Winemaker Notes
The hue is deep red, vividly strong in colour, showing varying purple glints. The first nose is subtle, very restrained and elegant, loyal to the identity of Haut-Brion. Then come floral scents, followed by hints of black fruit, cherry and even a touch of eucalyptus. The wine feels precise; it unfolds its structure, whose compactness is almost textured and extremely graceful. Fruity freshness mid-palate, enhanced by delicate tannins, contributes to an awakening of all the senses. The wine then continues to develop, spheric, omnipresent, with powerfulness and persistency that create an absolute explosion of flavours. Paradoxically, it is never-ending on the finish and the conclusion of this resonates as something so obvious: Haut-Brion is eternal.
Blend: 62% Merlot, 26.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11.8% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A Merlot-forward blend of 62% Merlot, 26.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11.8% Cabernet Franc aged in 60% new French oak, the 2025 Château Haut-Brion is slightly more dense and structured compared to its sibling, La Mission. Gorgeous black cherries, graphite, scorched earth, and smoke all define the bouquet, and on the palate it's remarkably pure, with polished, serious tannins, and incredible length. Its purity, concentration, and overall sense of class are riveting.
Barrel Sample: 97-100 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2025 Haut-Brion is, as usual, more reserved and austere at this stage than La Mission, unwinding in the glass to reveal notions of dark wild berries mingled with spices, pencil leaf and licorice. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and layered, it’s built around a multidimensional core of fruit framed by structuring yet well-integrated tannins, delivering a notably controlled expression of power and concluding with a long, perfumed, subtly ethereal finish. While still tightly knit at this stage, it possesses considerable depth—IPT (an alaytical measure of tannic concentration) levels exceeding 100, rarely observed—that is perfectly controlled and will require extended cellaring. Recent refinements in the estate’s approach, notably in viticulture, are translating into fruit of greater balance and freshness, even under the warm, dry conditions of 2025. It stands as one of the more impressive renditions of Haut-Brion in recent years.
Barrel Sample: 98-100 -
Vinous
The 2025 Haut-Brion was picked from September 1 (slightly later than La Mission) to September 18 at 29 hl/ha. Aged in 59% new oak, this has a very pure and elegant bouquet with ebullient brambly red fruit, crushed stone, potpourri and touches of Earl Grey. Wonderful delineation and a little more refined than, say, the 2020 or 2022. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, and there is more complexity here than La Mission, more depth and minéralité. Fresh and marine-tinged towards the finish that makes you want to come back. This year, the First Growth has put a bit of distance between itself and La Mission. –Neal Martin
Barrel Sample: 98-100 -
James Suckling
Haut-Brion delivers a red with great structure and length and superb intensity and power. It is a full-bodied red with character and depth, giving it endless length. Muscular yet polished and agile. Juicy at the end. 62% merlot, 26.2% cabernet sauvignon and 11.8% cabernet franc.
Barrel Sample: 98-99 -
Decanter
One of the wines of the vintage for me and a clear contender for a 100–point score in bottle. Sticky liquorice and blackcurrant fruit on the nose, dark and slightly heady with fragrant jasmine aspects. Bright, alive, glossy and so perfectly weighted on the palate – more streamlined than LMHB at this point but still with chew and bounce. Lovely vibrancy capturing the ripe fruit of the vintage with a crisp, tense and cool base of spiced raspberries, cherries and touches of cranberry. Stony but delicately leaving a soft gravel and salinity on the tongue. Delicious – this knocks it out of the park. Adore it! A yield of 26hl/ha.
Barrel Sample: 98
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
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.