Winemaker Notes
Using a more traditional blend, C des Carmes Haut-Brion focuses on Merlot subtly complemented by Cabernet Sauvignon. The fruit is in the spotlight here, offering an elegant range of aromas. Drunk young, the wine develops a crisp intensity which will gain the patina of beautiful complexity as the years pass.
Blend: 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Fresh and racy, with beautiful cherries, dried orange peels, peppercorn and spices. It’s so vibrant and agile on the palate, with medium body and crunchy, lively tannins. Juicy and tense. Firm but very fine and silky in the end. 62% cabernet sauvignon, 36% merlot and 2% petit verdot. Already attractive, but better after a year or two.
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Decanter
Gorgeous strawberry and pink flower, vanilla and raspberry yoghurt accents with touches of blackcurrant leaf - really pretty and perfumed and expressive. Smooth and supple, this has a juicy and joyous expression. Lively summer red berry fruits, straight a touch lean and light, more like a Pinot really, but still with structure and body. Hints of salinity at the finish add to its drinkability. Accessible and drinkable if you like high acidity and bright strawberry fruit. Great balance and harmony, touches of grip by the tannins and a long persistence of flavour despite quite a light, ethereal body overall. Nice graphite and salty wet stone, chalky aspect that lingers.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion, a blend driven by Cabernet Sauvignon, possesses a charming, gourmand bouquet with aromas of rose, cherries, violet, blueberry and spices, followed by a medium to full-bodied, juicy and supple palate with a lively mid-palate and a delicate core of fruit that segues into a long, penetrating and mouthwatering finish.
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Vinous
The 2021 Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion contains 22% whole-bunch (to be exact). It has a lovely bouquet with peony and light white flower scents percolating through the black fruit. This is fresh and cohesive. The palate is medium-bodied with a very saline entry, showing black olive mixed with blackberry and bilberry fruit. Finely structured toward the finish, this is an absolutely delicious Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion that will get even better with bottle age.
Rating: 92+
Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion is the only Bordeaux property located within the city of Bordeaux. Its tiny vineyard, the Clos des Carmes, is located in the heart of the city and dates back to the 16th century. In 1584, the Carmelite Reverend Fathers inherited the Crespiac mill, where they stayed for around two centuries. Then, in 1855, the Colin family became the new owners, and the estate subsequently came under the ownership of the Chantecaille family. In 2010, Patrice Pichet and his family acquired the estate, which a few merchants and négociants called the 'sleeping beauty of Bordeaux'. The Pichet family's arrival marked the beginning of a transformative chapter for this historic estate, with significant modernization and investment taking place at the château.
The renewal process began with the vineyard itself. Missing elements were replanted, slopes were corrected and the variety of grapes was updated to reinstate Cabernet Franc, which has been the main variety in the blend since 2013. Vine cultivation is also guided by an environmentally friendly approach, with horses used for all soil work. Here, nature is not constrained but revealed.
Then there are the people: Guillaume Pouthier, the new managing director, and Guillaume Deschepper, the technical director. Neither of them are from Bordeaux; they come from an iconic house in the Rhône Valley and have a new vision of what constitutes a great wine.
Finally, a new, state-of-the-art winery was constructed, designed by the renowned architects Philippe Starck and Luc Arsène-Henry.
The ambition was to elevate the estate to new heights while honoring its centuries-old heritage.
One of the most daring moves was the estate’s pioneering use of whole-cluster fermentation, a technique that had never before been employed in Bordeaux. This gave the wine a unique character and balance.
Over the last 10 years, the estate has undergone enormous progression and transformation, resulting in the production of wines of unparalleled character and depth. This has cemented the estate’s reputation as a beacon of innovation and tradition in the Bordeaux wine landscape and beyond.
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.