"I love its overall balance...It checks in at 13% alcohol...and this is just loaded with charm and character. 96-98 points" jebdunnock.com

Released this afternoon at £429 per six bottles in bond, the 2025 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion has earned scores of up to a potential 100 points from James Suckling. Alongside Château Haut-Bailly, it stands out as a strong contender not only for the best-value wine in Pessac-Léognan, but arguably for the entire 2025 Bordeaux vintage. Combining remarkable critical acclaim with a release price that remains accessible by comparison with many of its peers, this is a wine that should be firmly on collectors’ radar.

This small estate in Pessac-Léognan was once part of Haut-Brion itself. At around 10 hectares, the scale here is more akin to a right bank estate. The château was established over 400 years ago and was once owned by Carmelite monks, providing the name. Now privately owned, by property developer Patrice Pichet, the winemaker is Guillaume Pouthier. Pouthier previously worked with biodynamic wine guru, Michel Chapoutier.

Pouthier has an impressive, modernistic winery to work in, designed by Philippe Starck, and is one of very few Bordeaux winemakers we know of to use whole-bunch fermentation. Widely used in Burgundy, this method is usually seen as unsuited to the thicker skins and higher tannin levels of Bordeaux grape varieties, but Pouthier combines this with a gentle extraction (or 'infusion', another term more associated with burgundy) and ageing in a mix of oak barrels, vats, and amphorae.

Offered en primeur, very limited availability.  Landing spring 2028.

Magnums available with £25 ex-VAT bottling surcharge per six, please enquire for other formats.

All previous offers of 2025 Bordeaux can be found here.