2018 Château Barde-Haut
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Tasting notes
The 2018 Barde-Haut has a vibrant bouquet with blackberry, raspberry preserve, briary and crushed rock, very perfumed and pure. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy black fruit, fine acidity, white pepper and a touch of fennel combining beautifully. A little savoriness comes through on the finely proportioned finish. Excellent. Tasted at the Barde-Haut vertical at the château.
Critic scores
James Suckling
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2018 Barde-Haut is very pure and harmonious on the nose, offering a mixture of black cherries, blueberry, iris petals and a touch of India ink. It is backward but well defined and focused. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannins, perhaps more structured than I expected, although that bodes well for long-term aging. There is a lovely saline aftertaste. Cellar this for 3–4 years before broaching and you should have a winning Saint-Émilion.
Showing brilliantly, the 2018 Château Barde-Haut comes from a beautiful, cooler terroir on the eastern side of Saint-Emilion. It has a wonderful sense of purity and elegance as well as ripe black cherry and blueberry fruits to go with medium to full-bodied aromas and flavors of chocolate, spring flowers, violets, and a kiss of chalky minerality. It's beautifully balanced and has ultra-fine tannins as well as a gorgeous finish. It reminds me of the 2016, with maybe a touch more up-front charm. Give it 4-5 years if you can (it's drinking beautifully today as well) and it's going to evolve for 20-25 years or more.