Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
On the one hand fairly polished, but in the other a wine of real richness and considerable weight, Carbonnieux speaks straight to what is best in the vintage and delivers plenty of well-ripened fruit within a balanced, classically claret-like frame. It may finish a bit of the astringent side at the moment, but it never dries out under the weight of its tannin, and its deep, long-lasting flavors show the kind of fruity buoyancy to make six to eight years of cellaring a risk-free proposition.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Surprisingly reminiscent of a Burgundy grand cru such as Corton, this 2005 Pessac-Leognan offers a dark ruby hue as well as beautifully sweet, leafy, black cherry, and smoky aromas intermixed with hints of oak and earth. Not a blockbuster, it is a wine of finesse, delicacy, and purity with lovely balance, good acidity, ripe tannin, and a sweetness that permeates the flavors as well as the tannic structure. It should be drinkable at a relatively young age. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2025.
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Wine Enthusiast
A soft but vivid wine, with spice, tannins and acidity over opulently ripe fruit. It is rounded, a wine that is likely to develop well over the next 5–6 years. Impressively drinkable.
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.