Winemaker Notes
Limpid dark red color. The first nose is intense. Fine roasted notes of cedar and Mocha mingle with more subtle flavors of flowers. After airing, the floral notes are more intense and a delicate violet note appears. The attack marked by smoothness develops notes of liquorice and black fruit. The palate stretches on creamy tannins where the smoky notes are reminiscent of the signature of LHB terroir and the dominance of Cabernets. The fair and straight finish suggests a good ageing potential.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Black fruit, cherry stones, tar, walnut husk and undergrowth on the nose. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, finely knit tannins. Layered and polished with a firm, mineral finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Ripe, juicy with plenty of black currant flavors, this wine has solid tannins as well. It has a good depth of flavor, its tannins well integrated into the juicy fruits. Drink from 2023.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2017 Larrivet Haut-Brion leaps with kirsch, warm blueberries and black plums plus wafts of earth, herbs and cedar and a touch of tar. Medium-bodied, the palate is fine, fresh and delicately expressive, finishing long and savory.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and focused, featuring a beam of cassis, plum and blackberry paste flavors, infused with black tea notes and framed by licorice root and apple wood accents. The grippy finish lets in a sweet tobacco hint. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2022 through 2035.
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Decanter
A more complicated vintage, one where you can see why Larrivet Haut-Brion has received so much praise in recent years because this is a well-handled wine. Tons of rich strawberries on the nose, a lighter vintage overall than the 2016 but it has grace and charm. Well handed, some expert winemaking on display, you can expect plenty of enjoyment from this over the next few years - but if you want a 2017, my money is on the white.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The red from this estate, which utilizes the consulting advice of Stéphane Derenoncourt, the 2017 Château Larrivet Haut-Brion is a promising wine from the Pessac-Léognan region and offers a beautiful floral bouquet of black cherries, plums, leafy underbrush, and violets. Medium-bodied, soft, with some elevated acidity and fine tannin, it’s a charming effort that should drink well for a decade or more.
Barrel Sample: 88-90
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.