Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2019
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James - Decanter
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Parker
Robert -
Wong
Wilfred -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
For this great vintage, Bordeaux and its climate imposed an important technical effort in the aesthetic quest for balance, in acontext where the need for intervention was an important key to success. 2019 is thus proving to be a typical balanced Aquitainvintage, rich, dense and elegant, despite the extreme conditions incurred.
Blend: 42% Cabernet Franc, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot
The Barrel Sample for this wine is under 14% ABV.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
I wasn't able to taste the 2019 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion from barrel, but it certainly brings the goods from bottle. Deep ruby/purple-hued, with a smorgasbord-like array of red, blue, and black fruits as well as violets, candied flowers, tobacco, and sappy herbs, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a deep, layered, concentrated mouthfeel, flawless balance, and that rare mix of power and elegance that truly great Pessac can deliver. Showing the more elegant style of the vintage, it checks in behind the magical, perfect 2018 but is very much in the style of the 2016. Readers will love having this beauty in the cellar, and it will evolve for 40-50 years if stored correctly. Hats off to winemaker Guillaume Pouthier for another thrilling wine.
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James Suckling
What a great nose with such complexity of blackberry, forest floor, mushroom and bark. Like walking in a deep forest. Full-bodied with a dense palate, yet it remains energetic and focused. Very fine texture. Flavorful finish. Extremely persistent.
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Decanter
Inky purple in colour, with peony and iris aromatics, then a whoosh of freshness that makes your mouth water before you are even halfway through. This is extremely impressive, well balanced, with fine tannins and real discretion but hidden power and depths. Clear floral character, with an austerity that makes you celebrate minerality. There are gourmet touches but the focus is rather on slate, rosemary and crushed stones with hints of chocolate shavings alongside the damson and blackberry fruit. 3.56pH, 80% in casks, 11% 20hl wood and 9% amphoras, 55% whole bunch fermentation (which brings the alcohol down to this relatively low level for the estate's location). A wine to surprise those who think Bordeaux can't deliver understatement.
Barrel Sample: 96 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Les Carmes Haut-Brion has turned out very well in bottle. Mingling aromas of plums and cassis with notions of blood orange, warm spices and new oak, it's full-bodied, velvety and seamless, with an ample core of bright, succulent fruit that's framed by an elegantly muscular chassis of ripe, powdery tannins and lively acids. Concluding with a long, expansive finish, it's reminiscent of a more giving, extroverted version of Pouthier's superb 2016. As is now the rule at this address, some whole bunches were retained during maceration, and the wine saw a long élevage in a variety of vessels, from classic 225-liter Bordeaux barriques to foudres and amphorae. The blend is dominated by 42% Cabernet Franc, complemented by 31% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Merlot.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Over the years, I have been slowly warming up to the qualities of Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion. The 2019 vintage is one of the winery's best efforts to date. The wine excels with bold aromas and flavors of black fruit and oak. Enjoy it with grilled short ribs. (Tasted: June 29, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
Rich and caressing in feel, with alluring cassis, steeped plum and boysenberry puree flavors. Shows pretty anise and apple wood accents that line the finish, where there's a solid tarry echo as well. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2023.
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In 1584, he therefore donated a water-mill, surrounded by meadows and wines, to the Carmelites of Haut-Brion.
The Friars kept the name "Haut-Brion" for 200 years, before common usage gradually changed it into "Carmes Haut-Brion".
It was bought at the beginning of the last century by Léon Colin, a wine negociant in Bordeaux and a direct ancestor of the current owners, the Chantecaille-Furt family.