Chateau Haut-Brion
The smallest of the 1855 First Growths, Chateau Haut-Brion has 51.5 hectares of vines and produces around 200,000 bottles per year, split between the first wine, and the second Clarence de Haut-Brion. A tiny amount of the highly sought after Haut Brion Blanc is also produced, made from 2.8 hectares of an almost equal blend of Sauvignon blanc and sémillon.
The reason for its relatively small size – under half that of both Lafite and Mouton – is its location, just a few miles from the centre of Bordeaux city, meaning any expansion plans are somewhat curtailed by the surrounding urban spread. It also explains the difference in grape plantings here, as the terroir is more varied than in the gravelly Médoc, resulting in a more even split of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.
But size clearly isn’t everything, as this was the first of the Firsts to come to international acclaim, with its wines being celebrated on the English market in the 1660s, a good half-century before Margaux, Lafite and Latour came to prominence. And it was in the cellars of Haut-Brion, in the years preceding its appearance in London, where the new style of firmer, age-worthy claret was developed – a style which the other chateaux named as Firsts in the 1855 classification quickly adopted.
Today, Haut-Brion is owned by European Royalty in the form of president and CEO Prince Robert of Luxembourg and Nassau. First cousin of the sovereign Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Prince Robert is grandson to the American financier Clarence Dillon, who bought the estate in 1935 and rebuilt its renown over the following decades.
He is joined in running Haut-Brion by director Jean-Philippe Delmas, who has been in the role since 2004, taking over from his father and grandfather before him. The three generations of Delmas’ have ensured Haut-Brion has retained its innovative status; this was the first chateau to introduce stainless steel tanks for winemaking in the early 1960s, and one of the first to have an onsite oenology laboratory, heading up by Jean-Philippe Masclef, together with a nursery for private clonal selection. This dates back to 1970, when Jean-Bernard Delmas pioneered the idea. Today the estate uses one dozen clones per plot to be sure of complexity for all its red grapes, and enlists six trainees for the two months before harvest to test the ripeness of the grapes in each plot at least four or five times across the whole vineyard.
Progress continues – the chateau has just seen the completion of a new building for offices, and a circular library which will house an important collection of rare wine and gastronomy books. And as with Margaux and Lafite, there is also an onsite cooperage, this time in partnership with Seguin-Moreau barrel makers, producing around 500 barrels per year. Here, cooper Luc Nicolas perfects the Haut-Brion signature toast, which ensures the hint of roasted coffee beans and soft leather notes that infuse its wine.
33600 Pessac | haut-brion.com
Sorry, no wines were found matching your selection.
Please try a new search, or feel free to contact us anytime at sales@gvwm.co.uk, or call us at +44 (0)1732 779343.
