Winemaker Notes
Picked just before the rain, on the 16th of September, the Merlot wines are rich and fruity. Cabernet Sauvignon was able to take full advantage of the summerlike weather in late September,with highs of over 25°C. The intense tannin accounts for a fine long aftertaste. Petit Verdot makes up just 2% of the blend because of the frost in 2017. It nevertheless adds a touch of tension and minerality.
Blend: 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
This is one of the more finessed and well expressed examples of powerful cassis and blackberry fruits in 2017. I love the sense of energy and juice that sits beneath the fruit - again, not something that you are seeing everywhere. A good job from Olivier, even if it hasn't quite reached the heights of 2015 and 2016. Very satisfying, and should develop nicely over next few years.
Barrel Sample -
Wine Enthusiast
Tannins are already in balance with succulent black fruits in this ripe wine. It offers the potential for generosity, with berry flavors and layered acidity. It has an attractive juicy and smoky aftertaste. Drink from 2023.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and juicy, featuring warmed currant preserve, fig paste and cherry puree flavors, entwined with licorice snap, apple wood, bay leaf and tar notes. Vivid and energetic through the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Best from 2022 through 2035. Tasted twice, with consistent notes
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James Suckling
This is very well done for the vintage with a delightful core of firm yet inviting tannins, plenty of fresh acidity and a taut finish.
Barrel Sample: 90-91
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.