2025 Haut Brion
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Tasting notes
The 2025 Haut-Brion was picked from September 1 (slightly later than La Mission) to September 18 at 29 hl/ha. Aged in 59% new oak, this has a very pure and elegant bouquet with ebullient brambly red fruit, crushed stone, potpourri and touches of Earl Grey. Wonderful delineation and a little more refined than, say, the 2020 or 2022. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, and there is more complexity here than La Mission, more depth and minéralité. Fresh and marine-tinged towards the finish that makes you want to come back. This year, the First Growth has put a bit of distance between itself and La Mission.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin, Vinous
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
A Merlot-forward blend of 62% Merlot, 26.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11.8% Cabernet Franc aged in 60% new French oak, the 2025 Château Haut-Brion is slightly more dense and structured compared to its sibling, La Mission. Gorgeous black cherries, graphite, scorched earth, and smoke all define the bouquet, and on the palate it's remarkably pure, with polished, serious tannins, and incredible length. Its purity, concentration, and overall sense of class are riveting.
At the moment, it takes a bit of effort to fully appreciate the aromatics. But with swirling, you find flowers, Cuban cigars, black pit fruits, blackberries, smoke, mesquite, blue fruits, herbs, and exotic spices. On the palate, the fruit purity will knock out any wine taster. Elegant, silky, long, and precise, the seamless finish starts slowly and builds from there. Seamless in its delivery, this is a sublime vintage for Haut Brion. The wine was shaped in part by its dry summer and August rains, which lowered the ABV level and provided more lift to the concentrated berries. The wine blends 62% Merlot, 26.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11.8% Cabernet Franc. 13% ABV, 3.7 pH. Picking took place September 1 - September 18. Yields were 29 hectoliters per hectare.
Haut-Brion delivers a red with great structure and length and superb intensity and power. It is a full-bodied red with character and depth, giving it endless length. Muscular yet polished and agile. Juicy at the end. 62% merlot, 26.2% cabernet sauvignon and 11.8% cabernet franc.
About the producer
Ch. Haut-Brion is the only classified growth in Pessac-Léognan. One of the five First Growths, it is renowned for producing both exceptional reds and whites. Along with its sister estate, Ch. la Mission Haut-Brion, it is part of the Clarence Dillon stable.