Decanted approximately 2-2.5 hours before serving. Deep garnet colour with light bricking, apparent but silky tannins, absolute powerhouse wine showing cedar, tobacco, dark fruit, kept evolving and improving in the glass. Drinking well after a long decant, but should only improve with 5+ more years. Beautiful wine (94-95)
The one with Old Bordeaux (Praelum): Double decanted to remove sediments 3 hours before drinking and it seemed to have helped this bottle shed some baby fat. Out of the gates this was firing with alternating waves of black fruit and red fruit with smoke, earth, graphite and baking spices. This is fresh and youthful on the palate with leather, truffles, black fruit. This is dense and complex today already but I would keep my remaining to revisit in 5-10 years time! I can only imagine how tightly wound this would have otherwise been without the decant.
Slight mushroom cloaking the wine. Beneath the mushroom pure focused blackberry fruit. Great depth and complexity. Drinking beautifully now, will last another 2 decades.
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HB never disappoints. Straight after popping the cork the aromatics are firing off. Red and black fruit with fresh tobacco, new leather, exotic spices, pencil shavings, and wet rocks. On the palate this is med- body, med+ acid, and med+ tannin. The acidity is zippy and keeps the fruit lively. I would think more integration at this point but the wine still seems crazy young. Delicious, needs some air. Try again in another 3-5 years.
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Classic Cab Driven Nose, Palate doesn’t show what i expect from a Haut Brion. Thin Mid Palate, a bit diluted, doesnt posses the richness and weight of a 1st growth Need a lot of air before opening up (+- 4 Hours) Tannins still present with unpleasant acidity.
Bad bottles perhaps?
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Four Decades of Left Bank Bordeaux with Friends (New York): This bottle was slow oxidised for three hours prior to tasting it and it needed every minute of it (as the review below me confirms). Restrained upon first tasting it, this bottle was singing after it got some air time, showing off a lot of the characteristics I've come to love from the 1995 vintage. There was an exuberance to the nose that was brought out through scents of mountain pine and menthol, balanced out by typical smokiness from Pessac-Léognan and a hint of bell pepper. The palate was oozing power as an inkiness medlied with blackberries on the upfront before the mid-palate was dominated by notes of dark chocolate, licorice and earthiness. The finish was lively and long as cocoa and pepper gave us the indication that this wine has decades left in its life. A great experience to enjoy this right at the beginning of its drinking window.
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It took at least 3 hours to start softening. Even then, it retains its firm, strict attitude. With effort, and patience it takes time before the tobacco, cocoa, herb, red plum, red currant and smoke notes appear. The palate has fruit, but it’s clearly an old-school, classical styled fruit was a tannic edge. Drink from 2024-2050.
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Fantastic showing, medium ruby-rust; very aromatic, spices, earthy, tobacco,old leather, pot-pouri; beautiful wine out of the gate but turned a bit dried out, slight oxy and sour note after a short time. Showing older than 1995 (guessed '86) 92? DD Blind 1982-2005 Bordeaux 1st Growth dinner at BOA steakhouse. My #3 wine and #3 overall. Great first flight of 3 including 95 Haut Brion, 83 Margaux, 02 Mouton.
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Beautiful. Head-to-head against a ‘95 Ausone. Decanted 3 hours. Perfect nose. Tannins in the right spot. Could it get even better in a few years? Maybe.
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2024 New Year's Day Double Blind Tasting: Double-blind. Wonderful nose of tobacco, cedar, tar with dusty tannin. This really opened up by the end of the night. This is a very clean wine from a solid left bank vintage. Great wine that is just entering its maturity window but can age for many many more. A noble wine. I called it as my wine and I was correct.
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This bottle showing a bit more maturity than my last and a touch of brett was noticeable but not obtrusive. Quite layered and complex with classic notes of warm bricks, reddish fruit and tobacco road. Somewhat full-bodied and even decadent with a very complex finish.
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Youthful dark ruby in color with very light bricking towards the edges. After ~2h of time in the decanter the nose unfurls with aromas of black fruits, hint of cigar-ash, spice and forest-floor. The extremely well balanced palate shows silky and supple reddish black fruits, hint of a savory tobacco smoke, medium acidity, fully resolved tannins and a very long finish. Superb and regal!
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Delightful yet again. The classic Haut Brion smokiness and wet wood undertone with that black red fruit vein reaching through every glass. A nose that kills! The wine receded after 15 minutes into a thinner mid-palate mouthfeel but then re-emerged after another 15 minutes into a more textured and complex delivery. Full dark cherry notes along with hints of sous bois. A winner.
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Haut Brion in almost perfect form (not as great as the 1964 or 1967) , a tiny bit youthful on the edges (tannin), but full of that Graves Smokey,warm, mellifluous forest cover with old wood, black cherry, and a full full finish. Not decanted.
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Yes folks, this gets the full Annette with stiffy clusters. A quick Google search suggests Rebecca Bardoux might be the Bordeaux equivalent of the Rhenish Annette, or might it be algorithmic spelling issues? Well, Rebecca appears to be rather chic and nicely built, so she will do. She also seems like the sort of gal who will always be nice.
The thing with really fine Bordeaux is that is, well, really fine. No 75 gigaton blast of baked fruit and oak staves here. It can be easy to open and think 'oh! Is that it then?'. Of course, unless you are a really obtuse swine, you then find yourself drawn back despite yourself and you start to see the amazing layers and the beauty. Hegel loved Haut Brion and one can see why.
The wine is brick red, but the colour misleads. This is not tired, or even fully mature. The very best years of this wine still lie a few years ahead, cork and cellar conditions allowing.
It is important to note that this wine evolves enormously over time open and decanted. The wine you get at first does seem fully mature and a few hours later you would also say the tannins are fully resolved. Yet at 5 hours the wine is freshening up and tightening up.
The nose is a compote of dark and red fruits, truffles, a little smoke, pepper and spice. Depending on when you smell this, the proportions will change but the elements themselves are fairly consistent.
The 1995 vintage was a bit like 1975; coming after a series of horrid ones it got rave reviews at first, simply because it was not awful. However, with time came the realisation that a lot of 1995's had mean tannins and the vintage, properly considered was not great, but was good, provided one chose carefully. Haut Brion bucked this trend by producing a spectacular wine. It was feted then and it still is.
Pay attention to the layers on the palate, because this is one of the things I find beguiling about this wine. The fine architecture of wine.
This is string quartet music. Late Beethoven, perhaps. We can argue about Opus 131 or 133. Schubert asked to hear 131 before he died and Wagner described it in glowing terms, but I am with Stravinsky and it is the 'Grosse Fugue' that calls to me and that seems the perfect accompaniment for this wine. Please do listen to these two extraordinary pieces of music as you drink this wine, because combined they open doors.
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Wife and I celebrated with this bottle and a pepper coated filet mignon. Extremely happy with our timing. Absolutely at its peak. Decanted for three hours in the glass. Silky with cedar,and pipe tobacco. DRINK NOW!
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Black core, medium red rim . Briary spice, dark tar spice, deep cassis fragrance. Silky, rounded, developed flavours mingle with pure cassis, delicious cigar box cedary complexity. Fine acidity and very fine tannins. Open for business, no sense waiting.
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This really blossomed in the glass after a 5-hour double-decant and showed a smoky edge to go along with the dark red fruit and wonderful spicy complexity just emerging. Full-bodied for HB with great depth and power and enough class and elegance despite a vintage in Bordeaux that often lacks those qualities. Just entering it's drinking window but more to come here. At Commanderie Candidate's dinner at the University Club, NYC. 96+
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5 hours slow ox was not enough. Still emerging after 7 hours. A lot of dense black and blue fruits for what is sometimes referred to as a leaner vintage than the '96s. The nose was the most explosive of the night with plenty of tar and tobacco on top of black currant. The density and still relative youth of the wine, however, seemed to be keeping its best elements tightly wound, although it was very smooth. The wine is not near its apogee with loads of improvement expected. I'll revisit it in a handful of years.
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Steak Dinner with Great Wine (Asador Bastian - Chicago IL): Black plum and cherry with good meaty spice and good enough weight, even if not quite at the level I expect from Haut-Brion in a vintage as well as 1995s are tasting today.
Medium body, elegant, long finish 1.5 hours in decanter—probably should have been a bit longer. In the glass, it was initially thin on mid palate but filled out as time went on. By end of meal, just terrific, elegant, and long.
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nose - char, mushroom mouth - savory, hickory, loads of dark fruit and still very fresh, I often find HB to have a smoky essence, and here , after some time, it grew on me, and I found myself quite enamored.
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Decanted 2 hours. The cork was fresh and smelled heavenly. Drank with lamb chops and felafel, with sides of tahini sauce and babaganoush. Drank like a perfume. Lovely cherry core surrounded by earth, mushroom, minerals, steel, cedar. The finish was light, not heavy like these good ones from California. What a spectacular wine.
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Deep garnet red still intense flavors complex cherry and blackberry a hind of cedar wood and ink. Full bodied with soft textured tannins and very good length
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PnP and followed for several hours, filled out a bit with an hour of air. Blackcurrants, red cherry, plums, smoke, cigar box, earth, tobacco, and graphite on the nose. Tart cherry, plums, tobacco, earth, graphite, and a number of hard to identify complex flavors. Very nice acidity, mostly resolved tannins, long finish. There was a little leftover on the second day that offered a slightly meaty, bloody taste that was interesting. What a treat to drink a wine like this.
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Ten Vintages Haut Bailly vs Mission HB: Preamble: All wines tasted blind in 10 vintage flights (1994-2015). To every flight one random third wine from Pessac Leognan added (2x Haut Brion, 2x Smith, 2x Pape Clement, 1x Branon, 1x Luchy Halde, 1x Carmes, 1x Chevalier). All wines opened a few hours before consumption but no decanting.
Some findings: 1) Haut Bailly outperformed Mission (5 vs 4 wins, 92.5 vs 90.5 average). 2) Haut Bailly is a rather structured wine which seems to shine bright in ripe and warm vintages, without any form of excess ripeness or extraction. 3) When done right (05/15), Mission eclipses Haut Bailly with its depth and delineation , but several vintages showed a bit too ripe but especially with the alcohol not well masked (09/10). 4) Pessac wines usually need quite some air to open up. In this setting (no decanting), most wines needed a lot of swirling to fully open up and will need more cellar time. 5) The best wines today were Haut Bailly 09 (96pts) & 10 (95pts) and Mission 05 & 15 (95pts).
TN: Intense, intriguing nose with dark and dark red fruit, strong fruit core, some candied and burnt sugar notes with an overall muscular impression. On the palate this shows a lot of tension with not yet fully round tannins. The wine is mainly driven by minerality, some stems, green bell pepper, ashes and smoke. Some first tertiarty tobacco notes are emerging. High acidity but well integrated. Overall good but missing a touch of roundness. This has certainly the substance to develop into a very good wine. While good today, this could become a 95+ pts wine in another 5 to 10 years with a more melted structure and more tertiary complexity. The Mission in the next glass reached the same 93pts level today as it showed more mature and round but it doesn’t have the same life expectancy and will not reach the same heights.
Decanting: Two+ hours should certainly help.
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The more I taste this wine, the more I like it. This is one of the few 95s that do not typify the austerity of the vintage. Full-bodied, concentrated and aromatic, with a nose of smoke, cigar wrapper, burning forest leaves, and currants, the is loaded with fresh currants, herbs, cedar, and tobacco on the palate. You find good length and energy making you want to enjoy another sniff and sip. Drink from 2022-2050.
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Decanted two hours. Lovely, classy nose of black cherry, cigar box and truffle. The palate is medium to full bodied and in a great place right now. A little bricking, excellent intensity and persistence, very good acidity and balance, long complex finish. This seems to go from strength to strength as it ages.
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This bottle seemed fine but showed quite a bit more rusticity than the other wines with amped up intensity and lots of dark fruits and spices. Still clenched on the finish but definitely showing lovely smoky flavors with notes of road tar and tobacco. Brooding, youthful and a bit disjointed tonight. Double-decanted for 3 hours. 92?
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Opened 5h before, decanted 1h30 before drinking. Showing beautifully, peak drinking spot right now. Very nice density, very long finish on a strong savory bitterness. Slightly dry tanins. Love it
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12th of 24, opened an hour then decanted an hour, perfect level, cork quarter travelled, not as big as last week's Mission 95 and certainly leaner, but more complex and harmonious with attractive acid lift to the flavours, fine Graves typicity, violet, tar, tobacco and that scarcely definable sense of flavours rising from hot bricks, very long and elegant, possible upside and 20+ years but needs to put on more weight to improve on current VF (18.5)..........I'd put this bottle behind 96, 01, 02, 03 and of course the ethereal 89, 90 and 98 and behind La Mission 95 on potential!
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Outstanding and one of the readier 95s heavyweights out there. Deep garnet color, blackish at the core. Delicious nose of black currants, cassis, dark cherries, tobacco leaf, graphite and spiced perfume. Decanted and aerated for an hour then drank over 2 hours. Medium to full bodied this is a charmer of a 95 with lots of complexity in the dark fruits on the palate, perfect balance and acidity, envelops the mid and lower palate with dark fruits and graphite, some old leather, and a long finish. Simply marvellous.
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Remarkable Haut-Brion 1995 I opened the Chateau Haut-Brion 1995 for my 35th birthday and it was an excellent like they say. Truly world class.
The color of the wine was amazing. It was garnet and look like a medium bodied that made me so thirsty! The nose showed clearly cherry, cedar, cinnamon and cigar. I enjoyed every drop of the wine. On the palate, Haut-Brion tasted like leather, earthy, cherry. Then the finish was very minerality, stone and graphite. Very elegant and out of this world.
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What can I say. This is fabulous and in a great drinking window but still youthful. Decanted three hours. On the nose black and red fruit fruit, cigar box and lead pencil. The palate is medium to full bodied, very energetic, and shows ripe black current, tobacco and earth, finishing long and savory. Excellent.
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Gruaud Larose 94/95 We hebben het iets te warm gedronken , maar ook hier weer een verbluffende balans en evenwicht van de wijn waar de neus en mond wel deels de ouderdom liet zien , maar niets was onaangenaam of al vluchtig ! Mooi rond , je kon een warm jaar ruiken en proeven , alcohol was op een aangename manier nog steeds aanwezig , tabac , leer in de neus , het was lang de beste wijn van de avond tov mouton 22 en haut-brion 2005 ,
De Haut Brion 1995 // 90..? , die by thé way overrijp was en pruimen in de neus had ! Vraag mij af of het de wijn of de kelder was die het zo had beslist… Viel tegen ,
Mouton 2022 : 92/100 . Mouton had een zeer mooie neus met opnieuw de munt en eucalyptus, maar de mond had een veel te grote aciditeit ! Zat echt geen evenwicht in ! Mms met ouder worden zou hij nog meer in balans komen , maar dan kan de neus ook mms verdwijnen,
Petrus 1995 : 99/100 En dan kwam de verassing , we dachten dat we op 90 of 98 zaten , warmte in de neus , ik had de merlot niet geroken en dacht dat we op cabernet zaten ! strange, dit werd wel beter na verloop van tijd, mijn buur had Merlot en pomprol geroken ! sterk ! Wat ik soms met Petrus heb, is die power soms te veel; maar die was hier niet aanwezig , wat een balans , wat een finesse, wat een wijn ! in de neus had het gerookte vlees , leer en toch wat donkere fruit, maar niets dat de wijn onstabiel maakte , waarom ik op cabernet zat, was door de finesse, en de wijn was ook nogmaals lang…in de mond , what a beauty !! well done petrus
Gruaud Larose 94/95 We drank it a bit too warm, but here again an astonishing balance and equilibrium of the wine where the nose and mouth did show some age, but nothing was unpleasant or already fleeting! Nicely round, you could smell and taste a warm year, alcohol was still present in a pleasant way, tobacco, leather in the nose, it was for a long time the best wine of the evening compared to mouton 22 and haut-brion 2005,
De Haut Brion 2005 90/100..? , which by the way was overripe and had plums in the nose ! Wonder if it was the wine or the cellar that decided it so… Disappointed ,
Mouton 2022 : 92/100 . Mouton had a very nice nose with mint and eucalyptus again, but the mouth had too much acidity! Really out of balance! Maybe with age he would come into balance even more, but then the nose can also disappear,
Petrus 1995 : 99/100 And then came the surprise , we thought we were on 90 or 98 , warmth in the nose , I hadn't smelled the merlot and thought we were on cabernet ! strange, this got better over time, my neighbor had smelled Merlot and Pumpkin ! strong ! What I sometimes have with Petrus is that power sometimes too much; but that was not present here, what a balance, what finesse, what a wine! in the nose it had smoked meat, leather and still some dark fruit, but nothing that made the wine unstable , why I was on cabernet was because of the finesse, and the wine was again long…on the mouth, what a beauty ! !
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This was a star among stars this night. I'm an amateur and have tasted maybe 20 different vintages, but HB is the FG that for me consistently shows well no matter what vintage, what venue, what time of year, what crowd. Dark ruby, belies it's 26+ yrs. The viscosity is noticeable and makes the glass a pretty color to look at after a swirl. This smells like we're in for a good time. The cigar box tobacco is mild but present, juicy plum skins and berry scents. I tasted this and immediately got the savory berries and skins of dark fruit. Deep texture and relevant acid to carry the weight to the finish. I can assert this is an obviously young appearing bottle although I've had 95 only once prior, at least 10 years ago. It doesn't seem to have budged much. After an hour and a half of air, and an accompanying dish of the best lamb ever, a perfect match tonight, I was in a happy place. It really expanded and coated the palate, stimulated sensors, and put a smile on my face. Even in the presence of a 1970 Latour from 1.5L which seemed impeccably stored and was FG royalty, this HB performed well. A very respectable bottle. Thank you Bob!
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Very good though predominantly tertiary, which I was not expecting. I had this wine in the last few years and it has been far more primary, could be poor storage. The remaining fruit is brambly in nature. Mid weight, complex and long. Drinking now will last for decades.
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This bottle showed much better than the previous experience with this wine (probably was a tired bottle before). Gave it a one hour decant and it was ready to go. Inviting nose of tarr and a smell remniscent of a terrace of terracota tiles on a warm summer day. Nice balance and came across as low-ish alcohol which I like. A very symmetrical and pure wine! Drink now-2050.
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1989-2000 Top Bordeaux with Pizza (Schur House - Riverwoods IL): Single blind 1989-2000 Bordeaux. Good combination of black cherry, plum, savory spice, and meat. Still bright and fresh. Lots to enjoy here, it's just not exceptional or what I hope to get from "1er" wines. Consistent with previous bottles.
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Drank this side by side with 96 Petrus, and was more impressed with this wine. Beautiful dark ruby in colour. Notes of cassis, cedar, eucalyptus, and spice. Dry, med body, med acidity, elegant tannins. This wine still has years left on it.
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NYE dinner. A very fine bottle of HB. A bit closed since it did not receive a proper decant. Nose with red currant, cigar box, gravel, tobacco, leafy herbs, smoke, some meat, incense and graphite. Very nice indeed, and with extended swirling more and more reveals. Palate with red and black fruits, plums and currants, smoke and meaty notes. Some soil/earth and leafy notes. Silky and a long and very well balanced finish. Excellent and ready to enjoy now and for at least the next 5 - 10 years. Merry New Year Mr. Jean-Bernard Delmas where ever you are. This one was one of the really good ones you made.
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Served next to the 90. Popped and poured into a decanter than consumed over about one hour. This one was fresh, red-fruited, with fine cedar shaving tannins. Juicy and concentrated on the palate with red berries and some holiday spice. Medium plus length. Agree with the note below suggesting that this one’s just entering its drinking window as there was very little tertiary development to my taste at this point. Showing consistent with the vintage. What a treat!
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It's always amazing to come back to these First Growths, especially when they're showing this good. This was brought over by a guest at Burnt Ends and luckily a generous one. Deep garnet in the glass, still showing some youthful ruby hues on the rim. The nose feels like it's halfway there, as if there's 25 more years to go in this. A beautiful marriage of fresh fruit, oak and bottle aging notes. The body is full with so much energy remaining in it. Tannins are ripe, but not dusty like you would usually get in Bordeaux this old. The acidity is still kicking strong and is balanced perfectly with the alcohol. The tertiary notes really come out on the finish in the form of cigar box, fresh button mushrooms, smoked meat and dried red fruit. Amazing wine that will easily go for several more decades. If you think that this is at its peak, check your storing conditions.
Excellent and clearly better than the bottle a year ago. Agree with some of the below comments that this benefits from an extensive decant. (Double) decanted at home for about 2:30h and took to restaurant, where the first small sip on arrival was still a bit tight, so we gave it another hour at the restaurant in the decanter and only then this showed really well. Wonderfully fresh and light on the layered nose, on the palate the typical Graves leafiness, some tobacco and leather is nicely integrated in the fruit already, everything is so nicely balanced. Beautiful wine. Decant for 3h+ to drink now, or hold.
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48% Merlot 43% Cabernet Sauvignon 9% Cabernet Franc
Medium bricked red color, opaque, compact rim. Still youthful looking.
Aromatics of literally a smoky bomb. Best part of this wine. Unlit tobacco leaves, interestingly some smoked weed scents, sweet charred cedary oak.
Round but still quite tannic. Medium to med plus acidity, dry. Classically ripe cassis and red cherry. Graphite and mineral. Forest floor, smoke filled mouthfeel sensation. Long and sumptuous finish.
Superb wine. Complex yet not excessive. Nimble and elegant. Exude quiet confidence. This is a great wine that does not bow to fad or fashion. Capable of evolving and revealing even more complexity. This is just the beginning of the secondary peak drinkability. The drinking window is wide open. I'd say a 10 year plateau lying ahead. But if you incline to pop one now, leave this in the decanter for at least 2 hours. It needs a lot of time to stretch and come out of its shell. 94+
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Decanted 30 minutes. Plums, iodine, light graphite and some thyme on the nose - has a little sois bois as well, showing its age. Palate is smooth, with some gentle tannic grip, light-medium acidity with plum fruits, some lavender stem, graphite and olive - a real savoury, leathery undertone to the wine. A really delightful and engaging wine - plenty of depth and character. This has clearly reached full maturity. Drink now.
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Private tasting with friends. One bottle, four wine geeks. Perfect balance, but needed an hour to find together. Incredible freshness with red and dark fruit - and this cool graphite minerality contradicting the ripe silky tannins totally blowed my mind. This is not just power without weight, it´s the square of the circle.
This has enterede matiuroity, drinking window wide opened; the wine has softnede somewhat. Plenty f sweet tobacco, black fruit, a silky exteriour and great length. #AarhusVinselskab
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Decanted 1hr15. Quite an intense nose with plums, blackberries, light notes of graphite and lavender. Palate has plenty of grip with light/medium tannins, fresh acidity and a backdrop of blackcurrant and garrigue. Perhaps lacking a little depth in mid range & showing the wine has reached full maturity. Drink now.
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Open for business now and drinking beautifully with classic flavors of sweet gravel, scorched earth and tobacco. Full-bodied and expansive on the finish which is loaded with complex notes of truffles, dark chocolate, char and spice. Perhaps not the finest vintage of HB but certainly one of the most delicious! Double-decanted 5 hours.
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The 95 came out to play, and ended up with stiff competition. Yes, alongside it was opened in 1995 Chateau Trotanoy and it was very good to do a nice little 25-year-old left bank versus right bank comparison. This wine was not the winner in every category. First, the nose. Crushed rock, a hint of nitrogen but mostly dirty red cherry and black cherry notes, and lots of them. This did not seem to have a classic Bordeaux nose immediately after being opened, but instead took about an hour and a half decant before it seemed to be equal parts "Bordeaux funk" to fruit. The entry showed a big mouthfeel. Mostly chocolate-covered dirty red cherry swirling with smoke and leather that was actually rather restrained. There was some black cherry there in certain moments. The astringency did improve quite a bit after it was decanted. The finish was still on the tannic side, but had an earthy grit and stiff oak. A little bit of black pepper with excellent dirty cherry backbone. Compared to the Trotanoy, This one had less balance, less of your classic Bordeaux nose and palate (the Trotanoy was "stinkier"), although fruit intensity did catch up. Although there was some black cherry in this wine, it was mostly a lighter red cherry or bing cherry where the Trotanoy was deep black cherry from the very first moment. Overall, if I had to do it again, I probably would have opened up the 1990 and let this one sit. But, oh mama what a wine!
