98pts Wine Enthusiast
The solid and serious structure of this wine is reflected in the wood aromas and spice from wood aging. It is dense, packed with tannins at the core, and its concentration gives a dry character to the wine. Ready to drink from 2028.
97-98pts James Suckling
A very structured young Haut-Brion with blackberry, blackcurrant, black-olive and mushroom character. Medium to full-bodied with a driving balance of firm and ripe tannins and gorgeous fruit. 50.3% merlot, 38% cabernet sauvignon and 11.7% cabernet franc.
97pts Wine Advocate
The 2021 Haut-Brion confirms its fine showing en primeur, cementing its status as one of the wines of the vintage. Its complex bouquet of dark berries and cassis mingled with notions of cigar wrapper and burning embers unfurls in the glass. Full-bodied, deep and velvety, it’s concentrated and layered with a multidimensional core of fruit, sweet tannins and lively acids, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. Reflecting the timeless elegance of Haut-Brions from cooler years, the 2021 will delight Bordeaux purists.
97pts Decanter
One of the absolute stand out wines on 2021 with an electric appeal almost unrivalled in the vintage. Blackcurrant leaf, dark chocolate, cocoa powder, rose petals, sweet cherries and bramble fruits on the nose. Incredibly lively and energetic on the palate with a burst of sharp, sweet and sour fruits that just fills the mouth coated by chalk, slate and pencil lead mineral tannins that give a intensity while the fruit persistency lingers above and through to the long finish. Such delicacy yet multi-layered and full of concentration, clear ripeness and power, though delivered with suaveness and style. Tannins are firm and robust, mouthfilling, no doubt about that, but they give the structure and frame to the plush and plump fruit which also has such a crystalline purity to it. I love the intensity and also these spicy bitter dark chocolate and liquorice elements on the finish which give nuance.
96pts The Wine Independent
The 2021 Haut-Brion is medium to deep garnet-purple in color. After a swirl or two, the nose slowly awakens to reveal notes of cassis, kirsch, and juicy plums, followed by suggestions of dark chocolate, clove oil, iron ore, and garrigue. Medium-bodied, a great intensity of black and red berry flavors gradually grows in the mouth, structured with taut, grainy tannins and a lively line, finishing on a lingering, fragrant earth note.
95pts Vinous
The 2021 Haut-Brion has a very pure bouquet, quite complex with a mixture of blueberry and black cherry fruit, iris flower and violet, hints of sea spray in the background. This is more engaging that the 2021 La Mission Haut-Brion at the moment. The palate is medium bodied with pliant tannins, good fruit concentration considering the vintage, commendable salinity and a harmonious, sapid finish that is classic in style. I suspect this may well close down for a period before re-opening. Excellent.
- Neal Martin, November 2023
95pts Jane Anson
Stricter than the Mission at this early stage, with clear distiction, well balanced with grip and confidence, smoked black pepper, cloves, fennel, slate, rose stems, blackberry and cassis fruit, sculpted and concentrated. Exceptionally impressive with a clear rise from start to finish of the palate, building layers that will take it through the decades, and this is a wine to look forward to enjoying over decades to come. Harvest September 13 to October 8, with no Petit Verdot used this year. 73% new oak.
94pts Jeb Dunnuck
In comparison to its sibling La Mission Haut-Brion, the 2021 Château Haut-Brion is firmer and much more masculine, with an impressive, almost austere style in its smoky red and black fruits, salted meats, graphite, tobacco, and crushed stone-driven aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and elegant on the palate, it picks up density and suppleness with time in the glass and has plenty of tannins, a seamless, layered mouthfeel, and a great finish. It's clearly in the fresher, elegant style of the vintage, yet this brings a serious, age-worthy style that will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and evolve and drink brilliantly over the following two decades. The blend is 50.3% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11.7% Cabernet Franc, hitting 13.8% alcohol, with the elevage in 73% new French oak.
94pts Vinous
The 2021 Haut-Brion is an excellent wine. Despite its mid-weight structure, the 2021 possesses notable dynamic energy and layers of complexity that build with time in the glass. Scorched earth, leather, tobacco, incense, licorice and dried herbs are some of the many notes that open with aeration. The 2021 is a quiet, understated Haut-Brion, but all its signatures are present. Today, its not quite as showy as it was en primeur, but its a fine effort nonetheless. - Antonio Galloni, December 2023
History
Chateau Haut-Brion is the oldest and by far the smallest of the "Premiers Grands Crus" vineyards of the Gironde 1855 classification. Chateau Haut-Brion is one of the few remaining family-owned domains of the Bordeaux region with a history going back to the 16th century. It has been owned by the American Dillon family since 1935.Thanks to its long history as one of Bordeaux's most prestigious wines, the estate has left its mark on the region for centuries.
The vineyard covers an area of 51 hectares (about 126 acres). Slightly more than 48 hectares are planted with red grape varieties. The terrain at Haut-Brion, formed of two large mounds of a type of gravel known as Gunzian because it was deposited during the earliest geologic stage of the Pleistocene epoch, rises between 40 and 50 feet above the beds of the neighboring streams. This gravel consists of small stones, including various kinds of quartz, and it is these precious gems that help to give Chateau Haut-Brion's wines their distinctive character. This expansive elevated reach of gravelly terrain, bounded at the north by the Le Peugue stream and at the south by the Le Serpent stream, has been called Haut -Brion at least as far back as the early years of the fifteenth century, as evidenced by ancient maps and deeds dating from this period. The sub-soil consists of a mixture of clay and sand.
