2011 Château Haut-Bailly
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Tasting notes
This is precise, welcoming, graceful, full of crayon and graphite notes. Coming into its drinking window now, and the ash, campfire and cigar box aromatics of Haut-Bailly, along with iris flowers, blueberry and cassis fruit, and an elegant, drawn out finish are reason enough to explore a vintage that is often overlooked. Harvest 9 to 29 September, Denis Dubourdieu consultant.
Critic scores
Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
The 2011 Château Haut-Bailly has tough shoes to fill following the 2009 and 2010, yet it's clearly an outstanding wine. More medium-bodied, focused, and firm, yet with a complex, layered style, it shows the tannins on the vintage, but the overall balance here is spot on and it has beautiful purity of fruit. It's not one to hide away in the cellar, but it will unquestionably evolve gracefully over the coming decade.
The 2011 Haut-Bailly has a much more conservative bouquet than the previous two vintages: pretty black, earthy fruit mingling with cedar and tobacco, though it does not possess enormous vigour. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, balsamic infused black fruit. it is grippy towards the finish but missing the amplitude of a truly great Haut-Bailly. This has its ankles tied together by the growing season. Tasted at the Haut-Bailly vertical at the château.
Tasted blind. Light and fresh with quite a bit of tannin on the end. Will the fruit last long enough? (JR)
About the producer
Quality at this château, now one of Pessac-Léognan’s leading wine estates, has risen exponentially under the reign of Véronique Sanders, with the property known for crafting wines of elegance and poise.