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Opened it to drink at home with Mrs L on the eve of her birthday. The last time we had one was 2011, and wow what a difference 10 years makes. After a run of disappointing old wines that turned out over-aged and over-waited for, here's a fine example of the benefits of patience (duh!). The nose is a dense cloud of smoked and tarred mineral red fruit, as though someone was out paving a highway with raspberries in the scorching midday sun, and you happened to drive by with the windows down. (I know I know why would you have the windows down?) On the palate, it is medium bodied, sinewy and velvety, with sweet vibrant summer fruit tightly coiled like a spring that releases with rich sparkles in the finish. From time to time, I catch a faint note of portobello mushroom, but this is not a complaint (I love mushrooms). Finely balanced, and rich without the slightest hint of weight, this wine is a fully grown beauty. I have just one more bottle, tucked away for 2031, but I'm already thinking: carpe diem
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Light ruby color. Red tart fruits, stone, mineral, flint, light barnyard and hay. Subtle and graceful on the palate and surprisingly approachable. Smokey, blood orange, rock and light floral notes. This wine is extremely enjoyable and should be for years.
Magnum. Cork was perfect. Fill level good. Decanted for 2 hours. Beautiful color. Lovely on the nose with fine sawdust wood. Dark plum, touch of tobacco, cedar bark, sandal wood. Fine grained tannins on the finish that lasted and lingered. First was without food. Second glass was with wild mushroom gnocchi. Perfect pairing.
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W beef goulash. Gerry and Renee brought this during CoVID. (also brought a Corton Charlemangne which was superb(same vintage). This was astoundingly young and fresh. Probably neede some more decant than half hour. Developed very nicely during meal with superb fruit and balance. Long finish. This will probably be even better 5 yrsfrom now.
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11th of 24, opened 3 hours, decanted one hour, perfect cork and level, as predicted in note to last bottle in March 18, putting on weight and showing more fruit flavours alongside recognisable brick and tar notes of Graves and HB, edged excellent Cheval 95 but behind 89, 98 and possibly 01, upside yet. VF (18.5).
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Drinking from a split after double decanting. Red fruits, earth, violets and flint. Soft body and mouthfeel. Has a light, linear taste that maybe needs more time. Out of the first growths, this always seems like the Pinot/burgundy style. Kudos to Haut Brion for putting the vintage on the top of the capsule.
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I like how this continues developing. One of the top wines of the vintage, as it is able to overcome the strong tannic overbite found in many wines, here you find a glorious smoke, crushed rock, leaf, cassis and dark red berry nose. The tannins are subdued, the wine shows a refined, elegant character with a smoky, red berry filled finish. This can be enjoyed now with only an hour or so of decanting. Else, wait another 5 years and it will more nuances on the nose and palate.
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Opened and let breathe an hour and drank over 2-3 hours. Still young. Lots of dark fruits, sauvage, blackberries, pencil, leather, tobacco and some funk. Texturally very pleasing. Better with air - next time I would do a short decant of 30-45 mins. Gains complexity with air and time. This is great now but will also be in another 10 years.
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Double-decanted 4 hours before consumption. Wonderful HB nose of smoky gravel and tobacco road. Tasted alongside the '96, this was typical of the vintage difference with the '95 showing a fuller mid-palate and more decadent flavors of sweet tobacco and smoky dark fruits. The tannins are full and more rustic than the '96 and the finish is still a bit tight and in need of more time. I don't mind this style of Haut Brion and I think it needs at least 5 more years to reach peak. A bigger wine than the '96 but not as refined. Perfect bottle. 94+
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Pulled cork in the morning to check if the wine was ok, and then pushed cork back for birthday dinner. 90min decant at restaurant. Wonderful nose, not rich but very precise with dark fruit, wood spices and some forest floor, on the palate this is however fairly lean, cant find much depth, elevated acidity, medium (-) tannins. Medium finish. Nose 94-95, palate 92 Since we did not finish the bottle, the sommelier poured the remaining 1/3 back into the bottle and we put it in the fridge drank it 24h hours later. The wine does not show much evolution. The nose is still great, on the palate perhaps a touch more fruit, tobacco notes, the tannins are still there. This will for sure last for decades but not sure it will improve much and turn into a truly great left bank Bdx. Hmmm
Very elegant and restrained. Still quite primary, feels like there is a lot in there that is yet to come out. We didn’t give it much air and probably should have. Delicious, but I would like to try it again in 5 years.
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Double decanted two hours before dinner; fill was perfect and the cork pristine. Haut Brion Vertical 1985, 1988, 1995. Medium garnet with no bricking. Notes of dried plums, blackberry, cedar, tobacco, campfire, black truffle and earth. Medium bodied, with a velvety texture, ripe and round tannins, incredible depth, excellent concentration, and a long and silky finish. A great showing, and and more "modern" in style when compared to the 1988 and 1985. Has evolved considerably since the last time I tasted in 2010, but will certainly improve until 2030 where well stored. 2 bottles came from my Cellar, Chaine dinner at June BYOB.
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Must be well over a decade since I last had this - time happens much too fast. Since then it's segued from something glossy with ripe black fruits into a (nearly) mature Haut-Brion with a rusty red complexion, intense scorched earth, campfire wood, and mesquite smoke - textbook for the property and for Graves in general. The texture is cashmere refined through most of the bottle but does firm up and turn grittier towards the end, so this still has a little bit of the way to go before the peak, but everything is here and on full display.
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Holiday Dinner - Champ, Keller, Hermitage Blanc, Barolo and Bordeaux (Bourbon Steak, Washington D.C.): The 95 HB is a fascinating wine that is very ripe and concentrated yet also slightly green. Incredibly youthful nose displaying intense black fruits, creme de cassis, blackberry jelly, caramel, lactic, ash and crushed rose petal mix, strong lead pencil, tobacco, sweet spices and limestone dust mineral. Exceptional concentration, layers upon layers of intense youthful black fruit, unctuous and energetic, good acidity, strong limestone mineral, still noticeable slightly coarse tannins and a long intense black fruit driven finish with limestone dust and rose at the end. This remains incredibly youthful and still needs time. Although it lacks the sensuality and completeness of the 98, it is a classic Haut Brion that is clearly expressing the concentrated, ripe and structured 95 vintage typicity.
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Ian's 1995 Dinner (Noize, London): Lovely, tobaccoey, earthy nose - quite rich and developed. Notes of spice. Similar flavour profile on the palate, complex and deep. some slightly firm, yet fine tannin remains and lends a slightly stern note to the finish at this point. Excellent though and this bottle with time in hand.
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1995 Bordeaux Tasting at Winetasters of Toronto Club (North York Memorial Hall): 1995 Château Haut-Brion was profound and layered. The deep garnet wine emitted complex aromatics of tobacco, smoke and forest berries. It was medium-bodied with good balancing medium acidity. The generous mouthfeel was accompanied with a pleasant tannin of silky texture. The long finish was filled with ceder wood and minerals flavours. The blend composed of 48% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Cabernet Franc. It was personally rated the second out of the eight wines, and the table rating was the first.
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Very deep inky black red. Hints of amber at the rim. Dried black and red fruits and some floral notes to the nose. The dried fruit, baking spice, perhaps some pencil lead, and hints of cedar.
A lot more life in this.
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In a blind tasting next to a $100 Grand Reserva 2006 Rioja and a 2014 La Landonne, it was nobody's favourite. Not as big, complex or exciting as either of those competitors. Too old for my liking.
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Brick edge. Ruby core. Delicious as it was the last time I had it. Red and blue fruit, medium bodied with grippy tannin and balanced acidity. Drink now or hold for another 10 years.
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A really beautiful HB that's still short of its tertiary phase but is full, smooth and perfectly balanced. There are great flavors of dark red fruits, scorched earth and tobacco and the texture is just very fine and silky. The finish is still holding back but its long and lacy with a smoky gravel note. Plenty of potential here for further complexity to develop but I just loved it now after a 2+ hour decant. 95+
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On 1995 Bordeaux bottles: 1995 Haut Brion Was my WOTN out of the 10 bottles that night. On the nose, violet, gravel, dark cherries and plum, mineral, smoke, and modest cigar, on the plate, it showed great strength yet balanced with nice and long acidity, strong minerals and modest spices. Very long finish with great layers, very complex, offered firm tannin and round texture. A great bottle. It was a Cabernet/merlot blend, partially explained why the wine was balanced with power and elegance.
1995 Mouton Certainly a much more powerful and richer version of mouton vs 83. Can still age 5-10 more years to enjoy it at better maturity level I think. Dark purple colour, crushed dark currants and black berries on the nose, on the palate, strong character with great minerals, some spices, smoke, liquorice and slightly higher tannin, not at my preferred drinking window yet but can see its ageing potential. In 1995 vintage, Cabernet Sauvignon grapes seemed having tougher tannin to resolve, so they also blended the wine with slightly more merlot (same reason for haut Brion 95 I guess).
1995 Cheval Blanc Seductive and classic style of Cheval Blanc in my view, bouquet of purple flowers, light lady cigarette, plummy and modest toffee sensation, on the palate, it was silky and smooth on texture with slightly higher tone of acidity vs 83, body was richer and fuller too. Beautiful wine and can still age 5-10 more years to enjoy it at even better drinking window. The 1995 had higher percentage of Merlot in the final blend - 50% Merlot/50% Cabernet Franc.
1995 latour Opened 4 hours in advance and was still tight when we started dinner. Decanted for another 1.5 hours before serving, and the wine showed a lot better. This wine was still quite young to enjoy now and I would wait for the next bottle to be consumed 5-10 years after at least, or it really needs proper decanting before serving it. It showed the best ageing potential for all the bottles we had that night (also the vega sicilia we had on the same night). On the nose, cigar, smoke, freshly rubbed herbs, basil, cassis, liquorice, on the palate, lots of dark berries yet also very mineral and offered freshly cut herbs. Still young but can see its potential to evolve more layers and even more complexity.
1995 pichon lalande Not because I drank this along with 95 Mouton/Haut Brion/Latour that I don't like this wine, I really think the wine was lack of balance on the palate, too rich in structure with strong vanilla toffee and jammy berries fruits on the palate. Nose was quite perfuming and nice but I didn't really enjoy the palate, but could be due to personal style.
Wines we had: 1983 latour, 1983 mouton, 1983 chavel blanc; 1995 mouton, 1995 chavel blanc, 1995 haut Brion, 1995 latour , 1995 vega sicilia, 1995 ridge monte bello, 1995 Pichon lalande
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Another stunning bottle. Nose had leaf, funk, earth, minerals and cassis. Very expressive on the nose with an intriguing sweetness and complexity. Drinking super well as a young bordeaux. Liked this a lot tonight. It would definitely benefit from a 90 mins decanting. 94-95
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This is a massively interesting wine at the moment, at the brink of changing to full maturity, this is shedding its fruity notes and power now. Very pleasantly multilayered herbs, tobacco, dark core fruits and licorice, it is not as open and forward as 3 years ago. Also acidity is slightly more in the forefront, waiting for tannins to be fully integrated and liberating ripe sweetness of HB.
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Lunch at French Club: Decanted for 5 hours. Typical Graves and HB earthiness which consisted of scorched earth, leather, tobacco, etc. Wine performed better than I thought but that may have been to the extended air. Good things to come if people are patient and this seems to be a relative value for HB 93+
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Holiday dinner at the French Embassy, Washington D.C. (French Embassy): Give this another five years, and watch the score go to 95 or maybe higher. The question here is the tannin. Some unresolved. And with time in glass, one gets the impression that the wine is stubbornly tight. Oh, much is going on here to be sure. Recall that 1995 was the first really good vintage from Bordeaux since the fabled 1990. What is forgotten is that the tannins were sometimes pretty powerful. Here is a case in point. But it is clear that the Haut Brion 1995 is ripe and full bodied, and this touch of tannic austerity demands time to be tamed. If you have this, do not touch. Heck, the 1998 is a better bet for your younger Haut Brions of quality.
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Sometimes I hate this app. I dictated a lengthy and, I thought, brilliant note on this one. But it did not save. So, the ephemeral Beauty and pleasure of a Priceless and exquisite wine will have to remain exactly that, ephemeral and, in this case, no-existent. Because I am not going to go back and recreate the note. Let me just say that this one was one of the great pleasures of my wine - tasting life.
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Cork issue, took an hour to recover, second to Montrose, dark, full bodied, some acidity and still some tanins...Marcus & Annette dinner in Hamptons white Chave, Timbach Riesling, Cambettes and ‘95 Haut Brion and ‘90 Montrose
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Decanted 90 minutes. Quite intense nose with black cherries, forest floor, vegetal & slight overripe fruit. Palate firm with fine medium tannins, has a slight shoe polish feel & slightly light in fruits. Good length & balance. However, this is not up to the level seen in other bottles - feels to be slightly lacking & showing some age with a bit of a port feel. I feel this shows how you always buy a bottle not a wine. Overall, decent but one to reassess with another bottle.
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Slightly medicinal nose, some dark earth, iodine, and coffee grounds. Gorgeous soft lush entry, long and expansive finish, seems to tightens up as it sits. I'm not sure what this will be, but its not great HB, and price to value doesn't seem to be here. Yet, this is full of contrast and contradictions tonight, in a transitional stage.
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Showtime! Drank with friends after a 30 minute decant. Deep purple/ ruby with minimal sediment, this wine is mature. Easily another 20+ years of excellent drinking ahead because of serious stuffing. Give this as long a decant as you can bear since air coaxes so much buried pleasure forth.
If a date, this was a 35 year old self-actualized intellectual businesswoman with so many hobbies & interests, yet so little time. Drink 2020 - 2030 for peak pleasure.
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Amazing++. Perfectly mature with no sediment, this is firmly on center stage at age 23. There's no need to wait further, though a good decant does coax forth additional pleasure.
Seamless layers of fig compote, berries, mocha and licorice. Frankly, my initial inclination was a perfect score because there are no flaws nor drawbacks. If a date, this was a 35 year old Harvard educated corporate executive who moonlights as a lingerie model because she can, and loves it. Enjoy!
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If you can't drink Burgundy, this is pretty darn good. Dense but tannin mostly resolved. Haut Brion remains among the most nuanced left bank Bordeaux to me, this is a fine example.
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Bottle high fill, prestine, with cork fully intact (soaked minimally). Decanted for 3 hours and drank over 2 hours. This wine showed some typical 1995 Bdx characteristics which I associate with being old school, a bit foursquare, with a bit of lack of fruit. This was my first encounter with this vintage of HB and my initial reaction was that I would have mistaken this for a Pauillac in general and a Mouton 95 in particular. The similarities to the Mouton from my memory were very striking and my friend (whom I happened to share the Mouton 95 a few months back) completely agreed. This was atypical for HB. It got better with food (truffle tortelloni and rump of wagyu). While a good wine, my bottom line for this wine is that there are definitely better Haut Brion's for the money (1998) and probably the quality level in some of those 80s and 90s 1st growth is not there to justify the price tag they command today.
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10th of 24, decanted an hour, perfect cork (some travel) and level, huge hit of violet on first opening, more structure, cedar, tobacco, tar, hot bricks, fruit muted until final glass, long and even more persistent, lovely now, but I think this will put on weight and reveal a touch more fruit, the overall balance is excellent. Currently unchanged at VF (18.5).
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Believe it or not, HB 1995 was great - but not as brilliant as a truly iconic HB could be.
Dark berries, pencil shavings, licorice, juicy and round on the palate, it is stellar already - yet, as compared to the no less starry lineup, it was missing the verve, the electricity that them outstanding HBs often posses.
I have another bottle at home to check again - some other day, eh. It has a couple of decades to go easily.
WS 95, RP 96, ST 93, JR 18.5/20
The Big Five 1995 at Mechta / 6 March 2018
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Nice evening with family in the company of Mr. JP Delmas. Open 2 hours before. Nice mature wine. Paired with roasted pigeon. Has still some years to go. Very enjoyable. Great evening.
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This was tasted a couple of days ago and I didn't take notes, but here is what I remember: (1) it was the WOTN; and (2) it had that classic Haut-Brion balance and profile that I can only describe as a dazzling display of confidence without a hint of swagger.
Uncorked, poured a taste, then let sit for about 70 minutes while we tasted a 2014 Ch. Montelena Chard and 2012 Ch. Montelena CS.
Color still fairly primary. It had a delicious appealing complex nose of red and black cassis, tea, graphite, smoke, black tea, hibiscus, coffee, and after a bit in the glass that Haut Brion warm red earth. So really kind of a stereotypical description, but for good reason.
I had last tasted this wine about six years ago and then it was much more tannic and youthful, still not ready. Now it is youthful but not too early to open and enjoy.
Once tasted the flavors mirrored what was on the nose, with the addition of some darker soil notes to go with the HB warm red earth.
The other nuance that appeared while tasting was a realization that the entire beautiful complexity of the wine, while certainly broad and of First Growth quality, did have a bit of a foursquare, bound-in-on-itself quality, and by that I mean that fine, fine that it was, it may never totally unwind into a true glorious (thunderous) masterpiece; its essential elements, so fine by themselves and well-knit as a whole, may never rise to one of the historic great wines. Like an offspring of a truly great thoroughbred with plenty of fine attributes and potential to win many high-end races, but never quite at the Triple Crown level, or a genius that makes many discoveries but not at the Noble level - so something like 94-96 if you're thinking numbers.
Despite this one note of caution, to have this wine as a house wine or daily drinker would be an incredible privilege.
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Decanted 60 mins. Remains quite deep in colour with some paling to rim. Medium intense nose with clear sweet spice, leather, violets, light cloves and ripe blackberries. Palate is medium+ intense with medium acid, medium very fine tannins and a slight sweetness to it. Ripe blackberries and a slight blackcurrant fruit base with sweet tobacco notes. Perhaps a very slight dryness to the aftertaste. This is a wine in perfect balance & fully in its drinking window where I would expect it to remain for another 5-8 years. A very fine wine. Drink now - 2025.
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Dark fruit, graphite, and forest floor all in harmonious balance. Silky texture, resolving tannins, still-fresh acidity. The 1995 Haut-Brion is excellent. (From magnum)
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Semiblind Haut Brion Tasting (Guido's Cellar): Wirkt mir nach dem 2003er etwas zu staubig und unrund. Vielleicht in einer verschlossenen Phase. 92Sehr spannende semiblinde Haut Brion – Probe in sehr geselliger Runde mit tollem Gastgeber und einer sehr leckeren Forellen-Tarte. Alle Flaschen wurden zwischen 0,5-3 Stunden doppelt dekantiert. Was die Treffgenauigkeit der Jahrgänge betraf, ist noch deutlich Luft nach oben. Interessant war, dass die Differenz in den Bewertungen (6 Trinker) bei fast allen Weinen maximal im 2-Punkte-Bereich lagen. Es wurde eine Flasche nach der anderen getrunken. Keine Flights. Keine fehlerhaften Weine.
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A difficult wine, very youthful, even surprisingly; the wine seems closed, not showing very much complexity in the bouquet (the 2nd day a bit more), my suggestion was Léoville las Cases. The power is enormous and I think the 95(+) level will need at least another 5 to 10 years; what a beast for the '95 vintage.
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My favorite Haut-Brion of the tasting, this 1995 definitely showed up. Floral, leathery, smoky, and with nice minerality, this just kept improving and showing off its complexity throughout the evening. Silky textured and with excellent balance overall. Tannins were round and integrated well. Seemed to gain weight in the glass. Great balance of acidity with the fruit. This wine has definitely improved in the past couple of years, and I expect it to reach its peak in the next 5-10 years.
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2/12. No formal note. Lovely soil and smoke notes over aristocratic pure blackcurrant fruit, fine tannins, balanced acidity, harmonious, long. In good shape, drinking well, though no need to hurry. Excellent match for the grouse.
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Classic Graves on the nose, nice core of dark fruits, with tobacco, minerals, lush and silky texture. Very quality wine. Liked it equal to the 2001, but not quite to the level of the 98' (which is still a bit primary last time I tried)...this 95' is very approachable now with plenty of time to hold still.
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1/12 - good cork. Deep garnet core, pale garnet rim. Nose shows deep, blackcurrant fruit - some earth and smoke but still quite primary. Some cedar emerges with time in glass. Medium bodied, very fine tannins, quite silky with deep, dark fruit, rich earth notes, with balanced acidity on a very good length, expansive finish. Excellent, drinking well.
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Ganz andere Kaliber die Haut Brion‘s 1990 und 1995. Der Erstgenannte ist ein Gigant. Blutjung strotzt er noch von wilder Schwarzer Johannisbeer-Frucht. Rasiermesserscharfe Säure, etwas Zigarrenkiste mit süßer saftiger Frucht ohne seine Eleganz zu verlieren. Der ist noch in seiner Jugendphase und hat mindestens 30 Jahre vor sich. Wäre interessant ihn gegen den berühmteren 1989er zu trinken. Momentan würde ich den 1990er aufgrund seiner Zugänglichkeit wohl vorziehen. 97-98. Die Maximalpunktzahl dürfte in den kommenden Jahren nicht utopisch sein. Danke Flo. Der 1995er zeigt sich etwas entwickelter mit mehr Sekundär-und Tertiäraromen wie Graphit und Würze. Beide Flaschen für 2 Stunden dekantiert. Während am Anfang beide Flaschen gleichauf liegen, zeigt sich im Laufe des Abends, welcher mehr Struktur und Potential besitzt. Die Frucht „verliert“ sich mit der Zeit und somit bleibt ein klassischer Bordeaux zurück, der sicher noch 10 Jahre braucht, um sich vollständig zu entwickeln. Wer mehr Opulenz wünscht, nimmt den ersten, wer mehr auf Zurückhaltung steht, wird mit dem Zweiten seine Freude haben. 94
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Technically fine but utterly soulless. Some hints of tobacco and smoke on the nose, a little olives and plums but on the palate its disappointingly mute with absolutely no depth or presence. After an initial glass I held it overnight in the fridge to see if it might shift gears but on the second night it has not budged an inch. A tough vintage, seemingly reflected all the way to the first growths.
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This is a beauty. Linear and focused, as only great wines can be. I have experienced the same thing with Haut Brion 2000 and Cheval Blanc 1998 recently. Tasted side by side with View Chateau Certan 2000 which was good, but much more flabby. Theres plenty of tannins ( typically 1995?) and offcourse the wine will evolve. But theres is plenty of fruit to balance. Tobacco, smoke and cherries. My friend and I are fans of this wine.
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First growth dinner (Cafe Maxx, Pompano Beach, Florida): A bit musty on the nose, but the fruit was there. Had some of the gravelly, smoky tobacco elements, but took awhile to emerge. Linear, focused, and nicely structured. Not memorable on this evening. Perhaps in an awkward phase, I would try this in a few years.
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This is really coming on strong, if you like that cigar box, tobacco, cedar, smoke, pure dark cherries and cigar wrapper type of thing. Full bodied, refined, but with a regal, tannic bite, with a few hours of air this is a pleasure to taste.
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A brooding wine with deep, dark fruit of cassis and blackberry liqueur. Sweet tar, soft creosote and smokey, burned copper aromatics. Aged church pew wood, leather, wet gravel and licorice all folded into its neatly delineated bouquet. An abundance of structure with the tannins and acidity to last for decades which together produce a memorable palate, long finish and a bite of hard to describe salted caramel and black tea extract. Great wine with a long future ahead of it.
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Only tasted immediately after decanting. Never had H-B before, so only fitting to start with the '95 right? Brilliant balance and finesse with a smooth deep and detailed smokey nose. The smokeiness is on another level in terms of complexity, and was probably my favorite aspect. The palate was extremely well composed in a way I can only describe as rounded effervescence. While the youthful traits surprised me, I would say this one isn't far from its peak of drinkability. Being my first taste of H-B, you can take that opinion with a grain of salt, but based off the balance and minimal acidity it is currently showing I feel pretty confident in that assessment. The youthful flavors that showed seemed to be more of a trait of the wine rather than a current condition of the wine if that makes sense. Definitely brilliant.
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Splash decanted 5 hours and then full decant for another hour, this was the wine of the evening. As with my previous note, this is big and dark, but still with balance. With the amount of air it had the tannin was in the background and the fruit and secondaries were both showing very well. Long life ahead, but with the amount if air we gave it this one is entering its window. A
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Drank blindly with all 5 Premier Crus and another pirat from the same vintage, I guessed Latour, very salti in the nose and the strongest in the palate
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Interesting to drink a bottle of this next to the 1998. The 1995, whilst not having the same promise, is far better than I had expected although very 1995 - the tannins are still prominent for me and this needs quite a bit of time in bottle. Structured and young tasting, tasted blind initially I was surprised by the level of acidity. This is good relative value, but for little more money it's tough not to look at the 1998. Intense dark fruit but primary and lacking a little definition and complexity at the moment. Drink 2025-2040. 94-95pts
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Château Haut-Brion Vertical (Bouley): Comparable to the '96 bouquet with the same dried rosy aromas but this has far more pronounced exotic spice, red cedar, and cigar box. More rustic and earth-driven. Beautiful drinking on the palate. Balanced and harmonious. Texturally softer than recalled. This gets the nod over the '96 tonight.
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Tannins are soft, this wine is in a terrific spot with some secondary notes emerging and lots of upside left to this wine. Notes of plum and spice, this is an elegant Bordeaux not heavy handed like so many others. This is the kind of wine I'd recommend buying a case and following the evolution - delicious now, and will surely become more nuanced with time.
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Decanted for 90 mins. Poured it back to the bottle and served after 1 hr. Softened tannins with black fruit, blue fruit, tobacco leaf, earth and graphite. The fruit on the palate is very giving and soft. Not gonna be a blockbuster with more time. But its an elegant and ready to drink classic bordeaux.
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9th of 24, decanted an hour, perfect cork and level, essentially as my May 15 note, pretty, beautifully balanced but lacking the concentration of a top vintage playing second fiddle to excellent and more concentrated Mission 90! VF (18.5).
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Chicago Wine Flock...Gary Opens Cali Cab (Chez Weber - Chicago IL): Tasted double blind. Great aromatic start with spice, black currant and cassis. Similar flavors but less robust, and very firmly structured. I immediately thought this Bordeaux, and correctly identified this as Haut Brion when given a (First Growth) hint, but thought it slightly younger from another highly structured vintage.
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Part of a 3 first growth Bordeaux dinner, a 1995 Haut Brion, a 2002 Mouton and a 1995 Latour. All were opened and allowed to sit for over 2 hours before we started drinking all three. Only the Mouton was decanted.
The Latour was my WOTN, but the differences between the three were subtle. The Latour was the richest and least acidic of the group. The Mouton, the youngest of the group was the most fruit forward of the group. The Haut Brion tasted the heaviest and changed/evolved the most during the course of the night.
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Drank at Otto's Had to try another bottle of this. Even better than the first with a incredible purity and depth. Amazing complexity and wonderful backbone. Lovely.
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Served blind in a tasting flight with the '95 Lafite, this was just about as tight, though it showed more suppleness on the palate than its flight mate. Overall very tough to judge because even after 2+ hours in the decanter it was not giving up much on the nose. It, like the Lafite, showed a lack of mid-palate depth. I assume that was due to it being closed in, as I had more than my fair share of prior experiences with this wine, and it was never hollow any other time in my memory. Tough to see it unveiled as H-B, but that's what happens in blind tastings.
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Holiday Dinner - DRCs, 90 and 00 CB, 03 Capo, Krugs and etc. (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): As usual, very youthful nose displaying intense black fruits, cassis, caramel, lactic, tobacco, baking spices and mineral. Excellent concentration, dense yet polished palate, strong presence of mineral, bright acidity, a hint of tannins and lovely long finish. This is a big scale HB that will improve further for the next twenty years. Not quite up to the label of the 89 and 90 but still a great Haut Brion. Not a bad wine to buy in the current soft Bordeaux market.
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Bordeaux 1995 tasting. Very pleasant surprise, excellent, very masculine, lots of tobacco and leather, very long aftertaste, brooding with power, complexity, balance
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Spicy cinnamon sugar on the nose, followed up by white flowers. Notes of pastels and wax throughout. Initially the wine wasn't showing a tremendous amount of earth, but soon gave up wet soil, some tobacco, and eventually even farmy and gamey notes. Quite a beautiful bottle.
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Clearly the best wine in our first flight of 3. Not very giving initially, but eventually yielded notes of earth, soil & some smoke and tobacco after coaxing/swirling. The palate was where this shone. Multi-layered and complex, with notes of leather, dark fruits and tannins that has integrated nicely. Long finish too. We knew there was a HB in this 1st-flight, and most guessed correctly...
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°°° Bordeaux 1995 °°°: Garnet in color. Nose shows tobacco, red berries and leather. There is plenty power and still lots of tannins. Actually I was surprised how backward this wine / bottle was. Very long and multilayered with plenty of upward potential for the next 15 - 30 years. Nice Haut Brion
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Medium bodied and charming, this is starting to come into its own. Tobacco, earth and smoke notes added to the sweet, ripe, soft fruits. On the palate, the elegant, finesse driven wine was on the fresh side, with its red and black fruits. At 20 years of age, this is probably going to be a good, but not great vintage for Haut Brion.
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A bit mute on opening, is this very slightly corked? I'm not sure but will give it the benefit of the doubt. After a needed 2 hours in the decanter it showed a subtle gravelly nose with fine red fruit. The faint hint of something stemmy but that seemed to disappear with air. An elegant and refined wine with fine tannins, though they started to show a bit after 3 hours. Mellow, gravelly red fruit, a touch of vintage leanness perhaps. A decent wine but I was a touch disappointed in this showing.
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Mostly French dinner - Rayas, 00 Lafite, 13 Trump, H Lignier CDR and etc. (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): Classic ’95 left bank nose. Intense youthful sweet nose displaying decadent black fruits, crème de cassis, licorice, lead pencil, lavender, tobacco, baking spices, cedar and earth. Excellent concentration, chewy, intense ripe black fruit driven palate impression, bright acidity, a hint of dry tannins and long finish. For my palate, the 95 Bordeauxs have impressive concentration and intensely sweet fruits. The drawback is the slightly dry tannins. This is a masculine and structured Haut Brion. At the age of 20, still so darn youthful. It will improve for another 20 years minimum. Very enjoyable in very youthful ways.
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Needed plenty of air but then gained a lot in the glass with classic vineyard flavors just beginning to emerge in this supple, medium-full and elegant HB. Delicious flavors of road tar, gravel and cedar along with floral red spices leads to a fine, complex finish. Just entering its drinking window at least with a long decant. 94+
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8th of 24, decanted an hour, perfect fill, previous notes fine to very fine plus - limpid not too deep garnet, little rim development; multi dimensional bouquet, bramble, cherry, cassis, tobacco, graphite, cedar, earth and violet; medium full, silky, fine grip, balance length and energy to fruit, a long life predicted. Vey fine (18.5/20).
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Not as seductive as the Margaux 95 which has to be expected but this is still class in a glass. Still a baby but has the lovely plum, earthiness and spice of this chateau. What really impresses is the density and mouthfeel of ripe, heathy and balanced fruit and it's great length. It really coats the mouth and lingers with its density without any heaviness. This is true power without heaviness which no Burgundy can ever hope to match and you can drink this with pleasure for the next 50 years. Bordeaux Toujours Bordeaux!
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First Growths, Yquem, 100+Madeira (John V.'s): Gorgeous wine. Ruby/purple, very deep coloring. The nose is awesome. Slight funk. Cassis and dark cherries, some earthiness, some oak showing. On the palate, firm but not overwhelming tannins. Nice acidity. Layers of fruit and earth. Probably not quite at peak but coming around beautifully. Improved in the glass .
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Decanted 2 hours and drank over the next two. Dark in color with very dark fruits and earth on the nose. Big, but balanced wine that is still showing a fair amount of structure and seems years away from its peak. Would give it 2-3 more years. A-/A
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Beautiful nose of smoke, cassis, leather and more smoke. Absolutely delicious on the palate. Soft, open, silk with sweet dark fruit, smokey campfire notes and tobacco. Long, balanced finished.
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Acquired from a source in London that acquired it directly from the Chateau. This is a mediocre wine. It has little fruit left, a short finish and nothing to recommend it. Haut-Brion has made some great wines but this isn't one of them.
Haut-Brion dinner: First HB of the night - served blind. Impressive wine, a tell-tale Haut-Brion – and surprisingly strong for the vintage - I was actually guessing 1996, which says something. It has tobacco, black cassis, minerals, a firm backbone and a very solid body – all in balance. This will keep a decade or longer, but it is coming around.
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Tasted at Lavinia in Paris. Great aromatic nose, tons of red fruit, sandalwood and tobacco. On the palate more muted raspberry and an uber long finish. Just a 30cl glass but it was enough! Delicious.
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Best showing yet for this wine... think it's entered its sweet spot. Classics Bordeaux nose with wonderful smokey, black fruit on the palette. The sommelier who decanted it was very impressed as was I.
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Spice Layer cake perfect for Christmas eve. Decant this lady and she will reward, as the most beautiful take time to be ready. She enchanted with her vanilla perfume, and so sweet smelling blackberry and plum. She caressed with many layers of perfect tannin that chews softly as the textures nibble at your senses. Gorgeous dark, dense purple color, she never finishes, just lingers in your sense memory.
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Good nose, but slightly closed. Not overly expressive, but fine. On the palate again a little lean, tight, tannic. Good structure and length, but not giving away much at this stage. Keep. 91-92+(+?)
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had high hopes as I'm a big fan of Haut Brion, but it just seemed lacking in structure or any type of fruit and mostly just a burly tannic bottle. Had at least 3 hours of air time and double decanted.
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Showing slightly better than the sample from about a month ago, this is still a little bit lost "sandwiched" between the exceptional vintages of 2000, 1990 and 1989. Less expressive on the nose in comparison, not too different in terms of colour to the 2000, still very youthful. There are notes of liquorice, spices, red fruit and wood on the nose. Less sweet and round, tart fruit notes on the palate, grippy, fresh, cool, tannic, lighter with a pretty dry and almost austere finish. Great length. From a more "classic" vintage as they say. 93-94+
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5 Decades of Haut Brion, with James Handford MW (Handford Wines, London): To be honest this was the disappointment in tonight's line up for us. Granted we don't really like 95 but this had that dry, green edge that we sort of associate with the vintage. The nose is open and expressive, classic for sure but just on the palate it doesn't deliver and the tannins are a bit grippy. Dry finish. 92
This is a very elegant wine with breed. It yielded complex flavors of black cherry, red cherries, kirsch, truffle and wild mushrooms. I think it is still somewhat closed and will blossom in about three to five more years.
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Dark red. Gorgeous nose of dark fruit, minerals and spice. Grilled meat, cassis, herbs and fully mature tannins. Better than the bottle we drank over Chistmas. Did continue to evolve after opening and decanting. Went terrific with the rabbit appetizer and lamb main courses. Made the birthday celebration dinner even more special.
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Very youthful still in terms of colour. Deep and complex on the nose. Great structure, big and powerful but really backward with ripe tannins but pretty closed. Impressive length. 92-93+(+)
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Chateau Haut-Brion Vertical (Litteraturhuset, Oslo): Dark and massive. Some warmth on the nose, but really solid and cool fruit - very light mouthfeel, elegant. Finish is however dry and finishes abruptly. Tight and full of tannins.
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Haut Brion Tasting 1918-1999 (Oslo): Depth to the fruit, minerals and smoke; mature dark berries, very structured, tannic and promising. Way too young.
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Grands bordeaux chez Olivier (Geneva): Carafé 30 minutes. Superbe couleur rubis foncé et brillante. Nez sur des arômes de fruits rouges, d'âtre froid, de suie, de havane. En bouche, comme chez Mouton, il y a de la race, de la classe, une main de fer dans un gant de velours. La finale est longue et savoureuse. Le vin est un peu plus ouvert et accessible que Mouton, d'où cette notation légèrement plus avantageuse. Longue garde prévisible.
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A stunning beautiful nose of cherries with sweet tobacco, smoke. Ethereal scents that make you want to smell this instead if drinking it. When first opened, the palate seemed rather thin with little on it but time in the glass was very beneficial and it became more complex with more cherry and tobacco replays. Good acidity and medium to long finish. Decant before opening and while this wine was very approachable, I would drink them in the next 5 years. 94 points
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A wonderful nose of an aging Bordeaux with velvet tannins remaining and ample fruit to match the tannin. Just a very special wine and everything you would expect from a nearly 20 year old first growth.
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Decanted for 2 hours. Bricky garnet color. Nose of pungent plum, currant, cedar, tobacco, earthy tones. Tight in the glass for an hour then quite concentrated on the palate with layers of blackberry, black currant, tobacco, and some moca. Lower acidity and smoothed tannins with building intensity as the evening progressed. Long finish with sweet grip, earth, and black fruits in quiet waves. Lovely wine at present, but will improve with more time in bottle.
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Color: deep ruby -> diffuse ruby rim with a hint of garnet. Taken to La Bourgogne in Kona while on vacation with the family; matched my dish of roasted venison loin perfectly. Lovely mature bouquet of leather, cassis, a little barnyard, tobacco. Rich, mature palate that is drinking beautifully now: graphite, black currants, tobacco, earth. Harmonious, smooth; like drinking Kona coffee or Jamaican Blue Mountain. Delicious and the red wine of the trip!
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Drank at the IWFS President's dinner accompanying the antelope and tomato coulee. The wine had been double decanted for five hours and seemed happy to be drunk. The bouquet was full, the tannins smooth and the typical harmony of Haut Brion evident. It was served along side a '95 Pichon Longueville and was a step above that lovely wine.
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KW Epic tasting/ mens best bottle (KW): tasted blind among 6 other wines in flight 2 Blind notes: Older - some bricking. closed, not much interesting on nose Thin on palate, better with time. I guessed it was older/ french
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09 November 2013 - Vertical tasting of the 2000 , 1995 , 1966 and 1953 vintages at a dinner with friends . All great wines- starting with the 2000 which was wonderful , powerful but clearly has a long way to go to reach it's full potential ( will come back to this in another 5 years ) . 1995 was by general consensus the least preferred of the vintages - dark red in colour and slightly acidic at first , opened up after a couple of hours but lacked the length of the other vintages . 1966 magnum with a crusty cork but only faint shades of bricking - very fresh with good length . Got better and better after 3 to 4 hours . Only bottle of this - pity . 1953 was just superb - first of two bottles purchased for 60th birthday celebrations and it exceeded all expectations . Brick in colour but a depth and length which just went on and on . Was apprehensive that it might die quickly but 2 hours later still showing beautifully . Looking or ward to the 2nd bottle before the new year . Quite a night .
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This took a couple hours to really get going. Great balance and a smooth texture. Deep, brooding. Dark fruit, wet earth and tobacco on the palate. Still very primary and a bit reserved. A banana oil note every now and then. Will gain much more complexity. Long finish.
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Second Sunday Group: 1995 Pauillac vs. Pessac (Rich's & Dana's): Crimson color. Opens with a hint of barnyard, followed by red currants and spice. The palate starts with red fruit and green, weedy qualities. Forest floor, iodine and floral notes emerge, and the tannins begin to stand out too. Flavors of red fruit, spice and cedarwith a long finish. Has a good bit of acid too- would be wonderful with a meal. 93+ pts.
My #8, Domino's #8 Group #7, 62 pts
Another taste with dinner: iodine, tar, black currants, cedar and plum. Good weight; red fruit, iodine, beef blood. Long finish. Getting better as it sits.
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Jeraboam Double decanted 5 hrs before serving . Deep dry dark delicious. Saddle, earth, herbs. Amazing wine. Easily go another 5-10 yrs but in drinking window now.
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Pop n pour.didn't get much ting.revisit half an hour time.start to show more characters.this bttl was sipping side by side with pavie macquin 00.the macquin 00 reveals more primary characters than the haut brion.the haut brion dominate with herbacious notes.I tink this haut brion didn't perform as it shud is bcoz I didn't decant enuff.
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Opened at 11am to enjoy it at 8pm. A profound, in fact the deepest Haut Brion that I have had. Super dark violet color, on the nose very deep indeed, a bit of funk, leather and soil, mingling with fruits that are starting to fade away leaving room for the secondary elements to surface. On the palate, a huge presence of complexity which couldn't be but Bordeaux 1er Grand cru, again deep, dark blue, wet earth, dark and mature fruits, in a magestic way. Too bad this was my only one bottle, but those who have more, in about 5 years time this would be even better, and worth the wait. Cheers~
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One of the most open bottles I have had of this excellent wine. Straight from the off notes of violets, slate, black fruit, smoke, tar and leather. In the mouth this cuts a lighter path - very taught and nuanced - light as a feather on the tongue. Brilliant. Starting to slip into its drinking window.
Dinner at Tetsuya's: This wine caused quite a silence around the room when it was poured, I think quite a few people, including me, were slightly entranced by just how good it was. Kirsch and graphite with plenty of spice and earth. The palate is a study in how a wine of this power can still feel refined, especially with balance this close to perfect. The depth is stunning. For me, it is now at a point where it is ready to drink, but it will be a fair few more years until it peaks.
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I have a case of 1/2 bottles and I have been drinking a bottle a year for the last 5 years. This year I was pleasantly surprised. The wine has changed dramatically since last year and is ready to drink in the half bottle. It took about 10 minutes to open and then it was great for the next hour until it was all gone. It actually had a wider range of tastes than the typical Haut Brion. Cant wait until next year!
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Interesting to compare directly to the 96. This shows less refinement, but more personality and depending on what you like in a wine either could be your favourite. This was more my style as the aromatics are more pronounced. Not quite brett, but there was a strong, earth and sage component to the nose that the 96 does not have. Its well balanced, with layers of fruit, good acidty and a long finish. Still very young and while not quite a baby, this will last a while yet. Lovely stuff,
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Vibrant red color, mushroom, cedar and forest moss on the nose, smooth as silk on palate, a hint of cinnamon, tobacco, light vegetal notes, and some cedary spice to go along with muted blueberry, currant, black cherry, and raspberry. Super-well integrated tannins. Wonderful wine. Fruit and vibrrancy turned to mellow forest, earth, leather, and tobacco after it had been open for a couple of hours. Really lovely, refined wine. Likened it to meeting Grace Kelly---something that is just timeless, and that you'll never forget. 93-94.
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Fantastic wine! Dark garnet color. Extremely complex and ultra-clean nose of hot ceramics, cedar, ink, graphite and dark plums. Full-bodied, explosive on the palate with firm but totally elastic tannins, rich fruit and high acidity. Almost endless aftertaste. An unprecedented combination of power and finesse.
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We drank this wine at Yiannis' and Sofias' home to celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary alongside two other great reds. It eclipsed them both with its immense concentration and elegance. It was delectable but it still has decades of life ahead. Nose was refined, ultra clean and delineated with pencil shavings, tobacco, and cedar notes - not in the more mineral style of Pauillac, as I have it in my mind, but in a more sun bathed ceramic tile earthy kind of style. Smooth new oak notes were fully integrated almost imperceptible but still there. In the palate it has a texture that is so fluid, mouth caressing and elegant that almost obviates the full bodied character of the wine. Tannins are huge but soft and malleable. Incredible poise and finish. Maybe in ten years this will merit a 100 point score. Yiannis thanks for the treat!
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Cedar, earth, oak along black fruit and mineral aromas on the nose. Quite young and focused. Impressive on palate with robust fine-grained tannins of great finesse, punchy acidity in balance with great extract and almost full body. Multi-layered with expressive intensity needing time to harmonize all elements and reveal superb complexity. Very very long finish.
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young but clearly bested the Pichon. Opened 8 hours earlier, it was drinking very nicely. Wehn I had it 3 weeks ago, it was opened much closer and was more powerful on the nose and the palate. Probably 5+ years from its peak
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Getting menthol, flowers, hay, roasted meats and blueberries in the nose. Palate is mostly hitting in the second half after a cool, light entry, and composed of smoked meats, cherries, slate, broken seashells, blueberries, tobacco, with a very unusual herbal/spice stretch in the 30 second finish.
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Just beginning to enter adolescence, stretch its legs.
Did not evolve in the glass over 1+ hr. If drinking now, decant 4 hrs minimum. Better to wait 5-10+ years.
Ripe vibrant red color, little fading to the rim. Red fruits on the nose and palate, that warm red Haut Brion earth. But not yet warm brick, as it should be in 15 years, just warm earth (the stylistic flavor here has not just coalesced to its apogee). Tannins well integrated, good firm backbone, nice acidity to note this will last. I hope it does.
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Fourth time I have had this wine and each time it delivers. Compact, dark, brooding with slatey violets and minerals in the mouth. This is all about potential right now but the fruit has this wonderful gritty Graves character which means this wine can never be mistaken for anything other than Haut Brion. Excellent and in 10 years when it is ready to drink it will be awesome.
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2012 - Clarence Dillon: Alcohol :: 13% Decanted for 60mins. This bottle proved that the last bottle was not a good example of the 1995 Haut Brion. This was obviously fresh and more complete. Lovely bouquet of new saddle leather, earth, cigar box and tobbaco all wrapped by the sweet dark plum and blackcurrant fruits. On the palate, the tannin and wood is well integrated with good maturity. No hard edge at all, so polished and lush with good complexity of fruits, earth, roasted herbs, spices and sweet dark fruits. However, I thought this wine lacks a bit of the scale and body of a 1st growth, but still a deliciously wine with excellent length and intensity with mineral, juicy black fruits aftertaste.
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immediately fragrant, complex, light on the palate, a joy to smell and taste. the bottle lasted a little over an hour as it was too delicious to keep for any amount of time.
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Popped, poured and let sit in the glass for two hours. Deep red color. Fabulous nose featuring black cherry and spice. Deep, mouthfilling dark fruit flavors with a long finish which ends with a mouthpuckering dryness. Lots of life left.
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A bit disappointing. Nice bouquet, lovely long finish, but no middle. The classic tastes are there but no vibrancy associated with them. Have we been "parkerized"?
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Needs a lot of time. Decanted for an hour. Simple at beginning. Great earth finish and the fruit started coming out after 3 hours. This could be a great wine in many years to come.
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Drank my last bottle. Tannic and dry. Very little fruit and not complex at all. Maybe my three bottles were badly stored or counterfeit. Very disappointing. Many other vintages so hoping for better experiences in the future. In general my experience of 95 Bordeaux has been a let-down.
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Subdued but very elegant nose of tar, tobacco ash, dried herbs, dark fruits. Medium bodied with good balance and intensity on the palate. A picture of refinement -- hard to question the first growth designation on this one. Still very young, but I didn't find it too young to enjoy.
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Haut Brion Dinner with Jean-Philippe Delmas.: At Wine Society Haut Brion Dinner with Jean-Philippe Delmas. Much better than the 1998 (see my note) with a more complex finish and with some of the smoke and cream that I have gotten used to at this fabulous tasting night.
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San Antonio Wine Geeks do Bordeaux for Veterans Day (Home of Mike and Sandra O.): Served blind and decanted about 6hrs prior to serving. Flamboyant nose initially, complex, with leather, mocha, currants and later with flint and mint. Pipe tobacco, almonds, dried fruit, and mint on the palate. Still rather closed, refined, and a touch austere--as this wine still doesn't quite want to break out of its shell. Still with great poise, complexity and polish, and a fantastic dry tannic finish adding a touch of mocha and leather. Initially guess right bank '95, but later guessed Pauillac after having the true right bank to compare. Even after revealing, this tasted like a Pauillac to me. Needs 10yrs to reach a drinking plateau. 94-96
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Sweetly perfumed nose has a feminine quality to it, soft aromas that have fresh-mown hay and grasses as their dominant element; there emerge more earthen and woody aromas later, and there is also a dollop of black fruits and sweet herbs, but this is definitely a restrained Haut-Brion at this stage; initial taste in the mouth is sweet, but it lasts only briefly, turning quickly toward very dry and austere red fruits; cranberries, quince, black fruits abound; despite the restrained nose, this is a powerful and dense wine with a lot of coiled up power yet to emerge; dry elegant finish. (18) Tasted again later from a different source with consistent notes.
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This first growth has certainly entered it's drinking window. Decanted for 2.5 hours which was plenty. Cassis and truffle on the nose. Rounded on the palate with plenty of black fruit. It's a beauty
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1995 Bordeaux Retrospect: Alcohol :: 13% The nose is tight, but quite enticing with sweet dark fruits core surrounded by layered of mineral, green herb, earth and leather. Good purity and relatively soft with tannin well integrated with spicy finish that lingered, quite sweet too. A wine with good purity, balance and polished that is already approachable, but this lack of the depth and breadth and certainly doesn’t has the class from a 1st growth. Most disappointed wine tonight alongside with the La Mission for everyone. I hope this is a weak bottle.
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Cambridge University / CellarTracker Dinner (Pembroke College, Cambridge): Classic Haut Brion nose of gravelly, minerally fruit with a touch of smokey, dark fruit. Very firm, compact and austere but laced through with whispy rasberry notes. Utterly brilliant even at the late stage of the night when the palate was suffering from the on-slaught of fine wine.
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Medium plus intensity aromatics of flowers, mineral drenched tobacco, lavendar and cassis. I love haut brions aromatics, they are simply captivating. SIlky texture with ripe black currant, loam, mineral, lavender. Wave after wave of tobacco, florals and black fruits. Tannins are still very aggressive at just below medium plus with a good medium plus blast of acidity. This is graceful and sexy wine. medium plus finish.
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Decanted for two hours. A deep crimson-garnet, with an almost black core. The secondary nuances are really starting to strut, with cassis, tobacco, forest floor, gravel, currant, red fruits and mushroom. Soft tannins that are velvety at the end, the is full-bodied and very balanced. The finish is over a minute in length and well-layered, judicious and regal. This Haut-Brion will out last me and is really mythic. I would still give her a few years and what an enamoring experience that only this prodigious producer can give. Drink 2016 -.
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Amazing wine and pure first growth class. Forest floor with great depth. Entering its drinking window but noticeable tannin suggest some years away from its full potential, and will go on for many years after that. Wonderful experience.
