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"The 2024 is a super-classy Haut-Brion. There's gorgeous substance here. 2034 - 2054." Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com, on 2024 Haut-Brion

"Fresh and vibrant, this La Mission feels very cohesive and sophisticated...its noticeable complexity is a cut above. 2031 - 2050." Neal Martin, Vinous.com on La Mission

Released this morning for sale en primeur, 2024 Château Haut-Brion is offered at £1,440 per six bottles in bond, a reduction of 23.8% on the '23 opening price.  This also makes it less than half the price of the '22.  The critics are in general agreement that this is a classic, complex, and layered Haut-Brion, perhaps missing some of the depth and concentration of a great vintage, but otherwise a worthy expression of the château that will also be long-lived.  If you are likely ever to want to add this wine to your cellar to drink and enjoy yourself, the price of the '24 is attractive.

Offered at £870 per six, Haut-Brion's neighbour and sibling-estate La Mission Haut-Brion is also released and scores 94-96 points from Lisa Perotti-Brown MW, with Neal Martin commenting on its freshness and complexity.  The offer price sets it at 21.6% below the 2023 opening price.

Please let us know if you would like to add Haut-Brion or La Mission to your cellar.

Offered en primeur, on allocation.  Landing spring 2027.

Magnums available with £20 ex-VAT bottling surcharge per six, please enquire for other formats.

All previous offers of 2024 Bordeaux can be found here.

 

 

Producer Profile

Château Haut-Brion

Château Haut-Brion is a Premier Grand Cru Classé de Graves estate in the communes of Pessac-Léognan.   The name derives from the Celtic word 'Briga', or mound (hence 'high' or 'raised mound').   There is evidence of a vineyard here since the 1st century AD, but records from 1521 onwards show the winery producing a vintage each year, making this the oldest continuously working winery in Bordeaux.  In 1525 Jean de Pontac became the owner of the estate in 1549.  He began construction of the château which still stands today.  The terms 'cru' and 'Aubrion' began to appear regularly in records at this time. 

On April 10th 1663, Pepys wrote his famous 'review' of the wine in his diary, having tasted it at The Royal Oak Tavern, in Lombard Street in the City of London: “There I drank a sort of French wine called Ho-Bryan that hath a good and most particular taste I never met with.”  A few years later and just after the Great Fire of London in 1666Arnaud de Pontac sent a retainer to London to open The Pontac's Head, also in Lombard Street, selling mosty Haut-Brion wines but also other clarets from the Pontac family.  For some years 'Haut-Brion' and 'Pontack' became interchangeable names.  Pontack's itself continued into the 1780s.

Haut-Brion introduced two innovations that influenced winemaking across Bordeaux; ageing in barrel and topping up of wines in barrel.  The first process adds wood tannins and allows for carefully controlled oxidative ageing, which gives long ageing potential.  The latter is essential to preserve the wines in the barrel whilst this occurs.   

Haut-Brion had various owners in the nineteenth century including the famous foreign minister Talleyrand.  In 1935 it was purchased by the American financier, Clarence Dillon.  His daughter Joan Dillon married Prince Charles of Luxembourg.  After Charles died in 1978, Princess Joan married a French aristocrat, the Duke de Mouchy.  Princess Joan and the Duke de Mouchy ran the estate until 2008, when Joan's son Prince Robert of Luxembourg took over.

Haut-Brion is very close to the city of Bordeaux.  The 50 ha of vineyards are planted on deep gravel soils with deposits of clay, to 45.4% Merlot, 43.9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9.7% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.  The second wine was previously named Bahans de Haut-Brion and was a non-vintage wine, blending the product of more than one vintage as required.  In 2007 it was renamed Le Clarence de Haut-Brion, on the 75th anniversary of the purchase by the Dillon family.  Haut-Brion and neighbouring La Mission Haut-Brion (also owned by the family) are managed by Jean-Philippe Delmas, the second generation in his family in this role.

Château La Mission Haut-Brion is a Grand Cru Classé de Graves estate in the communes of Pessac-Léognan.  The estate dates to the 16th century, when it was first purchased by Jean de Pontac in 1533, shortly after Haut-Brion itself came into his ownership by marriage.  It subsequently passed out of the Pontac family and from 1664 was owned by the Catholic Church, in particular the monastic order of the Lazarite brothers of the Prêcheurs de la Mission, who continued to make the wine, very adeptly. 

