Winemaker Notes
Blend: 55% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5.3% Cabernet Franc and 1.7% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has a big start of tannins and fruit, yet the tannins are round and polished. Impressive backbone. Full body. Compact. Lots of blackberry and wet-earth flavors. Powerful finish. As the second wine of Haut-Brion, this shows lots of potential for the vintage. Drink after 2022.
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Wine Enthusiast
Initially severe, this wine has intense black fruits and solid tannins. The fruits bring out acidity as well as a stalky edge that will soften. This is a good wine for medium-term aging. Drink from 2022.
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Decanter
The aromatics on the nose are a little subdued at first, but on the palate there is clear density to the fruit, showing great depth and energy. It's a beautiful wine, perhaps a fraction below the ripeness of 2016 and 2015 - the amount of sunshine in July was almost half the average, even though it was extremely dry - but is still generous once it opens up. With no frost, this was an early season all the way through, staying two weeks in advance of average from start to finish. 37% of overall production in this wine.
Barrel Sample -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 55% Merlot, 5.3% Cabernet Franc, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1.7% Petit Verdot, the 2017 Le Clarence de Haut-Brion is deep garnet-purple in color and starts off with youthful notions of cedar chest and crushed blackcurrants, giving way to a core of raspberry pie, kirsch, black cherry compote and unsmoked cigars with a touch of crushed rocks. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers mouth-coating red and black fruits with a firm backbone of fine-grained tannins and bold freshness, finishing on a lingering earthy note.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Le Clarence De Haut-Brion has plenty of classic Haut Brion green tobacco and cedar notes as well as medium body, a juicy, elegant, medium-bodied mouthfeel, and a bright spine of acidity. It shows the more seamless, streamlined style of the vintage yet is beautifully balanced, has fine tannins, and outstanding length. Given its bright acidity, I suspect a solid 4-5 years of bottle age are warranted here. Rating: 90+
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and rather direct, featuring a core of plum and blackberry fruit, framed by singed vanilla and cedar notes. A tarry edge on the finish adds range and a bit of spine. Has the grip to cellar short-term and will probably fill out in the process. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2022 through 2030.
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.