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New Year's Eve 95s: Deep crimson color with just a touch of bricking at the extreme edge. Gravelly, earthy nose with some dried fruits. As the wine gained air, the nose just opened and opened and was really expressive. Rich red fruits on the palate with great balance and depth. I think the finish would be my only negative point about the wine. While smooth and complex, it was of medium length whereas I was hoping for one of those epic finishes that last for minutes. Other then that, fantastic wine.
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1995 Haut Brion is showy wine. With a perfume that took time to coax its scents, black cherry, cassis, smoke, tobacco, truffle and earthy notes could be found. This deep wine demands a few more years before revealing all its charms. The juicy, mouth filling finish is filled with rich, dense fruit. 96 Pts
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Montréal Passion Vin Nez classique de fumée, avec boite à cigare et cèdre. La texture en bouche est superbe, soyeuse et l’ensemble me parait de style médocain par cette austérité commune dans les millésimes dits “classiques”. Les arômes sont ainsi davantage sur le Havane et la fumée que le fruit rouge. Pas le plus charmeur, mais il a une classe indéniable et le sérieux d’un grand vin. 94-95 pts
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Tasted alongside the 1991 and 1998. This is just creeping into its drinking window now, this is a real beauty. Still has the firmness of youth but the secondary characteristics are coming through now. Excellent structure with terroir oozing out of the glass. Very much Haut Brion. Excellent and years ahead of it. I've had three bottles of this vintage now over the last 4 months - the first bottle was firm and rigid, the second pashmina soft and then this one which was a mixture of the two.
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The fill was perfect and the cork was sound; opened abut 1 hour prior to service -- no decant. A youthful purple color with no signs of age. A rather subdued bouquet, offering up notes of ripe black fruits, flower, tobacco and earth. Medium-bodied, with great balance and depth, but missing a bit in terms of texture and also delinieation on the finish. This was served a bit too warm -- I brought it to one of our favorite BYO restaurants -- and should have asked them to stick in the ice bucket. Regardless, I think this wine will benefit from another five year of cellaring.
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Dinner at Home with Friends (My House, Chicago IL): Side by side with 95 La Mission Haut Brion. At first, not showing much on the nose, but after a half hour or so, it really began singing. Ripe red currant and berry with tobacco leaf and a good bit of minerality. Fruit forward on the palate with great texture. Full bodied red fruits, pretty spice throughout, and a long finish. Still young with some gripping tannin, but showing very nice. I would still give a slight edge to the La Mission tonight though.
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No formal tasting notes taken but a supremely sophisticated wine. Drinking surprisingly well. A complex nose and palate - still showing fruit as well as a subtle mineral undertone - but presented in an approachable way. Long, long finish. Real class.
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This wine is starting to open up until a real beauty. Quite a light, resolved colour to it - the nose is all restrained sweet fruit and gravely dark minerals. Sweet palate - drinking much lighter and sweeter than a bottle 2 weeks ago - almost Barolo like at times with tar, roses and metled chocolate tannins. Long long long finish - deep yet light at the same time. The bottle drank 2 weeks ago was much primary, darker, more brooding with a serious tense mineral palate that was coiled up tight. This bottle was more soft and relaxed. Excellent.
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Decanted 3 hours, opened up beautifully as the night progressed, let this one breath for a while. Strong pepper, cedar, tobacco on the nose, the fruit comes through beautifully dark cherry, cassis, with a minerality and barnyardiness in the background. Still youthful, hold this one for sure.
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A real megastar amongst a raft of superstars at the CT London Bordeaux vs Burgundy event, the 1995 Haut Brion was matched directly against the 1995 Lafite. The endless layered complexity and wonderful finesse of the H-B beat the Lafite at its own game, although in fairness the H-B was more approachable at this stage. An absolute beauty drinking very well now but with plenty of life and evolution left to come.
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Haut Brion Mini-Vertical - 2003, 2001, 1998, 1995 (The Fullerton Hotel, Singapore): Quite a brilliant wine. 45% Merlot, 45% Cab Sauv and 10% Can Franc I found it hard to choose between this and the very fine 2001 on the day but, on reflection, this probably edged it. It had the finesse of the 2001, but a bit more substance on the back-end at the moment. Nose was clearly exceptional. There was a lovely understatement in the way this wine introduced itself. Not quite as showy as the other vintages, but far more impressively classy I thought, with a gentle unfolding of tobacco leaf, lush dark cassis fruit, perfumy high-toned, a gentle easing in of dark earth and smoked meat smells, a touch of leather and a really nice seam of wet gravel. Lots of depth. Wow. The palate took a bit of time. I was not quite as immediately impressed by this as by the other wines, but it certainly came into its own. A bit brawnier and tougher than either the 2001 or 1998, perhaps refleecting the higher amount of Cabernet in the cepage, but this had lovely structure in still rather firm but very fine tannins. There was also lots of juicy fruit that showed itself in clean, clear, pure tones of cherries and sweet cassis. Dense and concentrated, yet with a beautiful transparency to it all. Underneath all that was some meaty oomph and a nice brush of cedar wood. Finish was quite seamless. Again, there was a layer of fine, powdery tannins, rich plush fruit, more cedar and then a rush of cigar smoke that whirled around the mouth. A really excellent wine.
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Double decanted five hours beforehand. Wonderful bouquet on opening the bottle. Enjoyed with roast lamb a la boulangere. Amazing bouquet, much more delicate (almost subdued?) in the mouth. Flavours of earth, spices, stewed plums. Very, very long finish. I think this may improve with a little age- it felt like it might be coming out of a slightly closed phase. Still far and away the best wine of the night.
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Sensational bouquet, full of character-roasted aromas, tobacco and ripe fruit. The taste confirmed how great this wine was. Lots of harmony and finesse with seductive flavors and a long finish. A first class wine!
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Definitive Bordeaux (Mirabelle Restaurant Austin, Texas): In a blind tasting of compelling first-growth wannabe's, this was the first growth, and it showed well. This was open-knit, young, rich, and expansive. The nose was forward and smoky, and did not have the telltale graves nose, so most tasters thought this was the Cos. There was fine dark fruit, some Asian spice, light acidity, and great balance. Drank very well now, which surprised the Pape Clement fans.
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Just when I'd almost given up on 1995 Bordeaux! Upon decanting, the nose literally exploded. Gorgeous, perfumed, excellent. Decided to double decant rather than leave in the decanter, then drunk four hours later. On the palate it was very good, rich, an absolute pleasure. Two bottles with consistent profile. Thanks to Kdawg, whose review on CT convinced me to open the first bottles of three cases owned. Looking forward to more.
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What a pleasure it is to drink this wine. Tasted alongside the '96 this wine from the very start showed a bold and dominant character. After being decanted for several hours there were still strong earthy notes of fresh black soil and wet earth mixed with a dark somber fruit note. On the palate it filled the mouth with strong flavors of tobacco, cedar, cassis and plum with a tannic edge which told me that another few years might be in order. The finish was a mix of an oaky/vanilla mixed with softer notes of dried fruit. A great wine which overshadowed its younger companion with its sheer dominance of character.
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decanted for about an hour before drining. Kraus/Pancoast/Andersen birthday dinnner. Stunningly beautiful wine - not as big as I expected but much prettier
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The Blind Drunks "Uptown" tasting & dinner (Dunham Woods Riding Club, Wayne, Illinois): Opaque garnet color. Prominent notes of iron and iodine on first whiff. Develops notes of earth and dark fruit, but with iodine qualities always present. Shows similarities to the first wine in the flight. Very young. Full-bodied, with firm, but sweet tannins, and lush, balanced fruit carrying through the long finish. Dense and powerful - gorgeous. Double decanted earlier in the day, but I didn't catch just when or how long...but it needed every bit of air it got. 95-96 pts.
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Deep core showing very little fade at the rim; deep, brooding concentrated dark fruits on the nose with a strong aroma of sous bois and licorice. Intense but very single minded; Lovely weight on the palate - good balance of acidity and very fine integrated tannins. Excellent concentration. A powerful statement of Pessac needing lots of time.
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Quite nice with smokiness and leather on the nose with some dark fruits and some stones mixed in on the back end. This still has years left in the bottle but a very nice bottle of wine that was reviewed well by all at our going away Travian dinner for our Aussie ladies.
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A little musty on the nose with some chalkiness. Refined and balanced with some licorice at the end. Good acidity and an elegant wine. I tasted this under fairly uncontrolled circumstances, so I'm not including a score, although I noted it as a 93 during the event.
I tasted 4 wines at the same time and ranked them in the following order from favorite to least favorite: 1994 Caymus Special Select, 1995 Haut Brion, 2000 Lynch Bages, and 2000 Leoville Las Cases. The Bordeaux wines clearly were still too early to drink.
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Birthday Dinner (Sontes, Rochester, MN): Aromatic and gloriously harmonious with a domineering note of smoke and a refreshing minerality. It required prolonged decanting to strut its stuff. Easily the best '95 I've had to date. Lovely.
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Hiro’s: Dark purple; very aromatic; forest berries, underbrush, cigar, cassis--all classic Bordeaux aromas, along with that foresty pine-tree aspect I get from Pessac; rich, dark flavors, still serious tannins present-this is still a baby but drinking nicely now. I’d give it 10 more years.
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leather, tobacco, cassis, herbal notes, cherry, firm but approachable. Tannins are softening up and it is drinking really well now. Should hold well for quite some time.
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Birthday Bordeauxs and Bordeaux Blends (my place): nose: the depth and layering on the nose is what set this apart from the other wines. From the second you put this up to your nose, it was on a different level with rich, deep, and well layered tones of red cherries, mineral rich earth tones, dark tones of cranberries, cassis, red currants, bits of toast, kirsch, charcoal, and some slight bits of black truffles. This just allowed you to be taken by the moment
taste: great medium/full feel with deep and well layered tones of kirsch, cassis, red cherries, mineral rich earth, red currants, some black truffles, and some tones of charcoal. While it certainly comes across as fairly young, its drinking at the same time. The tannins give a nice backbone and don't fully get in the way and they certainly aren't resolved yet, but provide support.
overall: an awesome young wine. This stood head and shoulders above the other blind wines and it wanted to be taken seriously. It'd be hard to keep ones hands off of this wine right now, but there is a bright future for it and it has a very long life ahead of it
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Tasted at the Cambridge University Wine Society annual dinner, hosted by Chateau Haut-Brion. Decanted at least 2-3 hours beforeghand. Lovely depth of colour. Very perfumed on the nose, lovely red fruits as well as the usual herbaceous and leathery aromas. On the palette it was rich and heavenly - very, very well balanced and smooth. Tannins and fruit perfectly marred - though I imagine with more cellar time this wine would also develop a little more depth and length, which although good and varied was not overly long. Wish I had a case of this.
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Wow... seriously complex, balanced and long finshing.. great woodsy earthy nose and ample fruit and supple tannins... Decanted for 1 hour before drinking... Very sad when the bottle was empty
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Decanted for three hours. A gorgeous dark, dense purple color. Earthy with classic barnyard surrounding the blackberry and smoke. Vanilla aroma not as present in this bottle but, Oh!... the spice was like cake.
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Still drinking deliciously since my last bottle in May. Decanted for an hour and a half while we drank the 2005 Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux and the 2002 Hourglass Cab with our dinner. A gorgeous dark, dense purple color. The pages of blackberry and smoke make this a top of your list wines from the cellar that you want to drink but should save for great drinking when you have drank most of your eighties Bordeaux. Beautiful aroma of vanilla and spice, this is a classic of brawn and beauty!
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Ruby red, seductive nose of damp pebbles, minerals, caramel, vanilla very fruity with red fruits, berries. Very Elegant wine and complex. We've opened this bottle 2 hours before consuming. This wine has excellent structure and starting to shine a little at the moment but still pretty tannic though. Aftertaste is silky, sexy and longgggg.
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Not so much notes; too busy enjoying. Beautiful expressive and elegant bouquet with everything you could want from a top Bdx. Finesse and complexity. Already soft and a lot of finesse, but the powerful tannin has to soften a little bit more to make it complete.
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1285 Avenue of the Americas: Decanted twice and left in decanter for two hours before drinking. Forward and caressed with black fruits this purple queen has has a flushed ruby complexion. Black currant aroma laced with vanilla and tobacco and sealed with plum. Ripe, yes ripe, Fat, even zoftig with many layers of sweet tannin that chews softly like a mindnight meal with your lover or a midnight lover as your meal.This was the wine of the tasting.
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California tasting @ Restaurant Savelberg (Netherlands): 'Bordeaux red', resolving, almost translucent core. Drop dead gorgeous wine, extremely pure earthy components, mushrooms, pencil shavings, licorice. Very exciting and captivating wine. Unmeasurable complexity, a real sniffer. This is it, this really got me firing on all cilinders. Perfectly ripe and mature. Phenomenal stuff. 19/20
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Tasted blind with some hints from the host, knew I was on the left bank and got the year right, however I guessed Mouton because of serious lead pencil and cassis notes with lods of cedar. This wine needs lots of time.
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University Settlement dinner (Christies): A classic expression of tobacco and gravel over a very deep core of ripe, dark fruit greats the nose, Spicy and with a hint of camphor, a seductive nose. Opulent, ripe and chewy upon entry, zest and lively with lots of soft, ripe tannins, the fruit remains very crisp though continues to add layers, the long finish just echoes the flavors of the midpalte. While still very young this has the balance and intensity to age impeccably.
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SOBER haut Brion Tasting (CB's house): Tobacco dominates the nose. On the palate, tobacco and leather. Very tannic, but more or less open for business. Will improve considerably with time.
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Bordeaux 94/95 @ Peter V. (Netherlands): This wine is so complete... and so strong and promising. It has all the fruit and texture of the previous wine, but it's more ripe, more suave, more complex and deeper. Especially liked the unbelievably pure, damp earth notes in the bouquet. Fascinating wine. 18.5-19/20
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Cedar and spice on the nose. Dry, and mineraly on the palate. Tannins were present but not intrusive. Good balance and length. Less sweet than the 89, 82, 90 and 98 versions. The wife commented that it tasted like ginseng.
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(At The Square in London.) What an unbelievably sexy wine. In my view, the leading lights have vastly underrated this. It's larger-than-life, powerful, and effusive, and yet it's feminine and alluring too. Ruby red color, and the nose (which you could almost detect from across the room) shows smoke and leather, along with currant, blackberry, and even strawberry notes. The palate is precise and silky smooth, with superfine tannins -- whatever the percentages, the spirit seems more Merlot than Cabernet. And the finish is a blockbuster. All of that having been said, is this complex enough to be considered a classic? I could see how others might not think so, but all in all I think that this stuff is just too heavenly for me to care.
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In my open comparison (26th Feb 2006) between Latour, Mouton Rothschild and Haut Brion 1995's, that was the order they finished in: scores 95:93:92. Unanimous agreement with six friends on this order (although as I've said the tasting was not blind). Latour: fuller, rounder, more luscious, with good fruit and nicely softened tannins, sweet vs the dryness, especially of the Haut Brion. Long finish. Drinking well now, but with the legs to improve. Mouton Rothschild: soft, wood and pencil, with pleasant acidity/tannins. Maybe some chocolatey notes? Dry finish. Well and ready to drink now?? Haut Brion: alcoholic, dry and tannic, although not unpleasantly so - a little austere. I detected little fruit flavors, although others did. Felt there was room for improvement and woud drink better in 3-5 years. All had excellent color, clarity and brightness - Latour the deepest, Haut Brion still some purple, Mouton perhaps a hint of brown. The scoring mirrored almost exactly the prices I paid for the wines - maybe there is justice in the wine business. Plaudits came from all attendees to a high class tasting - the tasting order was the reverse of the scores - it just got better and better. Surprisingly I found myself believing the money I paid was worth it for all wines!
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Notes of graphite, earth, and mineral dominate, but there is also plenty of fruit seemingly stuffed into this wine. Gracefully structured, almost high toned, but most definitely lithe and nimble. This bottle was initially much tighter than the last I tasted, but with air it significantly softened. It was immensely enjoyable to follow the wine as it evolved in the glass. It ended up soft, yet powerful, and very smooth, very sexy. A wonderful wine.
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Southern Nights #1 (@ PVa): Not many notes; enjoying the wine too much. Full bodied and powerful. Dark fruits, vanilla and graphite. Refinement. Delicious and still very youthful.
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Beautiful nose showing lots of dynamic fruit. A perfectly made wine showing well integrated fruit and earthiness. Very bright, but soft, beautiful, and strikingly mature. Surprisingly, the 1995 is more mature than the 1990 Haut Brion at this point in time.
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2nd Annual Cellar Treasures Tasting (Long) (Asti Trattoria): Started out tight despite having been open for 12 hours+. Clearly a wine with massive structure and more delineation than the 1990. Really pronounced cigar box aroma, dried flowers, tobacco, cassis, and certain savory character. I think this could turn out to be a much better wine in 10 years (relative to other vintages of HB) than many think today.
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BLIND 1995 Bordeaux etc...: Tasted BLIND. TN: tight. Dark fruit . Structured. Tobacco. A bit closed. Good potential for long-term development. I liked this wine quite a bit, but preferred both the '95 an '90 Pichon Lalande blind in this flight...
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Blair's Burgundy and Bordeaux Blowout: Dark garnet. Earth, smoke and mushrooms on the nose. Rich, smoky and full bodied. The mid-palate seems a little thin when compared to the competition though. This drank much better on release and seems to be in kind of an awkward state. Give it a few more years in the cellar.
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HS offline. Purple, leather and resin on the nose. This wine is intense but still tight. There is good minerality and a long spicy finish. It's still very young and one senses a brooding, powerful wine that is yet to reveal its depth. dg
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Almost right bank in its sweetness, it exhibited none of the classic left bank cedar and tobacco aromas. Voluptuous in the mouth, full finish at the end showing dark berry, leather and cassis. Tastes young, but not too tannic, I am sure it will continue to improve.
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What a joy to drink. Rich, multi-faceted nose with loads of fruit, shoe leather, tobacco and a hint of currant. Started out transparent and developed into a huge palette after 30 minutes being open. Explodes in your mouth when combined with steak with a finish that just won't quit. The tannins are incredibly fine and almost totally integrated. The wine is mature now but will doubtless put on more weight and complexity over the coming years.
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Wine tasting. Black cherries on nose with some cedar hints in background. Big, sweet black fruit flavors on palate, somewhat hidden behind strong, brawny tannins. Great structure and balance all the way through to finish. Needs at least 5, probably 10 more years.
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4/12/2024 - MarcPal wrote: 94 Points
Decanted approximately 2-2.5 hours before serving. Deep garnet colour with light bricking, apparent but silky tannins, absolute powerhouse wine showing cedar, tobacco, dark fruit, kept evolving and improving in the glass. Drinking well after a long decant, but should only improve with 5+ more years. Beautiful wine (94-95)
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3/30/2024 - RobinTeo wrote: 95 Points
The one with Old Bordeaux (Praelum): Double decanted to remove sediments 3 hours before drinking and it seemed to have helped this bottle shed some baby fat. Out of the gates this was firing with alternating waves of black fruit and red fruit with smoke, earth, graphite and baking spices. This is fresh and youthful on the palate with leather, truffles, black fruit. This is dense and complex today already but I would keep my remaining to revisit in 5-10 years time! I can only imagine how tightly wound this would have otherwise been without the decant.
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3/30/2024 - Philip67 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Slight mushroom cloaking the wine. Beneath the mushroom pure focused blackberry fruit. Great depth and complexity. Drinking beautifully now, will last another 2 decades.
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3/21/2024 - RayOB Likes this wine: 96 Points
Drank at 67PM
Incredible depth, in a wonderful place.
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3/16/2024 - johnh1001 wrote: 94 Points
Another great bottle. Love the silky texture.
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3/10/2024 - ONEFIVE Likes this wine:
HB never disappoints.
Straight after popping the cork the aromatics are firing off. Red and black fruit with fresh tobacco, new leather, exotic spices, pencil shavings, and wet rocks.
On the palate this is med- body, med+ acid, and med+ tannin. The acidity is zippy and keeps the fruit lively. I would think more integration at this point but the wine still seems crazy young.
Delicious, needs some air. Try again in another 3-5 years.
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3/2/2024 - lesz Likes this wine: 93 Points
beautiful.
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2/25/2024 - Blanc_de_Blancs wrote: 91 Points
Classic Cab Driven Nose,
Palate doesn’t show what i expect from a Haut Brion. Thin Mid Palate, a bit diluted, doesnt posses the richness and weight of a 1st growth
Need a lot of air before opening up (+- 4 Hours)
Tannins still present with unpleasant acidity.
Bad bottles perhaps?
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2/9/2024 - ankitmehra Likes this wine: 95 Points
Four Decades of Left Bank Bordeaux with Friends (New York): This bottle was slow oxidised for three hours prior to tasting it and it needed every minute of it (as the review below me confirms). Restrained upon first tasting it, this bottle was singing after it got some air time, showing off a lot of the characteristics I've come to love from the 1995 vintage. There was an exuberance to the nose that was brought out through scents of mountain pine and menthol, balanced out by typical smokiness from Pessac-Léognan and a hint of bell pepper. The palate was oozing power as an inkiness medlied with blackberries on the upfront before the mid-palate was dominated by notes of dark chocolate, licorice and earthiness. The finish was lively and long as cocoa and pepper gave us the indication that this wine has decades left in its life. A great experience to enjoy this right at the beginning of its drinking window.
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1/28/2024 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
It took at least 3 hours to start softening. Even then, it retains its firm, strict attitude. With effort, and patience it takes time before the tobacco, cocoa, herb, red plum, red currant and smoke notes appear. The palate has fruit, but it’s clearly an old-school, classical styled fruit was a tannic edge. Drink from 2024-2050.
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1/25/2024 - peternelson Likes this wine: 93 Points
Fantastic showing, medium ruby-rust; very aromatic, spices, earthy, tobacco,old leather, pot-pouri; beautiful wine out of the gate but turned a bit dried out, slight oxy and sour note after a short time. Showing older than 1995 (guessed '86) 92? DD Blind 1982-2005 Bordeaux 1st Growth dinner at BOA steakhouse.
My #3 wine and #3 overall.
Great first flight of 3 including 95 Haut Brion, 83 Margaux, 02 Mouton.
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1/22/2024 - Malarky997 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Beautiful. Head-to-head against a ‘95 Ausone. Decanted 3 hours. Perfect nose. Tannins in the right spot. Could it get even better in a few years? Maybe.
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1/1/2024 - Francophile1 Likes this wine:
2024 New Year's Day Double Blind Tasting: Double-blind. Wonderful nose of tobacco, cedar, tar with dusty tannin. This really opened up by the end of the night. This is a very clean wine from a solid left bank vintage. Great wine that is just entering its maturity window but can age for many many more. A noble wine. I called it as my wine and I was correct.
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12/21/2023 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points
This bottle showing a bit more maturity than my last and a touch of brett was noticeable but not obtrusive. Quite layered and complex with classic notes of warm bricks, reddish fruit and tobacco road. Somewhat full-bodied and even decadent with a very complex finish.
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12/1/2023 - mclanew Likes this wine: 96 Points
Consistent with previous notes
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11/6/2023 - brr003 wrote:
maybe
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10/16/2023 - devraj Likes this wine: 95 Points
Youthful dark ruby in color with very light bricking towards the edges. After ~2h of time in the decanter the nose unfurls with aromas of black fruits, hint of cigar-ash, spice and forest-floor. The extremely well balanced palate shows silky and supple reddish black fruits, hint of a savory tobacco smoke, medium acidity, fully resolved tannins and a very long finish. Superb and regal!
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10/12/2023 - Sotto325 wrote: 94 Points
Delightful yet again. The classic Haut Brion smokiness and wet wood undertone with that black red fruit vein reaching through every glass. A nose that kills! The wine receded after 15 minutes into a thinner mid-palate mouthfeel but then re-emerged after another 15 minutes into a more textured and complex delivery. Full dark cherry notes along with hints of sous bois. A winner.
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8/23/2023 - Sotto325 wrote: 95 Points
Haut Brion in almost perfect form (not as great as the 1964 or 1967) , a tiny bit youthful on the edges (tannin), but full of that Graves Smokey,warm, mellifluous forest cover with old wood, black cherry, and a full full finish. Not decanted.
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8/12/2023 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 96 Points
Yes folks, this gets the full Annette with stiffy clusters. A quick Google search suggests Rebecca Bardoux might be the Bordeaux equivalent of the Rhenish Annette, or might it be algorithmic spelling issues? Well, Rebecca appears to be rather chic and nicely built, so she will do. She also seems like the sort of gal who will always be nice.
The thing with really fine Bordeaux is that is, well, really fine. No 75 gigaton blast of baked fruit and oak staves here. It can be easy to open and think 'oh! Is that it then?'. Of course, unless you are a really obtuse swine, you then find yourself drawn back despite yourself and you start to see the amazing layers and the beauty. Hegel loved Haut Brion and one can see why.
