Les Carmes Haut Brion 2021 (750ML)

98 VM / 96-97 JS / 96 DE / 96 WI / 95 WA / 93-95 JD / 94 JA

The 2021 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is very possibly the wine of the vintage. Vertical and explosive, the 2021 possesses mind-blowing intensity and dynamic energy to burn. The 2021 is a heady, racy wine that captivates all the senses. Tobacco, mocha, cedar, leather, dried herbs, menthol, licorice and plum saturate the palate in a wine that dazzles from start to finish. The 2021 was bottled in late September 2023, much later than most wines, yet it is so expressive today. It was magnificent from barrel, and it is every bit as breathtaking today. Quite simply, Les Carmes is on another level. Bravo! - Antonio Gallino, Vinous Media

This is a special wine for the vintage with a wonderful and impressive tannin texture that melts into the wine, giving softness and finesse. Medium-bodied, showing a solid core of fruit with beautiful, focused cassis, blackberry and crushed-stone character. The unique terror of this estate, which is surrounded by houses in a suburb of Bordeaux, has produced a gorgeous wine in this difficult vintage. 45% whole bunches. 40% cabernet franc, 35% cabernet sauvignon and 25% merlot. - James Suckling

Beautiful aromatic complexity on the nose, floral nuances and expressive blackcurrant, black cherry and dark chocolate but you're really getting the perfumed Cabernet fruit. This has an instant presence in the mouth, fully flavoured and juicy but so balanced, nothing sticking out, with the elegance of the ripe cool fruit touching the sides of the mouth. Tannins are present but fine and gently grippy with detail and definition to them. This has a lot of life for the vintage, one of the more full, round wines with chewy, fleshy tannins. The Cabernet gives backbone and density, the Merlot ripe red fruits, and then the chalky, slate, pencil lead, graphite salinity of the terroir comes in on the finish, giving that nuance, the sense of place and the vintage. Great rise and persistence all the way through, such drive but also lift, it doesn't let up. A stand-out wine - extremely classy and memorable. Skilled winemaking on show from Guillaume Pouthier. 5% more tannins than in 2020 which was already high. Grapes were picked at a natural alcohol of 14.2% so no chaptalisation here. 3.6pH. 45% whole bunches. Ageing in 70% new oak, 20% new foundre and 10% amphoras. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter

A blend of 45% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 20% Merlot, Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2021 has a pH of 3.6. 55% whole bunches were used and it spent two years in barrel, which is four months longer than usual. It has an opaque garnet-purple color and it bursts from the glass with vivacious notes of redcurrant jelly, black cherry preserves, and black raspberries, followed by hints of garrigue, wild thyme, cast-iron pan, and dusty soil, with a touch of roses. The medium-bodied palate delivers intense red and black fruit layers, with a sturdy frame of tightly knit, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. With a structure and intensity like this, it should age slowly over the next 30-40 years+, which is an anomaly for this generally earlier drinking vintage. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent

The 2021 Les Carmes Haut-Brion has turned out beautifully in bottle, though it is more introverted and brooding than it appeared during en primeur tastings, unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries mingled with spices, loamy soil, licorice, rose petals, gentian and black pepper. Medium to full-bodied, deep and seamless, with a concentrated core of fruit framed by ripe but abundant structuring tannins and bright acids, it concludes with a long, palate-staining finish. As readers may remember, it's a blend of 40% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

I'd put the 2021 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion up with the crème de la crème of the vintage. Based on 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Merlot, aging in 80% new barrels, it offers a brilliant perfume of plum and black raspberry fruits supported by lots of spice and exotic floral notes. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has a rounded, expansive mouthfeel that's rare to find in the vintage, terrific mid-palate depth, moderate acidity, and a great finish. It's a singular, brilliant Pessac that will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and cruise for 20-25+ in cold cellars. Enough can't be said about the quality and passion being brought to this estate by winemaker Guillaume Pouthier, and this is an estate readers need to be purchasing. - Jeb Dunnuck

Inky colour, enticing texture and aromatics, accomplished construction with no drop of density through the mid palate. They use reductive techniqes during ageing so you always have to give Carmes time in the glass to open up (even after En Primeur, when in bottle), and you are richly rewarded by a bit of patience, with damson, black cherry, rich chocolate, liqourice, smoked earth, mandarin peel, rose bud and mouthwartering acidities. This has tension and subdued power, and is a successful interpretation of the vintage. 42hl/h yields, same as 2020, no frost, no mildew, no coulure. Harvest as in Sauternes; with three passes through the vineyard at harvest. No chaptilisation. Harvest September 23 to October 1. 3.6ph, 45% whole grape, only 5% less than last year. 70% new oak, 20% large sized still new but 1800 litres, and 10% amphoras. A potential upscore in bottle. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux