2022 Les Carmes Haut Brion
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Tasting notes
Guillaume Pouthier’s 2022 Grand Vin is astounding – a wine that is a triumph in the face of the year’s hot, dry conditions. But it’s no accident – with masterful work in the vineyard and winery leading to the impressive result, including 70% whole-bunch fermentation. The resulting wine is pretty and delicate, with aromatics that shift from creamy, sweet notes to spicy pepper, to peony florals and juicy bright fruit. It dances across the palate, the fine-textured tannin like layers of tulle that coat the crunchy core of concentrated fruit. There’s incredible tension, with a mineral thread holding everything in place. A wine of glorious finesse. Just 13.5% alcohol, aged in 70% new barrique, 20% foudre and 10% amphora. Blend: 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Yohan Castaing, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2022 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is more fruit-forward on the nose: blackberry, raspberry and light violet scents with a patina of new oak still to be subsumed. The palate is medium-bodied with a pastille-like purity. Strangely one-dimensional, almost like a cordial on the finish, I am not convinced this is 100% representative and will not score based on this. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.
The 2022 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is the finest wine bottled to date at this estate under Patrice Pichet's ownership and Guillaume Pouthier's direction. Unfurling from the glass with aromas of violet, iris, dark wild berries, pencil lead and mulberries, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated with a deep core of fruit beautifully framed by velvety, precise tannins, segueing into a long, saline and perfumed finish. Suave and harmonious, it was crafted with 70% whole bunches and matured in 70% new oak. This unconventional blend of 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot represents a turning point for the estate, cementing its rapid ascendancy in the Bordeaux firmament.
The 2022 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion checks in as a blend of 42% Cabernet Franc, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance Merlot that saw plenty of stems in the ferments and 20 months in 80% new barrels. Its deeper ruby/purple hue is followed by a sumptuous nose of red, blue, and black fruits, as well as leafy herbs, darker chocolate, crushed stone, and almost bloody, iron-like nuances. I love its overall balance on the palate, and it's medium to full-bodied, has a pure, layered mouthfeel, beautifully integrated tannins, and a great finish. It shows the class of this great terroir and will benefit from 4-6 years of bottle age and still be drinking well in 30-40 years. You'd be hard-pressed to describe this as Bordeaux in a blind tasting today, yet I have no doubt it will develop more and more classic Graves character over the coming decade. It’s a sensational, singular wine.
About the producer
One of the most exciting properties in Bordeaux, Les Carmes Haut-Brion technically sits within the city’s limits today. Guillaume Pouthier arrived in 2012 and, under his tenure, the property has been elevated to the highest ranks.