The wine is brick red, but the colour misleads. This is not tired, or even fully mature. The very best years of this wine still lie a few years ahead, cork and cellar conditions allowing.
It is important to note that this wine evolves enormously over time open and decanted. The wine you get at first does seem fully mature and a few hours later you would also say the tannins are fully resolved. Yet at 5 hours the wine is freshening up and tightening up.
The nose is a compote of dark and red fruits, truffles, a little smoke, pepper and spice. Depending on when you smell this, the proportions will change but the elements themselves are fairly consistent.
The 1995 vintage was a bit like 1975; coming after a series of horrid ones it got rave reviews at first, simply because it was not awful. However, with time came the realisation that a lot of 1995's had mean tannins and the vintage, properly considered was not great, but was good, provided one chose carefully. Haut Brion bucked this trend by producing a spectacular wine. It was feted then and it still is.
Pay attention to the layers on the palate, because this is one of the things I find beguiling about this wine. The fine architecture of wine.
This is string quartet music. Late Beethoven, perhaps. We can argue about Opus 131 or 133. Schubert asked to hear 131 before he died and Wagner described it in glowing terms, but I am with Stravinsky and it is the 'Grosse Fugue' that calls to me and that seems the perfect accompaniment for this wine. Please do listen to these two extraordinary pieces of music as you drink this wine, because combined they open doors.
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7/22/2023 - Jaydilla Likes this wine: 97 Points
Wife and I celebrated with this bottle and a pepper coated filet mignon. Extremely happy with our timing. Absolutely at its peak. Decanted for three hours in the glass. Silky with cedar,and pipe tobacco. DRINK NOW!
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7/20/2023 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 93 Points
Black core, medium red rim .
Briary spice, dark tar spice, deep cassis fragrance.
Silky, rounded, developed flavours mingle with pure cassis, delicious cigar box cedary complexity. Fine acidity and very fine tannins. Open for business, no sense waiting.
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5/18/2023 - rraaffaa Likes this wine: 96 Points
Really, really amazing
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5/16/2023 - dream Likes this wine: 96 Points
This really blossomed in the glass after a 5-hour double-decant and showed a smoky edge to go along with the dark red fruit and wonderful spicy complexity just emerging. Full-bodied for HB with great depth and power and enough class and elegance despite a vintage in Bordeaux that often lacks those qualities. Just entering it's drinking window but more to come here. At Commanderie Candidate's dinner at the University Club, NYC. 96+
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5/13/2023 - jkoenen wrote: flawed
Top-Bordeaux 1995 (Restaurant Central Park, Voorburg): Dead.
No score.
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5/9/2023 - paulst Likes this wine: 93 Points
Sweet lean blackberry and tobacco; a bit off balance and greenish; light raspberry and earth slightly acidic finish. Needs much more time.
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5/7/2023 - mxpbuy wrote: 94 Points
5 hours slow ox was not enough. Still emerging after 7 hours. A lot of dense black and blue fruits for what is sometimes referred to as a leaner vintage than the '96s. The nose was the most explosive of the night with plenty of tar and tobacco on top of black currant. The density and still relative youth of the wine, however, seemed to be keeping its best elements tightly wound, although it was very smooth. The wine is not near its apogee with loads of improvement expected. I'll revisit it in a handful of years.
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4/28/2023 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
Steak Dinner with Great Wine (Asador Bastian - Chicago IL): Black plum and cherry with good meaty spice and good enough weight, even if not quite at the level I expect from Haut-Brion in a vintage as well as 1995s are tasting today.
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3/28/2023 - MS86 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Clear, medium ruby fading to a clear rim. Decanted 5 hours.
Bouquet is rich and elegant and remarkably complex. Violet, chocolate, espresso, dusty black fruit, smoke and meat.
Palate is plush and full with firm tannins, powerful acids, texture and density.
Flavours of violet, ripe black fruit and meat match the nose. Exceptional length.
Beautiful wine to drink now but I would love to have the chance to try this again in another decade.
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3/26/2023 - Luvwine1 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Medium body, elegant, long finish 1.5 hours in decanter—probably should have been a bit longer. In the glass, it was initially thin on mid palate but filled out as time went on. By end of meal, just terrific, elegant, and long.
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2/11/2023 - soyhead wrote:
nose - char, mushroom
mouth - savory, hickory, loads of dark fruit and still very fresh, I often find HB to have a smoky essence, and here , after some time, it grew on me, and I found myself quite enamored.
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1/28/2023 - John III Likes this wine: 98 Points
Decanted 2 hours. The cork was fresh and smelled heavenly. Drank with lamb chops and felafel, with sides of tahini sauce and babaganoush. Drank like a perfume. Lovely cherry core surrounded by earth, mushroom, minerals, steel, cedar. The finish was light, not heavy like these good ones from California. What a spectacular wine.
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1/15/2023 - The_Cat wrote: 95 Points
Deep garnet red still intense flavors complex cherry and blackberry a hind of cedar wood and ink. Full bodied with soft textured tannins and very good length
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1/7/2023 - rmh66 wrote: 96 Points
PnP and followed for several hours, filled out a bit with an hour of air. Blackcurrants, red cherry, plums, smoke, cigar box, earth, tobacco, and graphite on the nose. Tart cherry, plums, tobacco, earth, graphite, and a number of hard to identify complex flavors. Very nice acidity, mostly resolved tannins, long finish. There was a little leftover on the second day that offered a slightly meaty, bloody taste that was interesting. What a treat to drink a wine like this.
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12/24/2022 - Mulvk Likes this wine: 94 Points
Earthy, pencil shavings and cigar box. Long finish. Loved it.
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11/23/2022 - Cailles wrote: 93 Points
Ten Vintages Haut Bailly vs Mission HB: Preamble: All wines tasted blind in 10 vintage flights (1994-2015). To every flight one random third wine from Pessac Leognan added (2x Haut Brion, 2x Smith, 2x Pape Clement, 1x Branon, 1x Luchy Halde, 1x Carmes, 1x Chevalier). All wines opened a few hours before consumption but no decanting.
Some findings:
1) Haut Bailly outperformed Mission (5 vs 4 wins, 92.5 vs 90.5 average). 2) Haut Bailly is a rather structured wine which seems to shine bright in ripe and warm vintages, without any form of excess ripeness or extraction. 3) When done right (05/15), Mission eclipses Haut Bailly with its depth and delineation , but several vintages showed a bit too ripe but especially with the alcohol not well masked (09/10). 4) Pessac wines usually need quite some air to open up. In this setting (no decanting), most wines needed a lot of swirling to fully open up and will need more cellar time. 5) The best wines today were Haut Bailly 09 (96pts) & 10 (95pts) and Mission 05 & 15 (95pts).
TN: Intense, intriguing nose with dark and dark red fruit, strong fruit core, some candied and burnt sugar notes with an overall muscular impression. On the palate this shows a lot of tension with not yet fully round tannins. The wine is mainly driven by minerality, some stems, green bell pepper, ashes and smoke. Some first tertiarty tobacco notes are emerging. High acidity but well integrated. Overall good but missing a touch of roundness. This has certainly the substance to develop into a very good wine. While good today, this could become a 95+ pts wine in another 5 to 10 years with a more melted structure and more tertiary complexity. The Mission in the next glass reached the same 93pts level today as it showed more mature and round but it doesn’t have the same life expectancy and will not reach the same heights.
Decanting: Two+ hours should certainly help.
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11/5/2022 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
The more I taste this wine, the more I like it. This is one of the few 95s that do not typify the austerity of the vintage. Full-bodied, concentrated and aromatic, with a nose of smoke, cigar wrapper, burning forest leaves, and currants, the is loaded with fresh currants, herbs, cedar, and tobacco on the palate. You find good length and energy making you want to enjoy another sniff and sip. Drink from 2022-2050.
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10/25/2022 - mclanew Likes this wine: 97 Points
Decanted two hours. Lovely, classy nose of black cherry, cigar box and truffle. The palate is medium to full bodied and in a great place right now. A little bricking, excellent intensity and persistence, very good acidity and balance, long complex finish. This seems to go from strength to strength as it ages.
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9/22/2022 - dream wrote: 92 Points
This bottle seemed fine but showed quite a bit more rusticity than the other wines with amped up intensity and lots of dark fruits and spices. Still clenched on the finish but definitely showing lovely smoky flavors with notes of road tar and tobacco. Brooding, youthful and a bit disjointed tonight. Double-decanted for 3 hours. 92?
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9/2/2022 - MasterWis Likes this wine: 95 Points
Opened 5h before, decanted 1h30 before drinking. Showing beautifully, peak drinking spot right now. Very nice density, very long finish on a strong savory bitterness. Slightly dry tanins. Love it
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8/5/2022 - liber Likes this wine: 95 Points
12th of 24, opened an hour then decanted an hour, perfect level, cork quarter travelled, not as big as last week's Mission 95 and certainly leaner, but more complex and harmonious with attractive acid lift to the flavours, fine Graves typicity, violet, tar, tobacco and that scarcely definable sense of flavours rising from hot bricks, very long and elegant, possible upside and 20+ years but needs to put on more weight to improve on current VF (18.5)..........I'd put this bottle behind 96, 01, 02, 03 and of course the ethereal 89, 90 and 98 and behind La Mission 95 on potential!
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7/16/2022 - the player Likes this wine: 95 Points
Outstanding and one of the readier 95s heavyweights out there. Deep garnet color, blackish at the core. Delicious nose of black currants, cassis, dark cherries, tobacco leaf, graphite and spiced perfume. Decanted and aerated for an hour then drank over 2 hours. Medium to full bodied this is a charmer of a 95 with lots of complexity in the dark fruits on the palate, perfect balance and acidity, envelops the mid and lower palate with dark fruits and graphite, some old leather, and a long finish. Simply marvellous.
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6/13/2022 - Bew Naweera Likes this wine: 100 Points
Remarkable Haut-Brion 1995
I opened the Chateau Haut-Brion 1995 for my 35th birthday and it was an excellent like they say. Truly world class.
The color of the wine was amazing. It was garnet and look like a medium bodied that made me so thirsty!
The nose showed clearly cherry, cedar, cinnamon and cigar. I enjoyed every drop of the wine. On the palate, Haut-Brion tasted like leather, earthy, cherry. Then the finish was very minerality, stone and graphite. Very elegant and out of this world.
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6/10/2022 - mclanew Likes this wine: 96 Points
What can I say. This is fabulous and in a great drinking window but still youthful. Decanted three hours. On the nose black and red fruit fruit, cigar box and lead pencil. The palate is medium to full bodied, very energetic, and shows ripe black current, tobacco and earth, finishing long and savory. Excellent.
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6/4/2022 - Philip67 wrote: 94 Points
Classic Bordeaux - elegant. Black currant, cassis, leather. Multi layered long finish. Drink now and over the next 20 years.
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5/24/2022 - Philip67 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Rocking. Perfect Bordeaux - elegant. Black currant, cassis, leather. Multi layered long finsh. Drink now and over the next 20 years
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5/1/2022 - Beeck10 wrote: 90 Points
Gruaud Larose 1986-//Mouton 2002-//Haut-brion 1995- //-Petrus 1995
Gruaud Larose 94/95
We hebben het iets te warm gedronken , maar ook hier weer een verbluffende balans en evenwicht van de wijn waar de neus en mond wel deels de ouderdom liet zien , maar niets was onaangenaam of al vluchtig ! Mooi rond , je kon een warm jaar ruiken en proeven , alcohol was op een aangename manier nog steeds aanwezig , tabac , leer in de neus , het was lang de beste wijn van de avond tov mouton 22 en haut-brion 2005 ,
De Haut Brion 1995 // 90..? , die by thé way overrijp was en pruimen in de neus had ! Vraag mij af of het de wijn of de kelder was die het zo had beslist… Viel tegen ,
Mouton 2022 : 92/100 . Mouton had een zeer mooie neus met opnieuw de munt en eucalyptus, maar de mond had een veel te grote aciditeit ! Zat echt geen evenwicht in ! Mms met ouder worden zou hij nog meer in balans komen , maar dan kan de neus ook mms verdwijnen,
Petrus 1995 : 99/100 En dan kwam de verassing , we dachten dat we op 90 of 98 zaten , warmte in de neus , ik had de merlot niet geroken en dacht dat we op cabernet zaten ! strange, dit werd wel beter na verloop van tijd, mijn buur had Merlot en pomprol geroken ! sterk ! Wat ik soms met Petrus heb, is die power soms te veel; maar die
was hier niet aanwezig , wat een balans , wat een finesse, wat een wijn ! in de neus had het gerookte vlees , leer en toch wat donkere fruit, maar niets dat de wijn onstabiel maakte , waarom ik op cabernet zat, was door de finesse, en de wijn was ook nogmaals lang…in de mond , what a beauty !! well done petrus
Gruaud Larose 1986-Mouton-haut-brion 2005- 2022-Petrus 1995
Gruaud Larose 94/95
We drank it a bit too warm, but here again an astonishing balance and equilibrium of the wine where the nose and mouth did show some age, but nothing was unpleasant or already fleeting! Nicely round, you could smell and taste a warm year, alcohol was still present in a pleasant way, tobacco, leather in the nose, it was for a long time the best wine of the evening compared to mouton 22 and haut-brion 2005,
De Haut Brion 2005 90/100..? , which by the way was overripe and had plums in the nose ! Wonder if it was the wine or the cellar that decided it so… Disappointed ,
Mouton 2022 : 92/100 . Mouton had a very nice nose with mint and eucalyptus again, but the mouth had too much acidity! Really out of balance! Maybe with age he would come into balance even more, but then the nose can also disappear,
Petrus 1995 : 99/100 And then came the surprise , we thought we were on 90 or 98 , warmth in the nose , I hadn't smelled the merlot and thought we were on cabernet ! strange, this got better over time, my neighbor had smelled Merlot and Pumpkin ! strong ! What I sometimes have with Petrus is that power sometimes too much; but that
was not present here, what a balance, what finesse, what a wine! in the nose it had smoked meat, leather and still some dark fruit, but nothing that made the wine unstable , why I was on cabernet was because of the finesse, and the wine was again long…on the mouth, what a beauty ! !
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4/21/2022 - Dave Mosko Likes this wine:
This was a star among stars this night. I'm an amateur and have tasted maybe 20 different vintages, but HB is the FG that for me consistently shows well no matter what vintage, what venue, what time of year, what crowd. Dark ruby, belies it's 26+ yrs. The viscosity is noticeable and makes the glass a pretty color to look at after a swirl. This smells like we're in for a good time. The cigar box tobacco is mild but present, juicy plum skins and berry scents. I tasted this and immediately got the savory berries and skins of dark fruit. Deep texture and relevant acid to carry the weight to the finish. I can assert this is an obviously young appearing bottle although I've had 95 only once prior, at least 10 years ago. It doesn't seem to have budged much. After an hour and a half of air, and an accompanying dish of the best lamb ever, a perfect match tonight, I was in a happy place. It really expanded and coated the palate, stimulated sensors, and put a smile on my face. Even in the presence of a 1970 Latour from 1.5L which seemed impeccably stored and was FG royalty, this HB performed well. A very respectable bottle. Thank you Bob!
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4/17/2022 - Paul D wrote: 94 Points
4/12, crumbly cork. Decanted 1/2 hr.
Medium/deep garnet core, pale garnet rim. Smoky, earthy, tobacco, underlying red and black berry fruit. Medium bodied, smoke, tobacco, earth, quite refined, elegant even, soft tannins, fresh acids, very good length harmonious finish
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4/10/2022 - Philip67 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Very good though predominantly tertiary, which I was not expecting. I had this wine in the last few years and it has been far more primary, could be poor storage. The remaining fruit is brambly in nature. Mid weight, complex and long. Drinking now will last for decades.
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3/26/2022 - Hanibal Likes this wine: 94 Points
In a perfect drinking window... complete bordeaux experience at hand. Quite long finish. Loved the experience.
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3/25/2022 - BenBlu Likes this wine: 95 Points
This bottle showed much better than the previous experience with this wine (probably was a tired bottle before). Gave it a one hour decant and it was ready to go. Inviting nose of tarr and a smell remniscent of a terrace of terracota tiles on a warm summer day. Nice balance and came across as low-ish alcohol which I like. A very symmetrical and pure wine! Drink now-2050.
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2/11/2022 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
1989-2000 Top Bordeaux with Pizza (Schur House - Riverwoods IL): Single blind 1989-2000 Bordeaux. Good combination of black cherry, plum, savory spice, and meat. Still bright and fresh. Lots to enjoy here, it's just not exceptional or what I hope to get from "1er" wines. Consistent with previous bottles.
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1/1/2022 - rexmerlot wrote: 95 Points
Drank this side by side with 96 Petrus, and was more impressed with this wine. Beautiful dark ruby in colour. Notes of cassis, cedar, eucalyptus, and spice. Dry, med body, med acidity, elegant tannins. This wine still has years left on it.
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12/31/2021 - Ramberg wrote: 95 Points
NYE dinner.
A very fine bottle of HB.
A bit closed since it did not receive a proper decant.
Nose with red currant, cigar box, gravel, tobacco, leafy herbs, smoke, some meat, incense and graphite.
Very nice indeed, and with extended swirling more and more reveals.
Palate with red and black fruits, plums and currants, smoke and meaty notes.
Some soil/earth and leafy notes.
Silky and a long and very well balanced finish.
Excellent and ready to enjoy now and for at least the next 5 - 10 years.
Merry New Year Mr. Jean-Bernard Delmas where ever you are.
This one was one of the really good ones you made.
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12/12/2021 - jviz wrote: 95 Points
Served next to the 90. Popped and poured into a decanter than consumed over about one hour. This one was fresh, red-fruited, with fine cedar shaving tannins. Juicy and concentrated on the palate with red berries and some holiday spice. Medium plus length. Agree with the note below suggesting that this one’s just entering its drinking window as there was very little tertiary development to my taste at this point. Showing consistent with the vintage. What a treat!
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12/10/2021 - hprphf wrote: 92 Points
Light, silky, some woody notes. 92
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11/6/2021 - grapenomad wrote: 95 Points
It's always amazing to come back to these First Growths, especially when they're showing this good. This was brought over by a guest at Burnt Ends and luckily a generous one. Deep garnet in the glass, still showing some youthful ruby hues on the rim. The nose feels like it's halfway there, as if there's 25 more years to go in this. A beautiful marriage of fresh fruit, oak and bottle aging notes. The body is full with so much energy remaining in it. Tannins are ripe, but not dusty like you would usually get in Bordeaux this old. The acidity is still kicking strong and is balanced perfectly with the alcohol. The tertiary notes really come out on the finish in the form of cigar box, fresh button mushrooms, smoked meat and dried red fruit. Amazing wine that will easily go for several more decades. If you think that this is at its peak, check your storing conditions.
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10/20/2021 - pavel_p Likes this wine: 94 Points
Excellent and clearly better than the bottle a year ago. Agree with some of the below comments that this benefits from an extensive decant. (Double) decanted at home for about 2:30h and took to restaurant, where the first small sip on arrival was still a bit tight, so we gave it another hour at the restaurant in the decanter and only then this showed really well. Wonderfully fresh and light on the layered nose, on the palate the typical Graves leafiness, some tobacco and leather is nicely integrated in the fruit already, everything is so nicely balanced. Beautiful wine. Decant for 3h+ to drink now, or hold.
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10/15/2021 - NarunP Likes this wine: 94 Points
48% Merlot 43% Cabernet Sauvignon 9% Cabernet Franc
Medium bricked red color, opaque, compact rim. Still youthful looking.
Aromatics of literally a smoky bomb. Best part of this wine. Unlit tobacco leaves, interestingly some smoked weed scents, sweet charred cedary oak.
Round but still quite tannic. Medium to med plus acidity, dry. Classically ripe cassis and red cherry. Graphite and mineral. Forest floor, smoke filled mouthfeel sensation. Long and sumptuous finish.
Superb wine. Complex yet not excessive. Nimble and elegant. Exude quiet confidence. This is a great wine that does not bow to fad or fashion. Capable of evolving and revealing even more complexity. This is just the beginning of the secondary peak drinkability. The drinking window is wide open. I'd say a 10 year plateau lying ahead. But if you incline to pop one now, leave this in the decanter for at least 2 hours. It needs a lot of time to stretch and come out of its shell. 94+
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9/25/2021 - GNBB wrote: 93 Points
Decanted 30 minutes. Plums, iodine, light graphite and some thyme on the nose - has a little sois bois as well, showing its age. Palate is smooth, with some gentle tannic grip, light-medium acidity with plum fruits, some lavender stem, graphite and olive - a real savoury, leathery undertone to the wine. A really delightful and engaging wine - plenty of depth and character. This has clearly reached full maturity. Drink now.
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9/13/2021 - Mahatma Chianti Likes this wine: 96 Points
Private tasting with friends. One bottle, four wine geeks.
Perfect balance, but needed an hour to find together. Incredible freshness with red and dark fruit - and this cool graphite minerality contradicting the ripe silky tannins totally blowed my mind. This is not just power without weight, it´s the square of the circle.
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8/25/2021 - beatles wrote: 95 Points
This has enterede matiuroity, drinking window wide opened; the wine has softnede somewhat. Plenty f sweet tobacco, black fruit, a silky exteriour and great length.
#AarhusVinselskab
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7/22/2021 - Acalder9 Likes this wine: 100 Points
Incredible wine. So smooth; perfect balance. Drinking very well after 26 years.
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6/20/2021 - GNBB wrote: 90 Points
Decanted 1hr15. Quite an intense nose with plums, blackberries, light notes of graphite and lavender. Palate has plenty of grip with light/medium tannins, fresh acidity and a backdrop of blackcurrant and garrigue. Perhaps lacking a little depth in mid range & showing the wine has reached full maturity. Drink now.
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5/20/2021 - dream Likes this wine: 95 Points
Open for business now and drinking beautifully with classic flavors of sweet gravel, scorched earth and tobacco. Full-bodied and expansive on the finish which is loaded with complex notes of truffles, dark chocolate, char and spice. Perhaps not the finest vintage of HB but certainly one of the most delicious! Double-decanted 5 hours.
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5/18/2021 - NY Wino wrote: 91 Points
Nose is a bit off puttting, wine has smoke up front, some nice fruit but a bit tannic, finish is ok.
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5/9/2021 - mflesh wrote: 97 Points
The 95 came out to play, and ended up with stiff competition. Yes, alongside it was opened in 1995 Chateau Trotanoy and it was very good to do a nice little 25-year-old left bank versus right bank comparison. This wine was not the winner in every category. First, the nose. Crushed rock, a hint of nitrogen but mostly dirty red cherry and black cherry notes, and lots of them. This did not seem to have a classic Bordeaux nose immediately after being opened, but instead took about an hour and a half decant before it seemed to be equal parts "Bordeaux funk" to fruit. The entry showed a big mouthfeel. Mostly chocolate-covered dirty red cherry swirling with smoke and leather that was actually rather restrained. There was some black cherry there in certain moments. The astringency did improve quite a bit after it was decanted. The finish was still on the tannic side, but had an earthy grit and stiff oak. A little bit of black pepper with excellent dirty cherry backbone. Compared to the Trotanoy, This one had less balance, less of your classic Bordeaux nose and palate (the Trotanoy was "stinkier"), although fruit intensity did catch up. Although there was some black cherry in this wine, it was mostly a lighter red cherry or bing cherry where the Trotanoy was deep black cherry from the very first moment. Overall, if I had to do it again, I probably would have opened up the 1990 and let this one sit. But, oh mama what a wine!
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4/21/2021 - ilee Likes this wine: 97 Points
Opened it to drink at home with Mrs L on the eve of her birthday. The last time we had one was 2011, and wow what a difference 10 years makes. After a run of disappointing old wines that turned out over-aged and over-waited for, here's a fine example of the benefits of patience (duh!). The nose is a dense cloud of smoked and tarred mineral red fruit, as though someone was out paving a highway with raspberries in the scorching midday sun, and you happened to drive by with the windows down. (I know I know why would you have the windows down?) On the palate, it is medium bodied, sinewy and velvety, with sweet vibrant summer fruit tightly coiled like a spring that releases with rich sparkles in the finish. From time to time, I catch a faint note of portobello mushroom, but this is not a complaint (I love mushrooms). Finely balanced, and rich without the slightest hint of weight, this wine is a fully grown beauty. I have just one more bottle, tucked away for 2031, but I'm already thinking: carpe diem
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3/21/2021 - Niagara wrote:
Ready to drink. Decant carefully, lots of fine sediment in this one that could easily be stirred up if not delicate about it.
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3/14/2021 - King Julien wrote: 95 Points
Decanted about an hour, possibly didn't even need that. Nice mature, well-integrated Bordeaux. Enjoyed over the 2 hours following.
