Winemaker Notes
Very beautiful deep garnet red color. The nose, complex and charming, exhales roasted, toasted notes, associated with aromas of black fruits on a vanilla touch. On the palate, the attack is smooth and dense, the evolution powerful and harmonious. The tasting ends with a long finish with remarkably melted tannins. A great wine to keep that will reward those who know how to wait patiently.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Luscious ripe fruits are underlined by tannins to give a wine that is both structured and concentrated. Rich tannins, spice aromas and power are all enclosed in this wine that is ready to age. Best After 2026. Cellar Selection
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Decanter
An appealing sweetness on the nose alongside touches of blackcurrant leaf. This is lovely, a dark and cool style focussed on liquorice and clove flavours backed by a core of blue fruits - blueberries, cherries and plums. You can feel some tension to this too, layers of fruit are elegantly presented but with energy and a deep mid palate. Tannins are fine and soft, gently supporting the fruit which is almost in the background at this point. A touch of austere dryness towards the finish while the spiced elements take over. Needs time to come together more but this has lots of delicious aspects. A soft stoniness lingers in the background giving a dry, wet stone texture and almost spicy, mineral edge overall. Good quality, I like this a lot. Drinking Window: 2024 - 2039.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the red, the 2019 Château Larrivet Haut-Brion is a rich, broad, mouth-filling, spicy, complex and full-bodied style that has loads to love. Giving up lots of mulled red and black fruits as well as tobacco leaf, loamy soil, and chocolaty nuances, I love its balance, it has ripe tannins, and it will drink nicely for 25 to 20 years.
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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. Try after 2024.
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Wine Spectator
Open-knit, with a good ripe and friendly core of plum and black currant preserve flavors. Offers licorice root, tarry and savory notes that streak the finish and add range.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 Chateau Larrivet Haut-Brion is quite lavish on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits plenty of black fruit and oak nuances in its aromas and flavors. Enjoy it with beef and Bermuda onion kebabs. (Tasted: June 29, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Generous and fleshy, the 2019 Malartic Lagravière bursts with aromas of smoky blackberries, plums, forest floor and spices. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, rich and muscular, with ripe acids and a generously extracted, chewy profile. This will need a bit of time to round out in bottle.
Rating: 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.