Winemaker Notes
The white grapes are hand-picked. The white wine ferments in new barrels and develops on the lees. The frequency of batonnage varies according to the development of the wine. Finally, the white wine is aged in barrels of French oak for between 10 and 12 months.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Smoky brioche notes intermixed with honeyed grapefruit, lemon zest and hints of white currant, fennel and orange rind are all present in this dense, concentrated, impeccably well-made dry white. It should drink nicely for 10 or more years.
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Wine Spectator
This has a very ripe, almost muscular core of creamed melon, meringue and lemon gelée, with the frame of chartreuse, quinine and chamomile providing contrast and balance. The long, lingering finish has nice cut. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Drink now through 2018.
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Wine Enthusiast
A definite burnt character on the nose, but the fruit has proper richness, the wood perhaps showing too much high toast. The freshness should be kept and not lost in the wood.
Barrel Sample: 89-90 Points
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.