Chateau Larrivet Haut-Brion Blanc 2005
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Wine Enthusiast
Attractive rosemary and thyme aromas lead to a very fresh wine with a herbal element. Excellent, with delicious fruit.
Barrel Sample: 90-92 Points -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted blind at the 2005 Southwold tasting, the 2005 Larrivet Haut Brion Blanc has a lovely resinous, lightly honeyed bouquet with hints of toffee apple and nutmeg with just a touch of reduction. The palate is well balanced with good depth, actually not that far in style from a mature Chardonnay, with a pleasing waxy finish. I remember this showing very well back in 2009 and several years later it remains a supremely well-crafted, complex dry white Bordeaux. Tasted February 2017.
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Wine Spectator
Rich and round with apple, lemon and toasted oak. Full-bodied, with good fruit and a medium finish. Solid wine. Barrel tasting: 89-91
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Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.