Haut Brion 2012

The wine in this vintage

A difficult year, 2012 brought a cold, wet spring, a dry summer and a rainy autumn; yet Merlot did very well, and Pessac-Léognan, with its early ripening, was among the most successful areas of the Left Bank. Haut-Brion 2012 is indeed one of the most convincing wines of the vintage: plum, black cherry, tobacco, cedar, damp earth, spice and a touch of truffle on an elegant, deep palate with fine tannins. Jancis Robinson rated it 18/20 and Wine Enthusiast 97 points. It is still a young wine in full evolution: it should be given a few more years, when it will fully reveal its complexity.

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

• 97 Wine Enthusiast
• 96 Robert Parker
• 95 Wine Spectator
• 18/20 Jancis Robinson

Technical details

Producer

Château Haut Brion

Region

Bordeaux

Country

Francia

Type

Rosso

Vintage

2012

When to drink

Not yet at its peak

Critics' average

96/100

Sizes

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

eWibe code

0200112