Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of cooked apples, lemons and stones. Full body, tangy acidity and a grapefruit aftertaste. Lively and fresh.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Carbonnieux Blanc has a detailed and vivacious bouquet offering attractive blackcurrant leaf and citrus aromas, hints of almond and white chocolate just tucked in nicely below the surface. The palate is well balanced with a slice of bitter lemon on the entry. This is a little more piercing in the mouth compared to its peers, as such, it would shine when partnered with shellfish or even hard cheese, rather than a white Pessac-Léognan to serve on its own. Still, a great job here this year.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is all citrus and herbal flavors from an estate noted for its pure white wines. It makes for a tight zesty wine with a chalky mineral texture. The fruits are developing to give a crisp wine that's full of fruit along with intense acidity. Drink from 2022.
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Wine Spectator
A ripe and friendly style, with creamed gooseberry and white peach flavors, lined with lemon curd notes and backed by a whiff of shortbread on the finish. Has a lovely verbena echo that lengthens the finish. Hard to lay off now, but this has the zip for a little bit of aging. Drink now through 2019.
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.