Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Big and juicy red with lots of fruit and tannins yet it’s not overdone. Full-bodied, chewy and intense. Lots of potential here. Better than the 2015? Rating: 94-95
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Wine Enthusiast
Packed with young tannins, this wine shows the structure of the vintage as well as its fresh and perfumed fruit. The combination will develop to produce a restrained and elegant wine. Drink from 2025.
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Decanter
A carefully constructed frame makes this a little subdued at this early stage, taking its time to show those subtle, floral-edged and rather lovely blackberry and redcurrant flavours. It's a good wine with impact and personality, and tannins that take hold halfway through, keeping things in place and suggesting plenty of ageing potential. Elegant and attractive.
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Wine Spectator
Well-built, with a core of dense plum paste, raspberry reduction and melted red licorice notes framed by roasted apple wood accents and backed by juicy, brambly grip on the finish. Youthfully vibrant and should cellar well in the midterm. Best from 2021 through 2031.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Notes of red and black currants, truffles, smoked earth, and graphite emerge from the 2016 Château Carbonnieux. Medium-bodied, ripe, with present tannins and good acidity, it has an old-school vibe and is classic Graves. Drink it over the coming 10-15 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Carbonnieux reveals warm black and red plums, blackcurrants and cigar box scents with a waft of crushed rocks. Medium-bodied, fine-grained and with great freshness, it delivers a minerally finish.
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.