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2/26/2021 - dkentaustin Likes this wine: 94 Points
Light ruby color. Red tart fruits, stone, mineral, flint, light barnyard and hay. Subtle and graceful on the palate and surprisingly approachable. Smokey, blood orange, rock and light floral notes. This wine is extremely enjoyable and should be for years.
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2/20/2021 - jroberts86 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Magnum. Cork was perfect. Fill level good. Decanted for 2 hours. Beautiful color. Lovely on the nose with fine sawdust wood. Dark plum, touch of tobacco, cedar bark, sandal wood. Fine grained tannins on the finish that lasted and lingered. First was without food. Second glass was with wild mushroom gnocchi. Perfect pairing.
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1/30/2021 - MichielV wrote: 94 Points
W beef goulash. Gerry and Renee brought this during CoVID. (also brought a Corton Charlemangne which was superb(same vintage). This was astoundingly young and fresh. Probably neede some more decant than half hour. Developed very nicely during meal with superb fruit and balance. Long finish. This will probably be even better 5 yrsfrom now.
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12/31/2020 - liber Likes this wine: 96 Points
11th of 24, opened 3 hours, decanted one hour, perfect cork and level, as predicted in note to last bottle in March 18, putting on weight and showing more fruit flavours alongside recognisable brick and tar notes of Graves and HB, edged excellent Cheval 95 but behind 89, 98 and possibly 01, upside yet. VF (18.5).
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12/23/2020 - dkentaustin Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drinking from a split after double decanting. Red fruits, earth, violets and flint. Soft body and mouthfeel. Has a light, linear taste that maybe needs more time. Out of the first growths, this always seems like the Pinot/burgundy style. Kudos to Haut Brion for putting the vintage on the top of the capsule.
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12/22/2020 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
I like how this continues developing. One of the top wines of the vintage, as it is able to overcome the strong tannic overbite found in many wines, here you find a glorious smoke, crushed rock, leaf, cassis and dark red berry nose. The tannins are subdued, the wine shows a refined, elegant character with a smoky, red berry filled finish. This can be enjoyed now with only an hour or so of decanting. Else, wait another 5 years and it will more nuances on the nose and palate.
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11/6/2020 - Kemo Sabe Likes this wine: 94 Points
Opened and let breathe an hour and drank over 2-3 hours. Still young. Lots of dark fruits, sauvage, blackberries, pencil, leather, tobacco and some funk. Texturally very pleasing. Better with air - next time I would do a short decant of 30-45 mins. Gains complexity with air and time. This is great now but will also be in another 10 years.
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10/20/2020 - dream Likes this wine: 94 Points
Double-decanted 4 hours before consumption. Wonderful HB nose of smoky gravel and tobacco road. Tasted alongside the '96, this was typical of the vintage difference with the '95 showing a fuller mid-palate and more decadent flavors of sweet tobacco and smoky dark fruits. The tannins are full and more rustic than the '96 and the finish is still a bit tight and in need of more time. I don't mind this style of Haut Brion and I think it needs at least 5 more years to reach peak. A bigger wine than the '96 but not as refined. Perfect bottle. 94+
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9/3/2020 - pavel_p Likes this wine: 93 Points
Pulled cork in the morning to check if the wine was ok, and then pushed cork back for birthday dinner. 90min decant at restaurant. Wonderful nose, not rich but very precise with dark fruit, wood spices and some forest floor, on the palate this is however fairly lean, cant find much depth, elevated acidity, medium (-) tannins. Medium finish. Nose 94-95, palate 92
Since we did not finish the bottle, the sommelier poured the remaining 1/3 back into the bottle and we put it in the fridge drank it 24h hours later. The wine does not show much evolution. The nose is still great, on the palate perhaps a touch more fruit, tobacco notes, the tannins are still there. This will for sure last for decades but not sure it will improve much and turn into a truly great left bank Bdx. Hmmm
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9/3/2020 - Ricky99 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Like silk... noting my last bottle, more feminine and exquisite than I expected ... perhaps some more decanting needed but just so refined
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7/14/2020 - aquacongas wrote: 94 Points
blind
a classical Bordeaux with some age. Reluctant, great acidity, less fruit than expected. I prefer 96 because of the more full bodied style. 94
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5/30/2020 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 95 Points
Very elegant and restrained. Still quite primary, feels like there is a lot in there that is yet to come out. We didn’t give it much air and probably should have. Delicious, but I would like to try it again in 5 years.
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4/30/2020 - johnh1001 wrote: 94 Points
Smooth and Smokey. In honor of M.O.
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4/3/2020 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
Sweet and sleek, quite the crowdpleaser.
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4/3/2020 - BradE wrote:
Lovely, perfumed, gorgeous.
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3/11/2020 - curtr Likes this wine:
Took to event in LA. Decanted 2 hrs, I should have read my previous notes. Needs 4 more years to resolve. Still an impressive wine. Drink 2024-32.
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2/9/2020 - tbabes wrote: 97 Points
Double decanted two hours before dinner; fill was perfect and the cork pristine. Haut Brion Vertical 1985, 1988, 1995. Medium garnet with no bricking. Notes of dried plums, blackberry, cedar, tobacco, campfire, black truffle and earth. Medium bodied, with a velvety texture, ripe and round tannins, incredible depth, excellent concentration, and a long and silky finish. A great showing, and and more "modern" in style when compared to the 1988 and 1985. Has evolved considerably since the last time I tasted in 2010, but will certainly improve until 2030 where well stored. 2 bottles came from my Cellar, Chaine dinner at June BYOB.
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1/7/2020 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine: 96 Points
Must be well over a decade since I last had this - time happens much too fast. Since then it's segued from something glossy with ripe black fruits into a (nearly) mature Haut-Brion with a rusty red complexion, intense scorched earth, campfire wood, and mesquite smoke - textbook for the property and for Graves in general. The texture is cashmere refined through most of the bottle but does firm up and turn grittier towards the end, so this still has a little bit of the way to go before the peak, but everything is here and on full display.
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12/4/2019 - dcwino wrote: 95 Points
Holiday Dinner - Champ, Keller, Hermitage Blanc, Barolo and Bordeaux (Bourbon Steak, Washington D.C.): The 95 HB is a fascinating wine that is very ripe and concentrated yet also slightly green. Incredibly youthful nose displaying intense black fruits, creme de cassis, blackberry jelly, caramel, lactic, ash and crushed rose petal mix, strong lead pencil, tobacco, sweet spices and limestone dust mineral. Exceptional concentration, layers upon layers of intense youthful black fruit, unctuous and energetic, good acidity, strong limestone mineral, still noticeable slightly coarse tannins and a long intense black fruit driven finish with limestone dust and rose at the end. This remains incredibly youthful and still needs time. Although it lacks the sensuality and completeness of the 98, it is a classic Haut Brion that is clearly expressing the concentrated, ripe and structured 95 vintage typicity.
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11/12/2019 - Paul D wrote: 94 Points
Ian's 1995 Dinner (Noize, London): Lovely, tobaccoey, earthy nose - quite rich and developed. Notes of spice. Similar flavour profile on the palate, complex and deep. some slightly firm, yet fine tannin remains and lends a slightly stern note to the finish at this point. Excellent though and this bottle with time in hand.
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9/25/2019 - apple1813 Likes this wine:
1995 Bordeaux Tasting at Winetasters of Toronto Club (North York Memorial Hall): 1995 Château Haut-Brion was profound and layered. The deep garnet wine emitted complex aromatics of tobacco, smoke and forest berries. It was medium-bodied with good balancing medium acidity. The generous mouthfeel was accompanied with a pleasant tannin of silky texture. The long finish was filled with ceder wood and minerals flavours.
The blend composed of 48% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Cabernet Franc.
It was personally rated the second out of the eight wines, and the table rating was the first.
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8/29/2019 - kr522 wrote: 92 Points
pretty mediocre for what Haut Brion should be....which i find happens more often here than with other 1st growths when it's less than a superb vintage
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7/13/2019 - slapsht007 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very deep inky black red. Hints of amber at the rim. Dried black and red fruits and some floral notes to the nose. The dried fruit, baking spice, perhaps some pencil lead, and hints of cedar.
A lot more life in this.
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5/16/2019 - steinersing wrote: 96 Points
this is quite powerful and will still need a few more year to fully open up.
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5/15/2019 - Edeon Likes this wine: 92 Points
In a blind tasting next to a $100 Grand Reserva 2006 Rioja and a 2014 La Landonne, it was nobody's favourite. Not as big, complex or exciting as either of those competitors. Too old for my liking.
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5/5/2019 - ONEFIVE Likes this wine:
Brick edge. Ruby core.
Delicious as it was the last time I had it. Red and blue fruit, medium bodied with grippy tannin and balanced acidity. Drink now or hold for another 10 years.
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5/3/2019 - dream Likes this wine: 95 Points
A really beautiful HB that's still short of its tertiary phase but is full, smooth and perfectly balanced. There are great flavors of dark red fruits, scorched earth and tobacco and the texture is just very fine and silky. The finish is still holding back but its long and lacy with a smoky gravel note. Plenty of potential here for further complexity to develop but I just loved it now after a 2+ hour decant. 95+
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3/30/2019 - Ms. Bubblehead Likes this wine:
Year of the pig dinner: my WOTN
On 1995 Bordeaux bottles:
1995 Haut Brion
Was my WOTN out of the 10 bottles that night. On the nose, violet, gravel, dark cherries and plum, mineral, smoke, and modest cigar, on the plate, it showed great strength yet balanced with nice and long acidity, strong minerals and modest spices. Very long finish with great layers, very complex, offered firm tannin and round texture. A great bottle. It was a Cabernet/merlot blend, partially explained why the wine was balanced with power and elegance.
1995 Mouton
Certainly a much more powerful and richer version of mouton vs 83. Can still age 5-10 more years to enjoy it at better maturity level I think. Dark purple colour, crushed dark currants and black berries on the nose, on the palate, strong character with great minerals, some spices, smoke, liquorice and slightly higher tannin, not at my preferred drinking window yet but can see its ageing potential. In 1995 vintage, Cabernet Sauvignon grapes seemed having tougher tannin to resolve, so they also blended the wine with slightly more merlot (same reason for haut Brion 95 I guess).
1995 Cheval Blanc
Seductive and classic style of Cheval Blanc in my view, bouquet of purple flowers, light lady cigarette, plummy and modest toffee sensation, on the palate, it was silky and smooth on texture with slightly higher tone of acidity vs 83, body was richer and fuller too. Beautiful wine and can still age 5-10 more years to enjoy it at even better drinking window. The 1995 had higher percentage of Merlot in the final blend - 50% Merlot/50% Cabernet Franc.
1995 latour
Opened 4 hours in advance and was still tight when we started dinner. Decanted for another 1.5 hours before serving, and the wine showed a lot better. This wine was still quite young to enjoy now and I would wait for the next bottle to be consumed 5-10 years after at least, or it really needs proper decanting before serving it. It showed the best ageing potential for all the bottles we had that night (also the vega sicilia we had on the same night). On the nose, cigar, smoke, freshly rubbed herbs, basil, cassis, liquorice, on the palate, lots of dark berries yet also very mineral and offered freshly cut herbs. Still young but can see its potential to evolve more layers and even more complexity.
1995 pichon lalande
Not because I drank this along with 95 Mouton/Haut Brion/Latour that I don't like this wine, I really think the wine was lack of balance on the palate, too rich in structure with strong vanilla toffee and jammy berries fruits on the palate. Nose was quite perfuming and nice but I didn't really enjoy the palate, but could be due to personal style.
Wines we had:
1983 latour, 1983 mouton, 1983 chavel blanc; 1995 mouton, 1995 chavel blanc, 1995 haut Brion, 1995 latour , 1995 vega sicilia, 1995 ridge monte bello, 1995 Pichon lalande
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3/18/2019 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 94 Points
Another stunning bottle. Nose had leaf, funk, earth, minerals and cassis. Very expressive on the nose with an intriguing sweetness and complexity. Drinking super well as a young bordeaux. Liked this a lot tonight. It would definitely benefit from a 90 mins decanting. 94-95
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2/10/2019 - Willi Vinotti Likes this wine: 93 Points
This is a massively interesting wine at the moment, at the brink of changing to full maturity, this is shedding its fruity notes and power now. Very pleasantly multilayered herbs, tobacco, dark core fruits and licorice, it is not as open and forward as 3 years ago. Also acidity is slightly more in the forefront, waiting for tannins to be fully integrated and liberating ripe sweetness of HB.
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1/13/2019 - SommStags Likes this wine:
Lunch at French Club: Decanted for 5 hours. Typical Graves and HB earthiness which consisted of scorched earth, leather, tobacco, etc. Wine performed better than I thought but that may have been to the extended air. Good things to come if people are patient and this seems to be a relative value for HB 93+
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1/11/2019 - PanosKakaviatos Likes this wine: 94 Points
Holiday dinner at the French Embassy, Washington D.C. (French Embassy): Give this another five years, and watch the score go to 95 or maybe higher. The question here is the tannin. Some unresolved. And with time in glass, one gets the impression that the wine is stubbornly tight. Oh, much is going on here to be sure. Recall that 1995 was the first really good vintage from Bordeaux since the fabled 1990. What is forgotten is that the tannins were sometimes pretty powerful. Here is a case in point. But it is clear that the Haut Brion 1995 is ripe and full bodied, and this touch of tannic austerity demands time to be tamed. If you have this, do not touch. Heck, the 1998 is a better bet for your younger Haut Brions of quality.
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11/25/2018 - Jmf17 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Sometimes I hate this app. I dictated a lengthy and, I thought, brilliant note on this one. But it did not save. So, the ephemeral Beauty and pleasure of a Priceless and exquisite wine will have to remain exactly that, ephemeral and, in this case, no-existent. Because I am not going to go back and recreate the note. Let me just say that this one was one of the great pleasures of my wine - tasting life.
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11/11/2018 - Dehrmann Likes this wine: 94 Points
Cork issue, took an hour to recover, second to Montrose, dark, full bodied, some acidity and still some tanins...Marcus & Annette dinner in Hamptons white Chave, Timbach Riesling, Cambettes and ‘95 Haut Brion and ‘90 Montrose
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10/16/2018 - willthethrill Does not like this wine: 89 Points
Not my thing. Large format bottle.
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8/31/2018 - GNBB wrote: 90 Points
Decanted 90 minutes. Quite intense nose with black cherries, forest floor, vegetal & slight overripe fruit. Palate firm with fine medium tannins, has a slight shoe polish feel & slightly light in fruits. Good length & balance. However, this is not up to the level seen in other bottles - feels to be slightly lacking & showing some age with a bit of a port feel. I feel this shows how you always buy a bottle not a wine. Overall, decent but one to reassess with another bottle.
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7/1/2018 - MC wrote:
Unfortunately corked, but does seem like it is getting closer to drinking window with a good decant.
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6/6/2018 - OenoEd wrote: 92 Points
Slightly medicinal nose, some dark earth, iodine, and coffee grounds. Gorgeous soft lush entry, long and expansive finish, seems to tightens up as it sits. I'm not sure what this will be, but its not great HB, and price to value doesn't seem to be here. Yet, this is full of contrast and contradictions tonight, in a transitional stage.
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6/6/2018 - dharrison93 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Showtime! Drank with friends after a 30 minute decant.
Deep purple/ ruby with minimal sediment, this wine is mature.
Easily another 20+ years of excellent drinking ahead because of serious stuffing.
Give this as long a decant as you can bear since air coaxes so much buried pleasure forth.
If a date, this was a 35 year old self-actualized intellectual businesswoman with so many hobbies & interests, yet so little time.
Drink 2020 - 2030 for peak pleasure.
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4/20/2018 - dharrison93 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Amazing++. Perfectly mature with no sediment, this is firmly on center stage at age 23. There's no need to wait further, though a good decant does coax forth additional pleasure.
Seamless layers of fig compote, berries, mocha and licorice.
Frankly, my initial inclination was a perfect score because there are no flaws nor drawbacks.
If a date, this was a 35 year old Harvard educated corporate executive who moonlights as a lingerie model because she can, and loves it.
Enjoy!
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4/19/2018 - Alex G. Likes this wine:
If you can't drink Burgundy, this is pretty darn good. Dense but tannin mostly resolved. Haut Brion remains among the most nuanced left bank Bordeaux to me, this is a fine example.
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4/18/2018 - beej Likes this wine:
Young and encumbered by the tightness intended for a wine lasting forever.
Nuff said...
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3/24/2018 - BenBlu Likes this wine: 93 Points
Bottle high fill, prestine, with cork fully intact (soaked minimally). Decanted for 3 hours and drank over 2 hours. This wine showed some typical 1995 Bdx characteristics which I associate with being old school, a bit foursquare, with a bit of lack of fruit. This was my first encounter with this vintage of HB and my initial reaction was that I would have mistaken this for a Pauillac in general and a Mouton 95 in particular. The similarities to the Mouton from my memory were very striking and my friend (whom I happened to share the Mouton 95 a few months back) completely agreed. This was atypical for HB. It got better with food (truffle tortelloni and rump of wagyu). While a good wine, my bottom line for this wine is that there are definitely better Haut Brion's for the money (1998) and probably the quality level in some of those 80s and 90s 1st growth is not there to justify the price tag they command today.
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3/17/2018 - curtr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Early drinking plateau. Bolder than I would have expected. Wait until 2022 to try next bottle.
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3/16/2018 - liber Likes this wine: 95 Points
10th of 24, decanted an hour, perfect cork (some travel) and level, huge hit of violet on first opening, more structure, cedar, tobacco, tar, hot bricks, fruit muted until final glass, long and even more persistent, lovely now, but I think this will put on weight and reveal a touch more fruit, the overall balance is excellent. Currently unchanged at VF (18.5).
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3/6/2018 - ve23 Likes this wine: 95 Points
The Big Five/Six 1995 on March 6, 2018 (Mechta, Moscow): 95/100
Believe it or not, HB 1995 was great - but not as brilliant as a truly iconic HB could be.
Dark berries, pencil shavings, licorice, juicy and round on the palate, it is stellar already - yet, as compared to the no less starry lineup, it was missing the verve, the electricity that them outstanding HBs often posses.
I have another bottle at home to check again - some other day, eh. It has a couple of decades to go easily.
WS 95, RP 96, ST 93, JR 18.5/20
The Big Five 1995 at Mechta / 6 March 2018
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2/15/2018 - Sen4469 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nice evening with family in the company of Mr. JP Delmas. Open 2 hours before. Nice mature wine. Paired with roasted pigeon. Has still some years to go. Very enjoyable. Great evening.
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2/4/2018 - Guy Des Rosiers Likes this wine: 93 Points
This was tasted a couple of days ago and I didn't take notes, but here is what I remember: (1) it was the WOTN; and (2) it had that classic Haut-Brion balance and profile that I can only describe as a dazzling display of confidence without a hint of swagger.
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12/30/2017 - kkazaks wrote: 94 Points
Opened with some neighbor friends.
Uncorked, poured a taste, then let sit for about 70 minutes while we tasted a 2014 Ch. Montelena Chard and 2012 Ch. Montelena CS.
Color still fairly primary. It had a delicious appealing complex nose of red and black cassis, tea, graphite, smoke, black tea, hibiscus, coffee, and after a bit in the glass that Haut Brion warm red earth. So really kind of a stereotypical description, but for good reason.
I had last tasted this wine about six years ago and then it was much more tannic and youthful, still not ready. Now it is youthful but not too early to open and enjoy.
Once tasted the flavors mirrored what was on the nose, with the addition of some darker soil notes to go with the HB warm red earth.
The other nuance that appeared while tasting was a realization that the entire beautiful complexity of the wine, while certainly broad and of First Growth quality, did have a bit of a foursquare, bound-in-on-itself quality, and by that I mean that fine, fine that it was, it may never totally unwind into a true glorious (thunderous) masterpiece; its essential elements, so fine by themselves and well-knit as a whole, may never rise to one of the historic great wines. Like an offspring of a truly great thoroughbred with plenty of fine attributes and potential to win many high-end races, but never quite at the Triple Crown level, or a genius that makes many discoveries but not at the Noble level - so something like 94-96 if you're thinking numbers.
Despite this one note of caution, to have this wine as a house wine or daily drinker would be an incredible privilege.
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12/30/2017 - GNBB wrote: 94 Points
Decanted 60 mins. Remains quite deep in colour with some paling to rim. Medium intense nose with clear sweet spice, leather, violets, light cloves and ripe blackberries. Palate is medium+ intense with medium acid, medium very fine tannins and a slight sweetness to it. Ripe blackberries and a slight blackcurrant fruit base with sweet tobacco notes. Perhaps a very slight dryness to the aftertaste. This is a wine in perfect balance & fully in its drinking window where I would expect it to remain for another 5-8 years. A very fine wine. Drink now - 2025.
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11/23/2017 - rlove wrote: 94 Points
Dark fruit, graphite, and forest floor all in harmonious balance. Silky texture, resolving tannins, still-fresh acidity. The 1995 Haut-Brion is excellent. (From magnum)
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11/14/2017 - wineappreciation wrote: 93 Points
Cigar box, blueberry, blackberry, graphite, beautifully classical nose; full, intense, powerful, still surprisingly tight, strong, long-lived, balanced, charging, almost too powerful, tobacco notes on finish
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10/29/2017 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 92 Points
Semiblind Haut Brion Tasting (Guido's Cellar): Wirkt mir nach dem 2003er etwas zu staubig und unrund. Vielleicht in einer verschlossenen Phase. 92Sehr spannende semiblinde Haut Brion – Probe in sehr geselliger Runde mit tollem Gastgeber und einer sehr leckeren Forellen-Tarte. Alle Flaschen wurden zwischen 0,5-3 Stunden doppelt dekantiert. Was die Treffgenauigkeit der Jahrgänge betraf, ist noch deutlich Luft nach oben. Interessant war, dass die Differenz in den Bewertungen (6 Trinker) bei fast allen Weinen maximal im 2-Punkte-Bereich lagen. Es wurde eine Flasche nach der anderen getrunken. Keine Flights. Keine fehlerhaften Weine.
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10/26/2017 - FransS wrote: 94 Points
A difficult wine, very youthful, even surprisingly; the wine seems closed,
not showing very much complexity in the bouquet (the 2nd day a bit more), my suggestion was Léoville las Cases. The power is enormous and I think the 95(+) level will need at least another 5 to 10 years; what a beast for the '95 vintage.
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9/26/2017 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 94 Points
My favorite Haut-Brion of the tasting, this 1995 definitely showed up. Floral, leathery, smoky, and with nice minerality, this just kept improving and showing off its complexity throughout the evening. Silky textured and with excellent balance overall. Tannins were round and integrated well. Seemed to gain weight in the glass. Great balance of acidity with the fruit. This wine has definitely improved in the past couple of years, and I expect it to reach its peak in the next 5-10 years.
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9/1/2017 - Paul D Likes this wine:
2/12. No formal note. Lovely soil and smoke notes over aristocratic pure blackcurrant fruit, fine tannins, balanced acidity, harmonious, long. In good shape, drinking well, though no need to hurry. Excellent match for the grouse.
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8/11/2017 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
Refreshing, quaffable HB that rides on elegance rather than power. Lovely precision.
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8/1/2017 - BradE wrote:
This continues to be the best bdx of the vintage in my opinion. Lovely fruit, intoxicating bouquet, a terrific vintage of HB.
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7/7/2017 - SonnyChiba wrote: 95 Points
Classic Graves on the nose, nice core of dark fruits, with tobacco, minerals, lush and silky texture. Very quality wine. Liked it equal to the 2001, but not quite to the level of the 98' (which is still a bit primary last time I tried)...this 95' is very approachable now with plenty of time to hold still.
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7/2/2017 - Paul D Likes this wine: 94 Points
1/12 - good cork. Deep garnet core, pale garnet rim. Nose shows deep, blackcurrant fruit - some earth and smoke but still quite primary. Some cedar emerges with time in glass. Medium bodied, very fine tannins, quite silky with deep, dark fruit, rich earth notes, with balanced acidity on a very good length, expansive finish. Excellent, drinking well.
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6/16/2017 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 94 Points
Ganz andere Kaliber die Haut Brion‘s 1990 und 1995. Der Erstgenannte ist ein Gigant. Blutjung strotzt er noch von wilder Schwarzer Johannisbeer-Frucht. Rasiermesserscharfe Säure, etwas Zigarrenkiste mit süßer saftiger Frucht ohne seine Eleganz zu verlieren. Der ist noch in seiner Jugendphase und hat mindestens 30 Jahre vor sich. Wäre interessant ihn gegen den berühmteren 1989er zu trinken. Momentan würde ich den 1990er aufgrund seiner Zugänglichkeit wohl vorziehen. 97-98. Die Maximalpunktzahl dürfte in den kommenden Jahren nicht utopisch sein. Danke Flo.
