Haut Brion 2019 (1.5L)

100 WI / 100 JS / 100 TB / 100 WCI / 98+ JD / 98 VM / 98 WA / 98 DE / 98 WE / 18.5 JR

#1 Tasting Book Best Red Wines of the World 2023
#7 Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2022
#69 James Suckling's Top 100 Wines of 2022

A blend of 48.7% Merlot, 43.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8.1% Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Haut-Brion is deep garnet-purple colored. It needs lots of swirling to begin to unlock beguiling scents of iron ore, Indian spices, roses, wood smoke, and licorice over a core of blueberry preserves, warm cassis, and blackberry pie, plus a an earthy waft of underbrush. The medium to full-bodied palate starts off quiet and grows into a crescendo of black and blue fruits with uplifting floral and earth accents, framed by super-ripe, fine-grained tannins, and finishing with long, lingering, exotic spice sparks. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent

The black cassis comes out of the glass, together with iodine, sandalwood and subtle moss and wet-bark undertones, then turning to violets. The palate is mind-blowing, with a cashmere texture that unravels on the palate and continues on for minutes. It’s full of superbly complex, ethereal character and mouth-feel, One of the wines of the vintage. As glorious as it may be to taste now, this is one for your deep cellar. Try in 2029.--James Suckling

The Grand Vin 2019 Château Haut-Brion checks in as a classic blend of 49% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Cabernet Franc. Its deep purple hue is followed by a stunning bouquet of ripe black cherry and currant-like fruit as well as classic Graves cold fireplace, burning embers, tobacco, and cedar pencil. More regal, firm, and classically structured on the palate, this full-bodied beauty has a deep, concentrated mid-palate, building tannins, background oak, and a great, great finish. It's very much in the focused, elegant, yet still concentrated and powerful style of the vintage. It will need a solid decade of cellaring, but it’s a brilliant wine. - Jeb Dunnuck

The 2019 Haut-Brion has an intense bouquet of blackberry, raspberry coulis, cedar, mint and black olive aromas vying for attention. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannins that belie the backbone, the arching structure of this Haut-Brion. Very persistent and very precise, showing a little more ambition and breeding than the La Mission this year, and a persistent, graphite-tinged, sapid finish. An opulent Haut-Brion and yet the pedigree is palpable. 14.6° alcohol. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

Wafting from the glass with aromas of blackberries and plums mingled with notions of pencil shavings, burning embers and creamy new oak, the 2019 Haut-Brion is full-bodied, rich and fleshy, with a textural attack that segues into an ample and enveloping core of fruit, concluding with a long, expansive finish. Broad-shouldered and muscular, its rich, powdery tannins are already seamlessly integrated; and though it's labeled at 15% alcohol, far higher than the great vintages of yesteryear, it avoids any sense of over-ripeness. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

Liquorice and graphite touches on the nose with black fruits, even some blueberries and pomegranate. Great intensity, power and muscle here – this is full of life with layers of complexity you can feel from the beginning. It's not as immedaitely plump or round as some but this has clear power and generosity. Gentle persistence with so many nuances of flavour, but you get the impression its hiding all it's best features just showing the barest hint of fruit, spice and savoury aspects. Definition, precision and wonderful freshness. You have to work a little harder to understand this, but it has such potential. 48.7% Merlot, 43.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8.1% Cabernet Franc. Drinking Window 2028 - 2050 . Georgina Hindle, Decanter

The wine's richness give it the density for aging. The bold structure is mitigated by the wine's juicy acidity that cuts the structure with freshness. This grand wine has a solid character as well as plenty of juicy fruits. Drink from 2027. - Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast

Flexes muscle this year. Deep and complex but broody and subdued on the nose. Big, bold palate with an impressive density of mouth-filling fruit. Huge tannic frame behind, the tannins plentiful but ripe and swathed in all that fruit. Just a touch more freshness than La Mission. Really long and persistent.-James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson