Haut Brion 2010

The wine in this vintage

2010 is considered a monumental vintage: a dry summer with cool nights produced small, concentrated berries with high levels of tannin and acidity and a structure built to defy time. Haut-Brion 2010 combines that power with the estate's characteristic grace: blackcurrant, blueberry, plum, graphite, cedar, tobacco and smoky notes open onto a dense, compact palate with a tight weave and a very long finish. Wine Spectator gave it 99 points, as did Robert Parker. It is a wine of great depth, still closed and far from maturity: those who wait patiently will be rewarded with a long and fascinating evolution.

The producer · Château Haut Brion

Château Haut-Brion is the oldest of Bordeaux's great châteaux and the only estate outside the Médoc included among the Premiers Grands Crus Classés in the 1855 classification. Its origins go back to the first half of the sixteenth century, when the de Pontac family made it one of the first estates to sell wine under the name of its own terroir: as early as the 1600s the English diarist Samuel Pepys praised its distinctive taste in London. Since 1935 it has belonged to the family of American banker Clarence Dillon and is now led by Prince Robert of Luxembourg, who also runs neighbouring La Mission Haut-Brion. The vineyard, in Pessac at the gates of the city, sits on deep gravel and enjoys a warmer microclimate that brings harvest forward. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in similar proportions, with some Cabernet Franc, yield wines of extraordinary elegance, with unmistakable smoky, earthy and tobacco notes, among the longest-lived in the world.

Critics' scores

• 99 Robert Parker
• 99 Wine Spectator
• 98 Wine Enthusiast
• 17.5/20 Jancis Robinson

Technical details

Producer

Château Haut Brion

Region

Bordeaux

Country

Francia

Type

Rosso

Vintage

2010

When to drink

Not yet at its peak

Critics' average

98.7/100

Sizes

75 cl, Magnum 150 cl, Case of 6 × 75 cl

eWibe code

0200110