Der 1995er zeigt sich etwas entwickelter mit mehr Sekundär-und Tertiäraromen wie Graphit und Würze. Beide Flaschen für 2 Stunden dekantiert. Während am Anfang beide Flaschen gleichauf liegen, zeigt sich im Laufe des Abends, welcher mehr Struktur und Potential besitzt. Die Frucht „verliert“ sich mit der Zeit und somit bleibt ein klassischer Bordeaux zurück, der sicher noch 10 Jahre braucht, um sich vollständig zu entwickeln. Wer mehr Opulenz wünscht, nimmt den ersten, wer mehr auf Zurückhaltung steht, wird mit dem Zweiten seine Freude haben. 94
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6/7/2017 - gsquireh Likes this wine: 97 Points
Still shining with all the superlatives- nose, texture, balance, flavor, mid palate and finish. All that has been said before is all we need to say.
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6/7/2017 - WineGuyFL Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted for 2 hours. A few years back, that was too little. Today, that amount of time seemed correct. In a good drinking window right now.
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5/21/2017 - PJRONeill wrote: 89 Points
Technically fine but utterly soulless. Some hints of tobacco and smoke on the nose, a little olives and plums but on the palate its disappointingly mute with absolutely no depth or presence. After an initial glass I held it overnight in the fridge to see if it might shift gears but on the second night it has not budged an inch. A tough vintage, seemingly reflected all the way to the first growths.
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5/5/2017 - curtr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Double decanted, best at 1.5 hours. Great character.
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4/13/2017 - Whitman Likes this wine: 96 Points
This is a beauty. Linear and focused, as only great wines can be. I have experienced the same thing with Haut Brion 2000 and Cheval Blanc 1998 recently. Tasted side by side with View Chateau Certan 2000 which was good, but much more flabby.
Theres plenty of tannins ( typically 1995?) and offcourse the wine will evolve. But theres is plenty of fruit to balance. Tobacco, smoke and cherries. My friend and I are fans of this wine.
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2/21/2017 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 92 Points
First growth dinner (Cafe Maxx, Pompano Beach, Florida): A bit musty on the nose, but the fruit was there. Had some of the gravelly, smoky tobacco elements, but took awhile to emerge. Linear, focused, and nicely structured. Not memorable on this evening. Perhaps in an awkward phase, I would try this in a few years.
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2/19/2017 - ONEFIVE Likes this wine:
Dried black cherry and blueberries.
Herbaceous.
Fresh acidity on the palate with grippy tannins.
Should last for another 10+ years easily.
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2/10/2017 - ricknat1 wrote: 92 Points
Classic HB but way too young and dry on the finish. Try again in 2020.
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2/6/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
This is really coming on strong, if you like that cigar box, tobacco, cedar, smoke, pure dark cherries and cigar wrapper type of thing. Full bodied, refined, but with a regal, tannic bite, with a few hours of air this is a pleasure to taste.
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1/28/2017 - Fred_Bo Likes this wine: 95 Points
Tasted from magnum.
This is textbook 1er grand cru graves! Tobacco, leather, smoked/curred meat and creme de casis on full display!
It just kept giving. Tannins very much alive but integrated beautifully!
This could be insanely good in 20 years or more.
This will be better but is divine already!
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12/31/2016 - curtr wrote:
Double decanted and left in the bottle for 4 hours. Never got much from this wine. Give less breathing time in future.
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12/30/2016 - ChambertinMan Likes this wine: 95 Points
A brooding wine with deep, dark fruit of cassis and blackberry liqueur. Sweet tar, soft creosote and smokey, burned copper aromatics. Aged church pew wood, leather, wet gravel and licorice all folded into its neatly delineated bouquet. An abundance of structure with the tannins and acidity to last for decades which together produce a memorable palate, long finish and a bite of hard to describe salted caramel and black tea extract. Great wine with a long future ahead of it.
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12/18/2016 - Solidgold wrote: 93 Points
Perfect! Such well balanced and complex wine. No need to decant. It just ooze out the smoothness and fruitiness. Luckily I have 2 more.
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12/5/2016 - DrinkEverything702 Likes this wine: 99 Points
Only tasted immediately after decanting. Never had H-B before, so only fitting to start with the '95 right? Brilliant balance and finesse with a smooth deep and detailed smokey nose. The smokeiness is on another level in terms of complexity, and was probably my favorite aspect. The palate was extremely well composed in a way I can only describe as rounded effervescence. While the youthful traits surprised me, I would say this one isn't far from its peak of drinkability. Being my first taste of H-B, you can take that opinion with a grain of salt, but based off the balance and minimal acidity it is currently showing I feel pretty confident in that assessment. The youthful flavors that showed seemed to be more of a trait of the wine rather than a current condition of the wine if that makes sense. Definitely brilliant.
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11/30/2016 - RayOB Likes this wine: 96 Points
Sir Winston Churchill Dinner (67 Pall Mall): What is not to like about this wine. Fully open and mature with all the classic claret notes. I love this wine.
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11/27/2016 - MC wrote:
Splash decanted 5 hours and then full decant for another hour, this was the wine of the evening. As with my previous note, this is big and dark, but still with balance. With the amount of air it had the tannin was in the background and the fruit and secondaries were both showing very well. Long life ahead, but with the amount if air we gave it this one is entering its window. A
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11/16/2016 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drank blindly with all 5 Premier Crus and another pirat from the same vintage, I guessed Latour, very salti in the nose and the strongest in the palate
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11/6/2016 - JulianSkeels wrote: 94 Points
Interesting to drink a bottle of this next to the 1998. The 1995, whilst not having the same promise, is far better than I had expected although very 1995 - the tannins are still prominent for me and this needs quite a bit of time in bottle. Structured and young tasting, tasted blind initially I was surprised by the level of acidity. This is good relative value, but for little more money it's tough not to look at the 1998. Intense dark fruit but primary and lacking a little definition and complexity at the moment. Drink 2025-2040. 94-95pts
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11/3/2016 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 94 Points
Château Haut-Brion Vertical (Bouley): Comparable to the '96 bouquet with the same dried rosy aromas but this has far more pronounced exotic spice, red cedar, and cigar box. More rustic and earth-driven. Beautiful drinking on the palate. Balanced and harmonious. Texturally softer than recalled. This gets the nod over the '96 tonight.
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10/5/2016 - Alex G. Likes this wine:
Tannins are soft, this wine is in a terrific spot with some secondary notes emerging and lots of upside left to this wine. Notes of plum and spice, this is an elegant Bordeaux not heavy handed like so many others. This is the kind of wine I'd recommend buying a case and following the evolution - delicious now, and will surely become more nuanced with time.
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10/5/2016 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted for 90 mins. Poured it back to the bottle and served after 1 hr. Softened tannins with black fruit, blue fruit, tobacco leaf, earth and graphite. The fruit on the palate is very giving and soft. Not gonna be a blockbuster with more time. But its an elegant and ready to drink classic bordeaux.
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8/19/2016 - liber Likes this wine: 95 Points
9th of 24, decanted an hour, perfect cork and level, essentially as my May 15 note, pretty, beautifully balanced but lacking the concentration of a top vintage playing second fiddle to excellent and more concentrated Mission 90! VF (18.5).
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6/17/2016 - fcxj wrote: 90 Points
A good one, but felt rough around the edges next to 1998 Lafite. Bit more open aromatically, pretty evolved. Really no need to wait.
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6/12/2016 - PC73 wrote: 93 Points
Lovely balance. Not overly fruity reflecting the vintage, but still a great bottle.
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6/10/2016 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
Chicago Wine Flock...Gary Opens Cali Cab (Chez Weber - Chicago IL): Tasted double blind. Great aromatic start with spice, black currant and cassis. Similar flavors but less robust, and very firmly structured. I immediately thought this Bordeaux, and correctly identified this as Haut Brion when given a (First Growth) hint, but thought it slightly younger from another highly structured vintage.
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5/7/2016 - SMHalps Likes this wine: 93 Points
Part of a 3 first growth Bordeaux dinner, a 1995 Haut Brion, a 2002 Mouton and a 1995 Latour. All were opened and allowed to sit for over 2 hours before we started drinking all three. Only the Mouton was decanted.
The Latour was my WOTN, but the differences between the three were subtle. The Latour was the richest and least acidic of the group. The Mouton, the youngest of the group was the most fruit forward of the group. The Haut Brion tasted the heaviest and changed/evolved the most during the course of the night.
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4/14/2016 - RayOB Likes this wine: 97 Points
Drank at Otto's
Had to try another bottle of this. Even better than the first with a incredible purity and depth. Amazing complexity and wonderful backbone. Lovely.
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3/21/2016 - RayOB Likes this wine: 96 Points
Drank at 67
Incredible depth and presence with a mineral back bone to die for. Yum Yum.
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3/8/2016 - Rieslingfan wrote:
Served blind in a tasting flight with the '95 Lafite, this was just about as tight, though it showed more suppleness on the palate than its flight mate. Overall very tough to judge because even after 2+ hours in the decanter it was not giving up much on the nose. It, like the Lafite, showed a lack of mid-palate depth. I assume that was due to it being closed in, as I had more than my fair share of prior experiences with this wine, and it was never hollow any other time in my memory. Tough to see it unveiled as H-B, but that's what happens in blind tastings.
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12/17/2015 - dcwino wrote: 96 Points
Holiday Dinner - DRCs, 90 and 00 CB, 03 Capo, Krugs and etc. (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): As usual, very youthful nose displaying intense black fruits, cassis, caramel, lactic, tobacco, baking spices and mineral. Excellent concentration, dense yet polished palate, strong presence of mineral, bright acidity, a hint of tannins and lovely long finish. This is a big scale HB that will improve further for the next twenty years. Not quite up to the label of the 89 and 90 but still a great Haut Brion. Not a bad wine to buy in the current soft Bordeaux market.
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11/21/2015 - krister wrote: 97 Points
The 1959-2012 Haut-Brion dinner in Stockholm (Stockholm): Exotic with notes of barrel aging, menthol, a fresh but green touch to it. Very young and dense still, as with other 1995s.
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10/28/2015 - Miceri Likes this wine: 98 Points
Bordeaux 1995 tasting. Very pleasant surprise, excellent, very masculine, lots of tobacco and leather, very long aftertaste, brooding with power, complexity, balance
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10/14/2015 - The Vines That Bind Likes this wine: 93 Points
Spicy cinnamon sugar on the nose, followed up by white flowers. Notes of pastels and wax throughout. Initially the wine wasn't showing a tremendous amount of earth, but soon gave up wet soil, some tobacco, and eventually even farmy and gamey notes. Quite a beautiful bottle.
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9/9/2015 - etyc Likes this wine:
Clearly the best wine in our first flight of 3. Not very giving initially, but eventually yielded notes of earth, soil & some smoke and tobacco after coaxing/swirling. The palate was where this shone. Multi-layered and complex, with notes of leather, dark fruits and tannins that has integrated nicely. Long finish too. We knew there was a HB in this 1st-flight, and most guessed correctly...
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8/23/2015 - Wine_lvr Likes this wine: 94 Points
°°° Bordeaux 1995 °°°: Garnet in color. Nose shows tobacco, red berries and leather. There is plenty power and still lots of tannins. Actually I was surprised how backward this wine / bottle was. Very long and multilayered with plenty of upward potential for the next 15 - 30 years. Nice Haut Brion
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8/22/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
Medium bodied and charming, this is starting to come into its own. Tobacco, earth and smoke notes added to the sweet, ripe, soft fruits. On the palate, the elegant, finesse driven wine was on the fresh side, with its red and black fruits. At 20 years of age, this is probably going to be a good, but not great vintage for Haut Brion.
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8/9/2015 - kevin h wrote: 91 Points
A bit mute on opening, is this very slightly corked? I'm not sure but will give it the benefit of the doubt. After a needed 2 hours in the decanter it showed a subtle gravelly nose with fine red fruit. The faint hint of something stemmy but that seemed to disappear with air. An elegant and refined wine with fine tannins, though they started to show a bit after 3 hours. Mellow, gravelly red fruit, a touch of vintage leanness perhaps. A decent wine but I was a touch disappointed in this showing.
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8/6/2015 - dcwino wrote: 96 Points
Mostly French dinner - Rayas, 00 Lafite, 13 Trump, H Lignier CDR and etc. (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): Classic ’95 left bank nose. Intense youthful sweet nose displaying decadent black fruits, crème de cassis, licorice, lead pencil, lavender, tobacco, baking spices, cedar and earth. Excellent concentration, chewy, intense ripe black fruit driven palate impression, bright acidity, a hint of dry tannins and long finish. For my palate, the 95 Bordeauxs have impressive concentration and intensely sweet fruits. The drawback is the slightly dry tannins. This is a masculine and structured Haut Brion. At the age of 20, still so darn youthful. It will improve for another 20 years minimum. Very enjoyable in very youthful ways.
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6/20/2015 - dream Likes this wine: 94 Points
Needed plenty of air but then gained a lot in the glass with classic vineyard flavors just beginning to emerge in this supple, medium-full and elegant HB. Delicious flavors of road tar, gravel and cedar along with floral red spices leads to a fine, complex finish. Just entering its drinking window at least with a long decant. 94+
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5/23/2015 - liber Likes this wine: 96 Points
8th of 24, decanted an hour, perfect fill, previous notes fine to very fine plus - limpid not too deep garnet, little rim development; multi dimensional bouquet, bramble, cherry, cassis, tobacco, graphite, cedar, earth and violet; medium full, silky, fine grip, balance length and energy to fruit, a long life predicted. Vey fine (18.5/20).
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5/10/2015 - dchain Likes this wine: 95 Points
Not as seductive as the Margaux 95 which has to be expected but this is still class in a glass. Still a baby but has the lovely plum, earthiness and spice of this chateau. What really impresses is the density and mouthfeel of ripe, heathy and balanced fruit and it's great length. It really coats the mouth and lingers with its density without any heaviness. This is true power without heaviness which no Burgundy can ever hope to match and you can drink this with pleasure for the next 50 years. Bordeaux Toujours Bordeaux!
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4/22/2015 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 96 Points
First Growths, Yquem, 100+Madeira (John V.'s): Gorgeous wine. Ruby/purple, very deep coloring. The nose is awesome. Slight funk. Cassis and dark cherries, some earthiness, some oak showing. On the palate, firm but not overwhelming tannins. Nice acidity. Layers of fruit and earth. Probably not quite at peak but coming around beautifully. Improved in the glass .
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4/9/2015 - MC wrote:
Decanted 2 hours and drank over the next two. Dark in color with very dark fruits and earth on the nose. Big, but balanced wine that is still showing a fair amount of structure and seems years away from its peak. Would give it 2-3 more years. A-/A
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3/22/2015 - johnh1001 wrote: 95 Points
Beautiful nose of smoke, cassis, leather and more smoke. Absolutely delicious on the palate. Soft, open, silk with sweet dark fruit, smokey campfire notes and tobacco. Long, balanced finished.
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3/21/2015 - PGB wrote: 85 Points
Acquired from a source in London that acquired it directly from the Chateau. This is a mediocre wine. It has little fruit left, a short finish and nothing to recommend it. Haut-Brion has made some great wines but this isn't one of them.
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2/21/2015 - beatles wrote: 95 Points
Haut-Brion dinner: First HB of the night - served blind. Impressive wine, a tell-tale Haut-Brion – and surprisingly strong for the vintage - I was actually guessing 1996, which says something. It has tobacco, black cassis, minerals, a firm backbone and a very solid body – all in balance. This will keep a decade or longer, but it is coming around.
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2/14/2015 - skurtz Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tasted at Lavinia in Paris. Great aromatic nose, tons of red fruit, sandalwood and tobacco. On the palate more muted raspberry and an uber long finish. Just a 30cl glass but it was enough! Delicious.
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2/13/2015 - jamie24 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Best showing yet for this wine... think it's entered its sweet spot. Classics Bordeaux nose with wonderful smokey, black fruit on the palette. The sommelier who decanted it was very impressed as was I.
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1/24/2015 - Plabella wrote: flawed
Maybe past its prime. Bitter after taste with cherry notes. Wine was light and tasted like dirt and tobacco.
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1/15/2015 - fcxj wrote: 88 Points
Meh
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12/30/2014 - jmoon Likes this wine: 94 Points
Beautiful romantic classically old school left bank dry style. Violet perfume nose brick red and delicious dry and still fresh. A wonderful treat
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12/24/2014 - gsquireh Likes this wine: 97 Points
Spice Layer cake perfect for Christmas eve. Decant this lady and she will reward, as the most beautiful take time to be ready. She enchanted with her vanilla perfume, and so sweet smelling blackberry and plum. She caressed with many layers of perfect tannin that chews softly as the textures nibble at your senses.
Gorgeous dark, dense purple color, she never finishes, just lingers in your sense memory.
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11/27/2014 - rossi.wine wrote: 92 Points
Good nose, but slightly closed. Not overly expressive, but fine. On the palate again a little lean, tight, tannic. Good structure and length, but not giving away much at this stage. Keep. 91-92+(+?)
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11/27/2014 - G_H wrote: 92 Points
Very very tight and closed, not sure where this one will go. Good wine but as far as drinking pleasure goes this is not there yet...
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11/20/2014 - clayfu wrote:
had high hopes as I'm a big fan of Haut Brion, but it just seemed lacking in structure or any type of fruit and mostly just a burly tannic bottle. Had at least 3 hours of air time and double decanted.
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11/4/2014 - rossi.wine wrote: 94 Points
Showing slightly better than the sample from about a month ago, this is still a little bit lost "sandwiched" between the exceptional vintages of 2000, 1990 and 1989. Less expressive on the nose in comparison, not too different in terms of colour to the 2000, still very youthful. There are notes of liquorice, spices, red fruit and wood on the nose. Less sweet and round, tart fruit notes on the palate, grippy, fresh, cool, tannic, lighter with a pretty dry and almost austere finish. Great length. From a more "classic" vintage as they say. 93-94+
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11/4/2014 - Papies wrote: 92 Points
5 Decades of Haut Brion, with James Handford MW (Handford Wines, London): To be honest this was the disappointment in tonight's line up for us. Granted we don't really like 95 but this had that dry, green edge that we sort of associate with the vintage. The nose is open and expressive, classic for sure but just on the palate it doesn't deliver and the tannins are a bit grippy. Dry finish. 92
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10/22/2014 - johnwine Likes this wine: 93 Points
This is a very elegant wine with breed. It yielded complex flavors of black cherry, red cherries, kirsch, truffle and wild mushrooms. I think it is still somewhat closed and will blossom in about three to five more years.
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10/4/2014 - rustyRudy Likes this wine: 98 Points
Dark red. Gorgeous nose of dark fruit, minerals and spice. Grilled meat, cassis, herbs and fully mature tannins. Better than the bottle we drank over Chistmas. Did continue to evolve after opening and decanting. Went terrific with the rabbit appetizer and lamb main courses. Made the birthday celebration dinner even more special.
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10/4/2014 - andrewdodd86 wrote: 98 Points
Great dark red fruit, spice, herbs. Loved it. Floored. Opened up and was amazing with air. Classic Graves/Pessac
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10/1/2014 - rossi.wine wrote: 93 Points
Very youthful still in terms of colour. Deep and complex on the nose. Great structure, big and powerful but really backward with ripe tannins but pretty closed. Impressive length. 92-93+(+)
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9/11/2014 - EndreS wrote:
Chateau Haut-Brion Vertical (Litteraturhuset, Oslo): Dark and massive. Some warmth on the nose, but really solid and cool fruit - very light mouthfeel, elegant. Finish is however dry and finishes abruptly. Tight and full of tannins.
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9/11/2014 - LWI wrote: 94 Points
Haut Brion Tasting 1918-1999 (Oslo): Depth to the fruit, minerals and smoke; mature dark berries, very structured, tannic and promising. Way too young.
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8/20/2014 - WineGuyFL wrote: 93 Points
Took a long time to open up.....2 hours was not enough. Will go for 3-4 hours next time. Dark berries. Long finish. Some lightening in color.
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8/14/2014 - Ericsson wrote: 95 Points
Grands bordeaux chez Olivier (Geneva): Carafé 30 minutes. Superbe couleur rubis foncé et brillante. Nez sur des arômes de fruits rouges, d'âtre froid, de suie, de havane. En bouche, comme chez Mouton, il y a de la race, de la classe, une main de fer dans un gant de velours. La finale est longue et savoureuse. Le vin est un peu plus ouvert et accessible que Mouton, d'où cette notation légèrement plus avantageuse. Longue garde prévisible.
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7/20/2014 - mimik Likes this wine: 91 Points
A stunning beautiful nose of cherries with sweet tobacco, smoke. Ethereal scents that make you want to smell this instead if drinking it. When first opened, the palate seemed rather thin with little on it but time in the glass was very beneficial and it became more complex with more cherry and tobacco replays. Good acidity and medium to long finish. Decant before opening and while this wine was very approachable, I would drink them in the next 5 years. 94 points
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5/24/2014 - Didman wrote: 96 Points
A wonderful nose of an aging Bordeaux with velvet tannins remaining and ample fruit to match the tannin. Just a very special wine and everything you would expect from a nearly 20 year old first growth.
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5/18/2014 - DougLee wrote: 93 Points
Decanted for 2 hours. Bricky garnet color. Nose of pungent plum, currant, cedar, tobacco, earthy tones. Tight in the glass for an hour then quite concentrated on the palate with layers of blackberry, black currant, tobacco, and some moca. Lower acidity and smoothed tannins with building intensity as the evening progressed. Long finish with sweet grip, earth, and black fruits in quiet waves. Lovely wine at present, but will improve with more time in bottle.
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4/16/2014 - BradE wrote:
A gorgeous bottle, and may be the best of the vintage for 95 bdx.
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3/4/2014 - BVal wrote: 94 Points
Color: deep ruby -> diffuse ruby rim with a hint of garnet. Taken to La Bourgogne in Kona while on vacation with the family; matched my dish of roasted venison loin perfectly. Lovely mature bouquet of leather, cassis, a little barnyard, tobacco. Rich, mature palate that is drinking beautifully now: graphite, black currants, tobacco, earth. Harmonious, smooth; like drinking Kona coffee or Jamaican Blue Mountain. Delicious and the red wine of the trip!
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1/20/2014 - iwfsrst Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drank at the IWFS President's dinner accompanying the antelope and tomato coulee. The wine had been double decanted for five hours and seemed happy to be drunk. The bouquet was full, the tannins smooth and the typical harmony of Haut Brion evident. It was served along side a '95 Pichon Longueville and was a step above that lovely wine.
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12/29/2013 - andrewdodd86 wrote: 93 Points
Not flawed , but previous bottles were 95-96 point range. This one is a little dusty and tired. Not indicative of the wine in general.
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12/25/2013 - rustyRudy Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drank with Christmas dinner. Mature,well balanced , but not a knock your socks off bottle, ? Cork was getting a little soft, but was intact.
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12/7/2013 - jinks Likes this wine: 92 Points
KW Epic tasting/ mens best bottle (KW): tasted blind among 6 other wines in flight 2
Blind notes:
Older - some bricking. closed, not much interesting on nose
Thin on palate, better with time.
I guessed it was older/ french
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11/9/2013 - sphBacchus wrote: 93 Points
09 November 2013 - Vertical tasting of the 2000 , 1995 , 1966 and 1953 vintages at a dinner with friends . All great wines- starting with the 2000 which was wonderful , powerful but clearly has a long way to go to reach it's full potential ( will come back to this in another 5 years ) . 1995 was by general consensus the least preferred of the vintages - dark red in colour and slightly acidic at first , opened up after a couple of hours but lacked the length of the other vintages . 1966 magnum with a crusty cork but only faint shades of bricking - very fresh with good length . Got better and better after 3 to 4 hours . Only bottle of this - pity . 1953 was just superb - first of two bottles purchased for 60th birthday celebrations and it exceeded all expectations . Brick in colour but a depth and length which just went on and on . Was apprehensive that it might die quickly but 2 hours later still showing beautifully . Looking or ward to the 2nd bottle before the new year . Quite a night .
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10/29/2013 - johnh1001 wrote: 93 Points
This took a couple hours to really get going. Great balance and a smooth texture. Deep, brooding. Dark fruit, wet earth and tobacco on the palate. Still very primary and a bit reserved. A banana oil note every now and then. Will gain much more complexity. Long finish.
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10/13/2013 - AllRed wrote: 93 Points
Second Sunday Group: 1995 Pauillac vs. Pessac (Rich's & Dana's): Crimson color. Opens with a hint of barnyard, followed by red currants and spice. The palate starts with red fruit and green, weedy qualities. Forest floor, iodine and floral notes emerge, and the tannins begin to stand out too. Flavors of red fruit, spice and cedarwith a long finish. Has a good bit of acid too- would be wonderful with a meal. 93+ pts.
