Winemaker Notes
Blend: 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2023 Haut-Batailley is another impressive wine from this Chateau. There's plenty of the typical dark fruit and overall breadth that is such a signature, but the tannins show greater finesse than in some prior years—a very positive evolution that continues here. Black cherry, plum, lavender, cloves, leather and licorice are all beautifully amplified. The 2023 marks another major step forward for Haut-Batailley. –Neal Martin
Barrel Sample: 93-96 -
Jeb Dunnuck
Smoky black fruits, tobacco leaf, chocolate, and graphite all emerge from the 2023 Château Haut-Batailley, a gorgeous Pauillac in the vintage. Based on 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot and aged 16 months in 65% new French oak, it's medium to full-bodied, with a round, layered, seamless mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and beautiful polish and elegance. It shines even today yet will have three decades of longevity.
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Decanter
Fragrant raspberries and blackcurrants on the nose with floral touches too. Vivid purple in the glass. Some herbal notes, liquorice and menthol/eucalyptus. Nicely structured, good bounce and flesh but cool and sleek too. I like the weight, enough tannins, well integrated, but gives structure and power. It’s not heavy, really has a clear vein of freshness that is so appealing. Lots of cool blueberry, mint, graphite and liquorice on the finish. Almost chewy, but clean and direct. Finessed but with power and depth. Really very good.
Barrel Sample: 94 -
James Suckling
Attractive aromas of graphite, currants and blackberries. Medium-bodied with plenty of fruit, but then firm and chewy tannins give a nice backbone to this. Savory acidity underneath. Linear at the end. A blend of 71% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot and 4% petit verdot. Needs three or four years to come together.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Offering aromas of toast, oak, spices and cigar wrapper, the 2023 Haut-Batailley is medium- to full-bodied, with a dense, compact palate built around firm, chewy tannins that assert themselves on a long, spicy finish. Rather muscular and extracted in profile, it is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot, matured in 65% new oak.
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Wine Spectator
The plum, boysenberry and blackberry compote flavors are vivid and generous as they unfurl over the caressing structure. Ink, violet and anise notes add range, while a cast iron accent chimes in at the very end to make sure you know this is a Pauillac. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot.
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.
The leader on the Left Bank in number of first growth classified producers within its boundaries, Pauillac has more than any of the other appellations, at three of the five. Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild border St. Estephe on its northern end and Chateau Latour is at Pauillac’s southern end, bordering St. Julien.
While the first growths are certainly some of the better producers of the Left Bank, today they often compete with some of the “lower ranked” producers (second, third, fourth, fifth growth) in quality and value. The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification that goes back to 1855. The finest chateaux in that year were judged on the basis of reputation and trading price; changes in rank since then have been miniscule at best. Today producers such as Chateau Pontet-Canet, Chateau Grand Puy-Lacoste, Chateau Lynch-Bages, among others (all fifth growth) offer some of the most outstanding wines in all of Bordeaux.
Defining characteristics of fine wines from Pauillac (i.e. Cabernet-based Bordeaux Blends) include inky and juicy blackcurrant, cedar or cigar box and plush or chalky tannins.
Layers of gravel in the Pauillac region are key to its wines’ character and quality. The layers offer excellent drainage in the relatively flat topography of the region allowing water to run off into “jalles” or streams, which subsequently flow off into the Gironde.