2022 Chateau Haut Bailly - Grand Cru Classe Pessac-Leognan

Decanter.com – 96 pts – GH: *Fragranced nose, purple fruits, blackcurrants, juniper, liquorice, crushed stones, salt, violets, roses, dark chocolate and cherries - perfumed, alive and expressive. Smooth, but generous with crunchy fruit and salty touches that come in and coat the super fine tannins with a powdery sensation that really fills the mouth. Nice terroir aspects, smooth, well textured and elegantly weighted. Gives dark fruit, subtle savoury tones with dark chocolate and herbal aspects giving nuance. Excellent length and freshness, it's graceful but almost a bit light in terms of fruit density and plushness - although the tannins are exceptional, really so sleek and silky with definition and detail. Feels well worked, gentle, confident and shiny. It's missing a touch more excitement and juicy liveliness but it’s extremely finessed and you can't fault the attention to detail of the tannins and the moreish quality they give. Great potential. 3.92pH. 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. A yield of 30hl/ha. Consultants Christophe Olivier and Axel Marchal. Harvest 7-27 September.* - 04/2023

Falstaff Magazin – 97 pts – PM: *Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, dezente Ockerrandaufhellung. Zart nach kandierten Veilchen, Lakritze, dunkle Kirschfrucht, ein Hauch von Mandarinenzesten, ein Hauch von Kräuterwürze und Edelholz. Kraftvoll, elegant, reife Kirschen, feine Extraktsüße, ein Hauch von Schokolade, ausgewogen und lange anhaftend, sicheres Reifepotenzial.* - 01/2023

Vinum Magazin – 19/20 pts: *Immense aromatische Komplexität; ungewohnt wuchtiger Auftakt, gemächliche Entwicklung über erstklassigem, perfekt eingebundenem Tannin, grosse, fruchtige Länge, präsentes, aber perfekt abgefangenes Feuer; besonderer Haut-Bailly von geradezu biblischen Dimensionen., der unbedingt reifen muss.* - 04/2023

WeinWisser – 19/20pts – GL, TW: *56 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 37 % Merlot, 5 % Petit Verdot, 2 % Cabernet Franc, 30 hl/ha. Dicht verwobenes Bouquet, sublime Art, feingliedrig, rotbeerige Konturen, verführerisches Irisparfüm, schwarze Pfefferkörner, dunkle Mineralik und Lakritze. Am sublimen Gaumen mit seidiger Textur, kakaoartigem Tanningerüst, balancierter Rasse, salzigem Extrakt und perfekt geformtem Körper. Im konzentrierten, langanhaltenden Finale schwarzbeerige Konturen, Koriander, Eisenkraut und erhabene Adstringenz. Ein pures Finessenpaket mit hohem Lagerpotenzial. WOW – das ist der beste Wein aus Léognan.* – 04/2023

Vinous.com – (93-96) pts – AG: *The 2022 Haut-Bailly is dark and quite brooding in bearing. The natural intensity of small grapes comes through in the wine’s dark fruit and firm, imposing tannins. Black cherry, gravel, cloves, cured meats, licorice, incense and charcoal embers add to an impression of virile thrust. I imagine the 2022 will take some time to come together, as the tannins are pretty forbidding at this stage.* - 04/2023

Vinous.com – (96-98) pts – NM: *The 2022 Haut-Bailly was picked between 7 and 27 September and underwent a four-week cuvaison, taking longer to consume the sugar and was matured in 50% new oak. It has a bouquet that compels you just to sit and contemplate. It gradually unfolds with blackberry, raspberry, potpourri and iris flower scents, well-defined, not showy but suave. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins. Minerals, black pepper and clove off a gentle grip with an impressive crescendo. It will need a decade in bottle. This Haut-Bailly has a haunting beauty, the kind of wine that will bring people to tears!* - 04/2023

Thewinecellarinsider.com – (98-100) pts – JL: *Initially, you find a display of flowers before moving on to all of its cigar wrapper, spice, blackberry, currant, black cherry, smoke, and hints of forest leaf in the perfume. Deeply concentrated, vibrant, and refined, the palate is packed with multiple-layers of perfectly, ripe, red fruits, a fabulous sense of purity, silky, soft, polished tannins, and ample lift in the finish, providing the backdrop to age, and evolve for decades. The wine blends 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Petit Verdot. 14.5% ABV, pH 3.92. Picking took place September 7 - September 27. The yields were only 30 hectoliters per hectare. This is in serious contention as the best vintage ever produced at Haut Bailly. Drink from 2027-2060.* - 05/2023