRITICAL REVIEWS
- WINEMAKER NOTES
Jeb Dunnuck
Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Vinous
2006 Chateau Haut-Brion, Pessac-Leognan, France
Elegance would be the word that best describes this wine.
Its color is a very deep red. The nose, at first reserved, opens up softly and slowly.
Notes of minerals are followed by red berries,
then an earthy whiff dominated by an aroma of fresh ground coffee beans.
Before you know it the wine charms you with all of its incredible complexity.
The mouth is silky. The treatment of this vintage’s special
tannins renders them astonishingly suave.
Their freshness carries them along eventually
towards an unending length on the palate.
One will without a doubt need great patience to await the future when one can
truly profit from the potential of this great vintage of Château Haut-Brion.
Elegant and complex, Château Haut-Brion red presents mineral aromas and a unique complexity. Its strength lays in the finish, which is surprisingly long. This aromatic persistence is due to its very noble origins.
THE CLIMATE: The 2006 vintage is the fruit of a very contrasted climate. During that year, the environmental conditions were changing in a very unusual manner, passing from one extreme to another, throughout the entire year. Fortunately, spring and summer were both in general hot and dry. One hundred seasonal workers laboring day after day for three full months allowed winemaker to wait patiently for the absolute peak of each variety of grape.
HISTORY: Jean de Pontac began constituting the Haut Brion vineyard, in the Graves region, in 1525. His descendants went on to produce “New French Claret”, the precursor of today’s great red wines. Their efforts enabled Arnaud III de Pontac to sell his wine under the estate’s name as early as 1660. It gained a fine reputation and enormous success in London. The first of the Bordeaux great growths was born!
Haut-Brion’s history has been marked by many famous men: Count Joseph de Fumel (Field Marshal, Governor of the Province of Guyenne, and Mayor of Bordeaux), Talleyrand (Foreign Minister of Napoleon I, Emperor of France) and, more recently, C. Douglas Dillon (American ambassador to France and US Secretary of the Treasury during the Kennedy administration).
In 1961, Haut-Brion was the first of the great growths to use stainless steel fermentation vats, and continues to be in the forefront of innovation thanks to the meticulous selection of the ideal clones for each grape variety used at the estate.
Through the centuries, the owners and managers of Haut-Brion have been obsessed with perpetuating the château’s reputation for quality.
Classified a First Growth in 1855, Haut-Brion has done everything possible ever since then to maintain its standing.
Harvest Dates From September 7th to 29th
New barrels 81%
Alcohol 14,5%
Bottling date From June 25th to July 3rd 2008
Rouge : Merlot Noir : 57%
Cabernet Sauvignon : 41%
Cabernet Franc : 2%
Rouge : 8500 à 10200 caisses 2006 Chateau Haut-Brion