Winemaker Notes
The wine is brilliant with the very attractive pale yellow color and very refined delicate nose with citrus overtones including the subtle aromas of spice and white flowers. It starts out very fresh and delicate on the palate as well with great complexity, pleasant fruitiness (citrus, quince) and mineral notes. This 2015 has a very fine balanced finish. The pure Sauvignon Blanc's elegance and finesse is revealed with fish, veal, and risotto.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Spice and citrus aromas make this wine immediately attractive. It offers ripe fruit and intense acidity along with layers of toast and spice. Its richness will carry through as it ages, and it will be best drunk from 2023.
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Decanter
Similar in style to the Château La Louvière although the oak is not quite as well integrated at this stage. The wine has full body, with juicy white peach aspects, so not quite as subtle at this stage as La Louviere, which I prefer. Give it two more years to come together. With time in glass, the wine leaves a greater impression of density and has a long finish. Drinking Window 2020 - 2030
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James Suckling
Pear drop and lemon rind aromas and flavors. Full body. Fruity and straightforward. Minerally undertone to this. Intense. Barrel Sample: 91-92 pts.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted at the Andre Lurton tasting in London. The 2015 Couhins-Lurton Blanc was impressive from barrel and now in bottle it continues to perform at a high level. There is great concentration on the nose with scents of honeysuckle, white flowers, a touch of marmalade and quince. The palate is quite rounded on the entry although a rein is kept on the richness by the acidity. There are veins of orange pith and a touch of spice toward the long and persistent finish. This is very fine, quintessential dry white Bordeaux.
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.