In 1698, a small chapel was built, known as Notre Dame de La Mission.  The actual château was built in 1713.  After the French Revolution, it passed again from the Church to private hands and was owned until 1983 by the Woltner family.  Since that time it has been part of Domaines Dillons.

In the nineteenth century La Mission was regarded almost as highly as the First Growths, but was not included in the 1855 Classification (Haut-Brion itself was the only non-Left Bank wine included).

The 30.7-hectare vineyard has 27 hectares planted for red wine grapes and 3.7 hectares reserved for white wine grape varieties. The red vineyard is planted to 45.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43.8% Merlot and 10.4% Cabernet Franc. The white wine is La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc.  A second wine is also produced, La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion.

 
RED 2024 Château Haut Brion 75cl £1,440 per case of 6 Château Haut Brion
2024 / / 75cl
£1,440 per case of 6
IB
Tasting Notes"Medium to full intensity, takes its time to open, this is carefully built, slow and steady in its expression, textured, restrained, cocoa bean, espresso, redcurrant, orchard, sage, bilberry. Very much a classical style of Haut-Brion that will I am sure give great pleasure after a decade in bottle - not as monumental as some, but don't count this out - there are all the bones of this exceptional wine, and the tannic architecture will widen over ageing. 1.7% press, 75% new oak, 26hl/h yield, Jean-Pierre Masclef technical director and Jean-Pierre Delmas estate director. 94 points" janeanson.com------"The 2024 Haut-Brion is more perfumed than La Mission Haut-Brion, unfurling in the glass with aromas of raspberries, cassis, dark berries and spices mingled with elegantly floral touches. Medium to full-bodied, layered and sappy, it has a firm texture and powdery tannins, leading to a long, spicy and lead pencil-inflected finish. Composed of 47.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37.5% Merlot and 15.3% Cabernet Franc, this vintage features one of the highest proportions of Cabernet Franc in recent years—comparable to vintages such as 1993, 2004, 2010, 2011 and 2020—and should gain harmony with the élevage. In the context of the vintage, this is a notable success, owing in large part to Haut-Brion’s intramural position in Pessac, where the estate’s terroir benefits from slightly warmer average temperatures than properties located outside the city, contributing to more complete ripening of the grapes. 93-95 points" Yohan Castaing, RobertParker.com------"The 2024 Haut-Brion, which contains more Cabernet Franc this year from a high-performing vat, has an altogether more polished, powerful and fruit-driven bouquet than La Mission at the moment. Black and blue fruit, black olive and subtle sea spray scents emerge with time in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied, vibrant and focused, with fine tannins and an engaging underlying sapidity coming through with more weight and sustain on the finish. This is a very capable Haut-Brion that will not kowtow to the challenges of the 2024 season—rather, it seems to relish them. 2030 - 2055. 93-95 points" Neal Martin, Vinous.com------"The 2024 Haut-Brion is dark and brooding in demeanor, but obviously not as tannic or forbidding as it can be in the early going. All the Haut-Brion signatures are very much present, but they're portrayed in a decidedly understated style that speaks to the personality of the year. Black fruit, scorched earth, spice, tobacco and leather build with time in the glass. The 2024 is a super-classy Haut-Brion. There's gorgeous substance here. 2034 - 2054. 94-96 points" Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com------"Deep garnet-purple colored. Needs a lot of shaking to wake up scents of crushed black currants, red currant jelly, and boysenberries, followed by hints of Sichuan pepper, garrigue, and crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate has a firm texture of ripe, fine-grained tannins and great freshness framing the tightly wound, mineral-laced fruits, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. 95-97 points" Lisa Perotti-Brown, The Wine Independent ------"I wouldn't be surprised to see the 2024 Château Haut-Brion be the wine of the vintage, and while it's not going to make you forget any of the recent truly great releases, it has more depth, suppleness, and charm than the vast majority of wines in the vintage. Ripe blackcurrants, scorched earth, graphite, crushed stone, and violets all define the aromatics, and it has nicely integrated oak, a layered, ripe, seamless mouthfeel, and building tannins. It's a beautiful, layered, elegant Haut-Brion. 95-97 points" Jebdunnuck.com------"This year, the style of Haut Brion shows through with transparency, beautiful balance and precision. Fine austerity, with excellent minerality, dark olives and red and dark berries. Structured on the mid-palate. Beautiful depth for the vintage, with really fine-grained tannins and a lengthy finish that lingers. So much vibrancy and finesse. A classic vintage. 97-98 points" jamessuckling.com

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