Winemaker Notes
Blend: 66% Cabernet Sauvignon and 34% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2014 Château Haut-Bailly is amazing. The wine entices with an almost opaque appearance and proceeds in serving up and traces of aromatic blue and black fruits, perfume, and flowers. The lasting finish is savory and delightful. One may be tempted to drink it sooner than later. Patience will have its rewards and yield a supremely delicious wine with a decade in the bottle. (Tasted: January 27, 2017, San Francisco, CA)
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James Suckling
A very well-made, modern wine with ripe cherry and cassis notes but rather discrete oak. The bright fruit and lively acidity balance the moderately dry tannins very well, and the finish is long and quite complex. Compacted. Needs time to open. Beautiful.
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Wine Enthusiast
Initial tight acidity in this crisp wine gives way to smooth rich black fruits. This already has a fine balance with its ripe juiciness and delicious red-berry flavors. It is going to develop into a very fine wine. Drink from 2024.
Cellar Selection -
Decanter
Lovely restrained black fruit and pencil shavings on the nose, beautifully extracted, although the fruit is not quite as vibrant as in the best vintages of this excellent property. Good persistency, a supremely elegant take on the vintage, in the line of 2001. 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot. A masterclass as ever in precision winemaking, and although there is 8% of press wine it gives weight without straining the structure. Denis Dubourdieu consultant here for last 17 years, since 1998.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A wine that has always drunk well, the 2014 Château Haut-Bailly has a charming, forward, yet also incredibly elegant profile as well as terrific freshness in its ripe darker berry fruit. It shows complex floral, spicy, and lead pencil nuances with time in the glass, and it's a medium-bodied, nicely concentrated Haut-Bailly with nothing out of place, fine, polished tannins, and a great finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Haut Bailly has a charming, quite intense bouquet with layers of blackberry, raspberry coulis, black olive and melted tar scents that soar from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, well-judged acidity, harmonious and focused with superb density and precision towards the finish. This is a classy number and alongside Domaine de Chevalier, it is one of the standouts from the appellation in this vintage.
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Wine Spectator
This shows admirable density for the vintage, with a strong loamy echo amid the core of dark currant, fig and plum compote flavors. Loads of tobacco and tar details join in on the finish, while the fruit easily keeps pace. Rock-solid. Best from 2020 through 2035.
The vineyard of Haut-Bailly as we know it today began to take shape when the Goyanèche and then the Daitze family acquired and unified the best vine growing plots in the 1530s. The estate remained in the Daitze Family until 1630 when it was purchased by Firmin Le Bailly and Nicolas de Leuvarde, wealthy Parisian bankers and lovers of Graves wines.
Following substantial investments, the property continued to be passed down the Bailly family line until 1736, when Irishman Thomas Barton took the helm. His strong business network allowed him to spread word about the quality of Chateau Haut-Bailly at a time when French ‘claret' was beginning its rise to stardom in England and Ireland.
Throughout the 18th century powerful, well-connected and ambitious owners drove Haut-Bailly to new heights, including Christophe Lafaurie de Monbadon and his son Laurent who went on to become Mayor of Bordeaux in 1805.
In 1872, Alcide Bellot des Minières acquired the estate and constructed the imposing, stone chateau building that remains to this day. He pioneered a precise, science-driven approach to viticulture, becoming a figure of legend widely known as the 'King of Vintners'. Thanks to Alcide's incredible drive, Haut-Bailly experienced a remarkable golden age, commanding the same prices as the First Growths: Lafite, Latour, Margaux and Haut-Brion.
The purchase of Haut-Bailly in 1955 by Daniel Sanders, a Belgian negociant, opened up a new era. Daniel and his son, Jean, recomposed the vineyard, renovated the winery and took pains to select only grapes from the best vines for their grand vin. They succeeded in giving the wines a unique style and reputation, and Haut-Bailly recovered its image as a great wine on the international marketplace.
In July 1998 Chateau Haut-Bailly was purchased by American Robert G. Wilmers, chairman and CEO of the M&T Bank based in Buffalo, New York. A lifelong lover of Bordeaux Grands Crus, Bob was behind every strategic decision, ensuring that Haut-Bailly followed a path of progression and continuity whilst remaining ever-respectful of its heritage.
After Mr. Wilmers purchased the property, he first asked Jean Sanders to stay on board, and then Véronique Sanders, fourth generation, to serve as general manager, overseeing a far-reaching investment programme to modernise the vineyards, cellars, offices, and chateau itself.
For Bob and his wife Elisabeth, Haut-Bailly went well beyond a financial investment: it was a joint passion. Following the sad passing of Bob in December 2017, his family has taken over and will continue in his footsteps. Together with the management team, they are committed to continuing Bob’s work in the same spirit and energy as in the past twenty years. The many recently initiated and future projects will be pursued.
With the 2021 vintage, Chateau Haut-Bailly debuted a contemporary, custom-built winery which was completed at the end of 2020. The building allows them to carry out precision work in optimal conditions thanks to the space, natural light and technical innovation which are at the heart of the project.
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.