Winemaker Notes
2011 is a great tribute to the Haut-Bailly terroir, expressed fully through the characteristics of this vintage. It is a classic nose of soft fresh fruits supported by a strong fine until tannic structure. This is a wine of real precision stamped with the seal of Haut-Bailly. It is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot and 2% Cabernet franc.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
As with the 2007, this 2011 is bursting with pleasure right now. Carefully controlled and elegant while still being juicy, allowing the tannins to tiptoe across the palate in that way Haut-Bailly does so well. Fine tannins, well-expressed cassis and blackberry fruits, with a curl of pencil lead and cool ash on the finish. The Spring of 2011 was the hottest and driest in 50 years, with only 78mm of rain falling between March and June, balanced out by a cool and rather wet July and August, and then a warm September allowing good ripening window but keeping this rather elegant savoury fruit frame. The harvest lasted from September 9 to 29. Drinking Window 2021 - 2040
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Wine Enthusiast
Packed with dense tannins and firm fruit, this is a big, powerful wine. It is initially austere, but with time it becomes more rounded, with layers of wood tannins and rich fruit.
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
James Suckling
Intense aromas of stones in the sun and dark fruits with hints of orange peel. Full to medium body, with ultra-fine and long tannins. A lovely line to this. Winery says its a baby 2000. 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc.
Barrel Sample: 92-93 Points -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
While the elegant, stylish 2011 Haut-Bailly does not possess the density and concentration of the three vintages that preceded it, this is still outstanding wine as well as a tribute to the impeccable work done by proprietor Robert Wilmers and his manager, Veronique Sanders. Classic red and black currant aromas interspersed with notions of wet stones/crushed rocks, tobacco leaf and spice box are followed by a medium-bodied, well-balanced, impressively pure wine built on finesse and understatement. This beauty is capable of drinking well young or over the next 15+ years.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 Points -
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2011 Château Haut-Bailly has tough shoes to fill following the 2009 and 2010, yet it's clearly an outstanding wine. More medium-bodied, focused, and firm, yet with a complex, layered style, it shows the tannins on the vintage, but the overall balance here is spot on and it has beautiful purity of fruit. It's not one to hide away in the cellar, but it will unquestionably evolve gracefully over the coming decade.
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Wine Spectator
Shows a grippy feel, with lots of briar, pastis and plum sauce notes rolled together and driving through the sappy finish. Well-embedded acidity pushes everything along, while a pure echo of fruit hangs through the finish. Should blossom with cellaring. Best from 2016 through 2028.
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.