Le Clarence De Haut Brion 2021 (750ML)

98 WE / 94-95 JS / 92 WA / 92 DE / 92 JD / 92 JA / 16+ JR

Lots of iodine and oyster-shell aromas, together with blackberry and black cherry, following through to a medium to full body. Polished yet slightly chewy tannins and a fresh finish. Grilled orange. 70.4% merlot, 18.2% cabernet sauvignon and 11.4% cabernet franc. - James Suckling

More closed and shy than La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion, the 2021 Le Clarence de Haut-Brion offers up a delicate, complex bouquet with aromas of plums, spices, lead pencil, licorice and dark berries. Medium to full-bodied with a structuring core of fruit, it’s seamless and vibrant with a long, penetrating finish. Keep it over the next decade. - Yohan Castaing, Wine Advocate

Dark chocolate and red cherries on the nose, so aromatic, rich and seductive. Joyful and lifted on the palate, strawberries and plums to the fore but creamy and chalky with such a sappy, agile and lively energy. Lightly framed so you get the aerial expansion of flavour but the texture that grips is chalky and mineral giving a welcome salinity and touch of tobacco and smoke that lands on the tongue. Beautifully presented, smooth and well defined, such succulence and density with no let up through the palate. Intensity, clarity and focus. An excellent second wine in 2021. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter

Red and black currants, smoked tobacco, iron, and spicy, almost meaty notes all emerge from the 2021 Le Clarence De Haut-Brion, a medium-bodied, pure, seamless, incredibly elegant second wine that has ripe, polished tannins and a great finish.-Jeb Dunnuck

Ruby violet in colour, and the angular tannins found during En Primeur have softened and sculpted over ageing. There is something thoroughly irresistable about this more classic style of the Haut-Brion stablen with black fruits that are fully ripe, bright and vibrant, but still with a feeling of solidity and depth. Even with higher levels of Merlot in the blend than usual, this is structured, and still-tight tannins that need a good three or four years before opening (which still makes it an early drinker within this universe of wines). 28% new oak, Jean-Philippe Delmas estate director.- Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux