2009 Chateau Haut Brion | Wine Library

Lisa Perrotti-Brown – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

The 2009 Haut-Brion is deep garnet colored and slightly closed and shy to begin, slowly unfurling to reveal sensuous notions of warm blackberries, plum preserves, mulberries and blackcurrant cordial with touches of star anise, mocha and damp soil. Full-bodied, taut and tightly wound in the mouth, the palate delivers mouth-coating black fruit and mineral layers with a very firm frame of ripe, grainy tannins, finishing long and earthy. This needs time!

100 James Suckling – Jamessuckling.com

Extravagant and exotic, but still lively, this is a super-concentrated and elegant wine that’s already breathtaking, yet has enormous aging potential. Plenty of wet earth and mushroom character alongside the cassis and blackberry aromas. Super-long, perfectly balanced finish. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)

98+ Ian Dagata – Vinous Media

46% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon and 14% cabernet franc; a 57% selection; 14.3% alcohol) Saturated bright ruby. The deep, brooding nose is quite marked by the cabernet franc presence, opening slowly with air to offer sexy, soil-driven aromas of violet, raspberry, mocha, minerals and sweet spices. Then rich and sweet in the mouth but with outstanding minerality and enticing violet lift to the ripe red cherry, raspberry, cocoa and black pepper flavors. Offers a stunning combination of concentration, density and balance; as backward and reserved as this wine is today, it manages to come across as graceful. The endless palate-staining finish is loaded with sweet, ripe tannins and an exhilarating note of floral black pepper. This wine made me think of what a blend of the great ’89 and ’05 Haut-Brions might taste like.

98 Decanter

Inky purple in colour, this has a rich, intense nose of damson, blackberry and olive paste. The palate is generous in texture and weight, more broad-shouldered than Château Margaux – which is already beginning to show its florality. This is balanced but well built in every inch. The warmth of the vintage coming through as fruit ripeness, liquorice, spice and punch, with the beginnings of truffle notes. There’s no question of its excellence and its bonhomie.