Winemaker Notes
Verso reflects the elegance and finesse of the Haut-Batailley terroir with a glimmering dark ruby colour. The nose explodes with freshness and red fruit aromas. On the palate, delicate oaky notes from the barrels give the wine balance and enhance fine-grained tannins.
Blend: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Château Haut-Batailley Verso is incredibly floral and perfumed, with beautiful red and blue fruits as well as lead pencil, tobacco, and sappy herb nuances. A medium-bodied, elegant second wine, it has the tannins, mid-palate, and overall balance to drink well for two decades if properly stored.
-
Wine Enthusiast
The wine revels in fruit. With a fine, stylish character, the second wine of this estate is juicy and full of black currant flavors. It will age well over the medium term, drink from 2025.
-
Decanter
Dark and milk chocolate aromas around sweet, fragrant black fruits. Plush tannins, soft but with good texture. Cooling blue fruits on the palate, coffee bean freshness giving a spicy touch. Nice combination that really works here. It's got a lot going on and is not on the fruit nor spicy side, just all melded together with an undercurrent of acidity that gives it life.
-
Wine Spectator
Sports a noticeable savory streak from the start, along with brisk cassis and damson plum notes and a subtle infusion of tobacco leaf. Shows a good twinge of iron through the finish. On the austere side but in proportion, this is for fans of the style. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Drink now through 2032.
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.