My #8, Domino's #8
Group #7, 62 pts
Another taste with dinner: iodine, tar, black currants, cedar and plum. Good weight; red fruit, iodine, beef blood. Long finish. Getting better as it sits.
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9/18/2013 - jmoon Likes this wine: 95 Points
Jeraboam Double decanted 5 hrs before serving . Deep dry dark delicious. Saddle, earth, herbs. Amazing wine. Easily go another 5-10 yrs but in drinking window now.
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9/2/2013 - clairenclarence wrote: 90 Points
Pop n pour.didn't get much ting.revisit half an hour time.start to show more characters.this bttl was sipping side by side with pavie macquin 00.the macquin 00 reveals more primary characters than the haut brion.the haut brion dominate with herbacious notes.I tink this haut brion didn't perform as it shud is bcoz I didn't decant enuff.
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9/1/2013 - swyang wrote: 94 Points
Opened at 11am to enjoy it at 8pm. A profound, in fact the deepest Haut Brion that I have had. Super dark violet color, on the nose very deep indeed, a bit of funk, leather and soil, mingling with fruits that are starting to fade away leaving room for the secondary elements to surface. On the palate, a huge presence of complexity which couldn't be but Bordeaux 1er Grand cru, again deep, dark blue, wet earth, dark and mature fruits, in a magestic way. Too bad this was my only one bottle, but those who have more, in about 5 years time this would be even better, and worth the wait. Cheers~
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8/9/2013 - pjaines Likes this wine:
One of the most open bottles I have had of this excellent wine. Straight from the off notes of violets, slate, black fruit, smoke, tar and leather. In the mouth this cuts a lighter path - very taught and nuanced - light as a feather on the tongue. Brilliant. Starting to slip into its drinking window.
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6/22/2013 - CamWheeler wrote: 95 Points
Dinner at Tetsuya's: This wine caused quite a silence around the room when it was poured, I think quite a few people, including me, were slightly entranced by just how good it was. Kirsch and graphite with plenty of spice and earth. The palate is a study in how a wine of this power can still feel refined, especially with balance this close to perfect. The depth is stunning. For me, it is now at a point where it is ready to drink, but it will be a fair few more years until it peaks.
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6/17/2013 - DJFwine Likes this wine: 93 Points
I have a case of 1/2 bottles and I have been drinking a bottle a year for the last 5 years. This year I was pleasantly surprised. The wine has changed dramatically since last year and is ready to drink in the half bottle. It took about 10 minutes to open and then it was great for the next hour until it was all gone. It actually had a wider range of tastes than the typical Haut Brion. Cant wait until next year!
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4/8/2013 - mychurch wrote: 95 Points
Interesting to compare directly to the 96. This shows less refinement, but more personality and depending on what you like in a wine either could be your favourite. This was more my style as the aromatics are more pronounced. Not quite brett, but there was a strong, earth and sage component to the nose that the 96 does not have. Its well balanced, with layers of fruit, good acidty and a long finish. Still very young and while not quite a baby, this will last a while yet. Lovely stuff,
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3/8/2013 - ckinv368 wrote: 94 Points
Vibrant red color, mushroom, cedar and forest moss on the nose, smooth as silk on palate, a hint of cinnamon, tobacco, light vegetal notes, and some cedary spice to go along with muted blueberry, currant, black cherry, and raspberry. Super-well integrated tannins. Wonderful wine. Fruit and vibrrancy turned to mellow forest, earth, leather, and tobacco after it had been open for a couple of hours. Really lovely, refined wine. Likened it to meeting Grace Kelly---something that is just timeless, and that you'll never forget. 93-94.
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12/31/2012 - Yiannis wrote: 98 Points
Fantastic wine! Dark garnet color. Extremely complex and ultra-clean nose of hot ceramics, cedar, ink, graphite and dark plums. Full-bodied, explosive on the palate with firm but totally elastic tannins, rich fruit and high acidity. Almost endless aftertaste. An unprecedented combination of power and finesse.
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12/31/2012 - Stefanos T. wrote: 98 Points
We drank this wine at Yiannis' and Sofias' home to celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary alongside two other great reds. It eclipsed them both with its immense concentration and elegance. It was delectable but it still has decades of life ahead. Nose was refined, ultra clean and delineated with pencil shavings, tobacco, and cedar notes - not in the more mineral style of Pauillac, as I have it in my mind, but in a more sun bathed ceramic tile earthy kind of style. Smooth new oak notes were fully integrated almost imperceptible but still there. In the palate it has a texture that is so fluid, mouth caressing and elegant that almost obviates the full bodied character of the wine. Tannins are huge but soft and malleable. Incredible poise and finish. Maybe in ten years this will merit a 100 point score. Yiannis thanks for the treat!
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12/31/2012 - Dokken wrote: 96 Points
Cedar, earth, oak along black fruit and mineral aromas on the nose. Quite young and focused. Impressive on palate with robust fine-grained tannins of great finesse, punchy acidity in balance with great extract and almost full body. Multi-layered with expressive intensity needing time to harmonize all elements and reveal superb complexity. Very very long finish.
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11/14/2012 - ricknat1 Likes this wine: 94 Points
young but clearly bested the Pichon. Opened 8 hours earlier, it was drinking very nicely. Wehn I had it 3 weeks ago, it was opened much closer and was more powerful on the nose and the palate. Probably 5+ years from its peak
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10/13/2012 - slaughterer wrote: 97 Points
Getting menthol, flowers, hay, roasted meats and blueberries in the nose. Palate is mostly hitting in the second half after a cool, light entry, and composed of smoked meats, cherries, slate, broken seashells, blueberries, tobacco, with a very unusual herbal/spice stretch in the 30 second finish.
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8/10/2012 - Lord Rayas wrote: 95 Points
popped open on Serenity to celebrate Andy/Patti's anniversary. beautiful bouquet of tobacco and spice. good drinking window now.
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7/20/2012 - kkazaks wrote: 92 Points
92 today, can reach as high as 96.
Just beginning to enter adolescence, stretch its legs.
Did not evolve in the glass over 1+ hr. If drinking now, decant 4 hrs minimum. Better to wait 5-10+ years.
Ripe vibrant red color, little fading to the rim. Red fruits on the nose and palate, that warm red Haut Brion earth. But not yet warm brick, as it should be in 15 years, just warm earth (the stylistic flavor here has not just coalesced to its apogee). Tannins well integrated, good firm backbone, nice acidity to note this will last. I hope it does.
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4/28/2012 - pjaines wrote:
Fourth time I have had this wine and each time it delivers. Compact, dark, brooding with slatey violets and minerals in the mouth. This is all about potential right now but the fruit has this wonderful gritty Graves character which means this wine can never be mistaken for anything other than Haut Brion. Excellent and in 10 years when it is ready to drink it will be awesome.
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4/25/2012 - Sleepy Dave wrote: 93 Points
2012 - Clarence Dillon: Alcohol :: 13%
Decanted for 60mins. This bottle proved that the last bottle was not a good example of the 1995 Haut Brion. This was obviously fresh and more complete. Lovely bouquet of new saddle leather, earth, cigar box and tobbaco all wrapped by the sweet dark plum and blackcurrant fruits. On the palate, the tannin and wood is well integrated with good maturity. No hard edge at all, so polished and lush with good complexity of fruits, earth, roasted herbs, spices and sweet dark fruits. However, I thought this wine lacks a bit of the scale and body of a 1st growth, but still a deliciously wine with excellent length and intensity with mineral, juicy black fruits aftertaste.
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4/6/2012 - mwanasheria wrote: 96 Points
Spices, pepper, dry earth, tobacco, bell peppers. Truly outstanding.
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3/4/2012 - raybklyn wrote: 99 Points
immediately fragrant, complex, light on the palate, a joy to smell and taste. the bottle lasted a little over an hour as it was too delicious to keep for any amount of time.
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2/25/2012 - paulevd wrote: 94 Points
Popped, poured and let sit in the glass for two hours. Deep red color. Fabulous nose featuring black cherry and spice. Deep, mouthfilling dark fruit flavors with a long finish which ends with a mouthpuckering dryness. Lots of life left.
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2/9/2012 - iwfsrst wrote: 93 Points
A bit disappointing. Nice bouquet, lovely long finish, but no middle. The classic tastes are there but no vibrancy associated with them. Have we been "parkerized"?
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12/26/2011 - dougie wrote: 93 Points
Needs a lot of time. Decanted for an hour. Simple at beginning. Great earth finish and the fruit started coming out after 3 hours. This could be a great wine in many years to come.
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12/20/2011 - PGB Does not like this wine: 88 Points
Drank my last bottle. Tannic and dry. Very little fruit and not complex at all. Maybe my three bottles were badly stored or counterfeit. Very disappointing. Many other vintages so hoping for better experiences in the future. In general my experience of 95 Bordeaux has been a let-down.
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12/13/2011 - ilee wrote: 94 Points
Subdued but very elegant nose of tar, tobacco ash, dried herbs, dark fruits. Medium bodied with good balance and intensity on the palate. A picture of refinement -- hard to question the first growth designation on this one. Still very young, but I didn't find it too young to enjoy.
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11/25/2011 - Lord of the Bottles wrote: 94 Points
Haut Brion Dinner with Jean-Philippe Delmas.: At Wine Society Haut Brion Dinner with Jean-Philippe Delmas. Much better than the 1998 (see my note) with a more complex finish and with some of the smoke and cream that I have gotten used to at this fabulous tasting night.
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11/11/2011 - Nutty08 wrote: 95 Points
San Antonio Wine Geeks do Bordeaux for Veterans Day (Home of Mike and Sandra O.): Served blind and decanted about 6hrs prior to serving. Flamboyant nose initially, complex, with leather, mocha, currants and later with flint and mint. Pipe tobacco, almonds, dried fruit, and mint on the palate. Still rather closed, refined, and a touch austere--as this wine still doesn't quite want to break out of its shell. Still with great poise, complexity and polish, and a fantastic dry tannic finish adding a touch of mocha and leather. Initially guess right bank '95, but later guessed Pauillac after having the true right bank to compare. Even after revealing, this tasted like a Pauillac to me. Needs 10yrs to reach a drinking plateau. 94-96
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10/11/2011 - JLG wrote:
Sweetly perfumed nose has a feminine quality to it, soft aromas that have fresh-mown hay and grasses as their dominant element; there emerge more earthen and woody aromas later, and there is also a dollop of black fruits and sweet herbs, but this is definitely a restrained Haut-Brion at this stage; initial taste in the mouth is sweet, but it lasts only briefly, turning quickly toward very dry and austere red fruits; cranberries, quince, black fruits abound; despite the restrained nose, this is a powerful and dense wine with a lot of coiled up power yet to emerge; dry elegant finish. (18) Tasted again later from a different source with consistent notes.
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10/10/2011 - Didman wrote: 96 Points
Magnificent. Coming into maturity, with many years yet ahead.
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10/9/2011 - jamie24 Likes this wine: 94 Points
This first growth has certainly entered it's drinking window. Decanted for 2.5 hours which was plenty. Cassis and truffle on the nose. Rounded on the palate with plenty of black fruit. It's a beauty
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10/4/2011 - Pre-emptive wrote: 92 Points
Decent but somewhat disappointing for a Haut Brion.
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9/30/2011 - Burkeshire wrote: flawed
Carefully stored for several years after picking this one up at K&L, but unfortunately it was oxidized.
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7/23/2011 - Sleepy Dave wrote: 86 Points
1995 Bordeaux Retrospect: Alcohol :: 13%
The nose is tight, but quite enticing with sweet dark fruits core surrounded by layered of mineral, green herb, earth and leather. Good purity and relatively soft with tannin well integrated with spicy finish that lingered, quite sweet too. A wine with good purity, balance and polished that is already approachable, but this lack of the depth and breadth and certainly doesn’t has the class from a 1st growth. Most disappointed wine tonight alongside with the La Mission for everyone. I hope this is a weak bottle.
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4/30/2011 - pjaines wrote:
Cambridge University / CellarTracker Dinner (Pembroke College, Cambridge): Classic Haut Brion nose of gravelly, minerally fruit with a touch of smokey, dark fruit. Very firm, compact and austere but laced through with whispy rasberry notes. Utterly brilliant even at the late stage of the night when the palate was suffering from the on-slaught of fine wine.
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4/10/2011 - LPskeleton wrote: 96 Points
Medium plus intensity aromatics of flowers, mineral drenched tobacco, lavendar and cassis. I love haut brions aromatics, they are simply captivating. SIlky texture with ripe black currant, loam, mineral, lavender. Wave after wave of tobacco, florals and black fruits. Tannins are still very aggressive at just below medium plus with a good medium plus blast of acidity. This is graceful and sexy wine. medium plus finish.
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3/13/2011 - Matt Scott wrote: 96 Points
Decanted for two hours. A deep crimson-garnet, with an almost black core. The secondary nuances are really starting to strut, with cassis, tobacco, forest floor, gravel, currant, red fruits and mushroom. Soft tannins that are velvety at the end, the is full-bodied and very balanced. The finish is over a minute in length and well-layered, judicious and regal. This Haut-Brion will out last me and is really mythic. I would still give her a few years and what an enamoring experience that only this prodigious producer can give. Drink 2016 -.
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3/5/2011 - Ho Bryan wrote: 96 Points
Amazing wine and pure first growth class. Forest floor with great depth. Entering its drinking window but noticeable tannin suggest some years away from its full potential, and will go on for many years after that. Wonderful experience.
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12/31/2010 - Rob MacKay wrote: 94 Points
New Year's Eve 95s: Deep crimson color with just a touch of bricking at the extreme edge. Gravelly, earthy nose with some dried fruits. As the wine gained air, the nose just opened and opened and was really expressive. Rich red fruits on the palate with great balance and depth. I think the finish would be my only negative point about the wine. While smooth and complex, it was of medium length whereas I was hoping for one of those epic finishes that last for minutes. Other then that, fantastic wine.
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12/20/2010 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
1995 Haut Brion is showy wine. With a perfume that took time to coax its scents, black cherry, cassis, smoke, tobacco, truffle and earthy notes could be found. This deep wine demands a few more years before revealing all its charms. The juicy, mouth filling finish is filled with rich, dense fruit. 96 Pts
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12/4/2010 - kwaky Likes this wine: 94 Points
Medium to dark red. Nice nose with spicy integrated tannins, a nice touch of acidity but also a touch of class. Still a way to go with this one.
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10/29/2010 - d'Artagnan wrote: 95 Points
Montréal Passion Vin
Nez classique de fumée, avec boite à cigare et cèdre.
La texture en bouche est superbe, soyeuse et l’ensemble me parait de style médocain par cette austérité commune dans les millésimes dits “classiques”. Les arômes sont ainsi davantage sur le Havane et la fumée que le fruit rouge. Pas le plus charmeur, mais il a une classe indéniable et le sérieux d’un grand vin. 94-95 pts
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8/29/2010 - pjaines wrote:
Tasted alongside the 1991 and 1998. This is just creeping into its drinking window now, this is a real beauty. Still has the firmness of youth but the secondary characteristics are coming through now. Excellent structure with terroir oozing out of the glass. Very much Haut Brion. Excellent and years ahead of it. I've had three bottles of this vintage now over the last 4 months - the first bottle was firm and rigid, the second pashmina soft and then this one which was a mixture of the two.
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8/7/2010 - tbabes wrote: 92 Points
The fill was perfect and the cork was sound; opened abut 1 hour prior to service -- no decant. A youthful purple color with no signs of age. A rather subdued bouquet, offering up notes of ripe black fruits, flower, tobacco and earth. Medium-bodied, with great balance and depth, but missing a bit in terms of texture and also delinieation on the finish. This was served a bit too warm -- I brought it to one of our favorite BYO restaurants -- and should have asked them to stick in the ice bucket. Regardless, I think this wine will benefit from another five year of cellaring.
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6/27/2010 - MatthewF wrote:
Dinner at Home with Friends (My House, Chicago IL): Side by side with 95 La Mission Haut Brion. At first, not showing much on the nose, but after a half hour or so, it really began singing. Ripe red currant and berry with tobacco leaf and a good bit of minerality. Fruit forward on the palate with great texture. Full bodied red fruits, pretty spice throughout, and a long finish. Still young with some gripping tannin, but showing very nice. I would still give a slight edge to the La Mission tonight though.
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6/20/2010 - mkelson wrote: 96 Points
Simply outstanding
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5/14/2010 - Wrighty wrote: 94 Points
No formal tasting notes taken but a supremely sophisticated wine. Drinking surprisingly well. A complex nose and palate - still showing fruit as well as a subtle mineral undertone - but presented in an approachable way. Long, long finish. Real class.
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5/14/2010 - pjaines wrote:
This wine is starting to open up until a real beauty. Quite a light, resolved colour to it - the nose is all restrained sweet fruit and gravely dark minerals. Sweet palate - drinking much lighter and sweeter than a bottle 2 weeks ago - almost Barolo like at times with tar, roses and metled chocolate tannins. Long long long finish - deep yet light at the same time. The bottle drank 2 weeks ago was much primary, darker, more brooding with a serious tense mineral palate that was coiled up tight. This bottle was more soft and relaxed. Excellent.
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5/5/2010 - saimon wrote: 95 Points
Decanted 3 hours, opened up beautifully as the night progressed, let this one breath for a while. Strong pepper, cedar, tobacco on the nose, the fruit comes through beautifully dark cherry, cassis, with a minerality and barnyardiness in the background. Still youthful, hold this one for sure.
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5/2/2010 - Khamen wrote: 96 Points
A real megastar amongst a raft of superstars at the CT London Bordeaux vs Burgundy event, the 1995 Haut Brion was matched directly against the 1995 Lafite. The endless layered complexity and wonderful finesse of the H-B beat the Lafite at its own game, although in fairness the H-B was more approachable at this stage. An absolute beauty drinking very well now but with plenty of life and evolution left to come.
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5/1/2010 - Paul S wrote: 95 Points
Haut Brion Mini-Vertical - 2003, 2001, 1998, 1995 (The Fullerton Hotel, Singapore): Quite a brilliant wine. 45% Merlot, 45% Cab Sauv and 10% Can Franc I found it hard to choose between this and the very fine 2001 on the day but, on reflection, this probably edged it. It had the finesse of the 2001, but a bit more substance on the back-end at the moment. Nose was clearly exceptional. There was a lovely understatement in the way this wine introduced itself. Not quite as showy as the other vintages, but far more impressively classy I thought, with a gentle unfolding of tobacco leaf, lush dark cassis fruit, perfumy high-toned, a gentle easing in of dark earth and smoked meat smells, a touch of leather and a really nice seam of wet gravel. Lots of depth. Wow. The palate took a bit of time. I was not quite as immediately impressed by this as by the other wines, but it certainly came into its own. A bit brawnier and tougher than either the 2001 or 1998, perhaps refleecting the higher amount of Cabernet in the cepage, but this had lovely structure in still rather firm but very fine tannins. There was also lots of juicy fruit that showed itself in clean, clear, pure tones of cherries and sweet cassis. Dense and concentrated, yet with a beautiful transparency to it all. Underneath all that was some meaty oomph and a nice brush of cedar wood. Finish was quite seamless. Again, there was a layer of fine, powdery tannins, rich plush fruit, more cedar and then a rush of cigar smoke that whirled around the mouth. A really excellent wine.
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3/2/2010 - MarkO'Mahony wrote:
Double decanted five hours beforehand. Wonderful bouquet on opening the bottle. Enjoyed with roast lamb a la boulangere. Amazing bouquet, much more delicate (almost subdued?) in the mouth. Flavours of earth, spices, stewed plums. Very, very long finish. I think this may improve with a little age- it felt like it might be coming out of a slightly closed phase. Still far and away the best wine of the night.
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2/28/2010 - clement3 wrote: 95 Points
Sensational bouquet, full of character-roasted aromas, tobacco and ripe fruit. The taste confirmed how great this wine was. Lots of harmony and finesse with seductive flavors and a long finish. A first class wine!
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2/21/2010 - austinwinesalon wrote:
Definitive Bordeaux (Mirabelle Restaurant Austin, Texas): In a blind tasting of compelling first-growth wannabe's, this was the first growth, and it showed well. This was open-knit, young, rich, and expansive. The nose was forward and smoky, and did not have the telltale graves nose, so most tasters thought this was the Cos. There was fine dark fruit, some Asian spice, light acidity, and great balance. Drank very well now, which surprised the Pape Clement fans.
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2/14/2010 - BradE wrote:
Slightly corked, so not too enjoyable.
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12/30/2009 - BradE wrote:
Just when I'd almost given up on 1995 Bordeaux! Upon decanting, the nose literally exploded. Gorgeous, perfumed, excellent. Decided to double decant rather than leave in the decanter, then drunk four hours later. On the palate it was very good, rich, an absolute pleasure. Two bottles with consistent profile. Thanks to Kdawg, whose review on CT convinced me to open the first bottles of three cases owned. Looking forward to more.
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12/22/2009 - BenRoberts wrote: 96 Points
What a pleasure it is to drink this wine. Tasted alongside the '96 this wine from the very start showed a bold and dominant character. After being decanted for several hours there were still strong earthy notes of fresh black soil and wet earth mixed with a dark somber fruit note. On the palate it filled the mouth with strong flavors of tobacco, cedar, cassis and plum with a tannic edge which told me that another few years might be in order. The finish was a mix of an oaky/vanilla mixed with softer notes of dried fruit. A great wine which overshadowed its younger companion with its sheer dominance of character.
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12/14/2009 - Ricky99 wrote: 95 Points
decanted for about an hour before drining. Kraus/Pancoast/Andersen birthday dinnner. Stunningly beautiful wine - not as big as I expected but much prettier
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12/4/2009 - AllRed wrote: 95 Points
The Blind Drunks "Uptown" tasting & dinner (Dunham Woods Riding Club, Wayne, Illinois): Opaque garnet color. Prominent notes of iron and iodine on first whiff. Develops notes of earth and dark fruit, but with iodine qualities always present. Shows similarities to the first wine in the flight. Very young. Full-bodied, with firm, but sweet tannins, and lush, balanced fruit carrying through the long finish. Dense and powerful - gorgeous. Double decanted earlier in the day, but I didn't catch just when or how long...but it needed every bit of air it got. 95-96 pts.
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11/27/2009 - vespasian wrote: 94 Points
Deep core showing very little fade at the rim; deep, brooding concentrated dark fruits on the nose with a strong aroma of sous bois and licorice. Intense but very single minded; Lovely weight on the palate - good balance of acidity and very fine integrated tannins. Excellent concentration. A powerful statement of Pessac needing lots of time.
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11/24/2009 - Dominus wrote: 91 Points
Quite nice with smokiness and leather on the nose with some dark fruits and some stones mixed in on the back end. This still has years left in the bottle but a very nice bottle of wine that was reviewed well by all at our going away Travian dinner for our Aussie ladies.
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10/9/2009 - djdaqm wrote:
A little musty on the nose with some chalkiness. Refined and balanced with some licorice at the end. Good acidity and an elegant wine. I tasted this under fairly uncontrolled circumstances, so I'm not including a score, although I noted it as a 93 during the event.
I tasted 4 wines at the same time and ranked them in the following order from favorite to least favorite: 1994 Caymus Special Select, 1995 Haut Brion, 2000 Lynch Bages, and 2000 Leoville Las Cases. The Bordeaux wines clearly were still too early to drink.
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10/5/2009 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 93 Points
Popped and poured, still very young, amazing fruit and a great terroir, needs time.
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9/1/2009 - aof wrote: 96 Points
Birthday Dinner (Sontes, Rochester, MN): Aromatic and gloriously harmonious with a domineering note of smoke and a refreshing minerality. It required prolonged decanting to strut its stuff. Easily the best '95 I've had to date. Lovely.
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7/11/2009 - peternelson wrote: 94 Points
Hiro’s: Dark purple; very aromatic; forest berries, underbrush, cigar, cassis--all classic Bordeaux aromas, along with that foresty pine-tree aspect I get from Pessac; rich, dark flavors, still serious tannins present-this is still a baby but drinking nicely now. I’d give it 10 more years.
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6/7/2009 - rsepulve wrote: 95 Points
No notes taken. Just entering its drinking window but surely this wine has many years of development left.
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5/30/2009 - KeyMaster wrote: 95 Points
Souper de célébration du doctorat de Caroline (Maison): Extraordinaire!
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5/21/2009 - NVWINE79 wrote: 93 Points
leather, tobacco, cassis, herbal notes, cherry, firm but approachable. Tannins are softening up and it is drinking really well now. Should hold well for quite some time.
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5/19/2009 - KeithAkers wrote: 96 Points
Birthday Bordeauxs and Bordeaux Blends (my place): nose: the depth and layering on the nose is what set this apart from the other wines. From the second you put this up to your nose, it was on a different level with rich, deep, and well layered tones of red cherries, mineral rich earth tones, dark tones of cranberries, cassis, red currants, bits of toast, kirsch, charcoal, and some slight bits of black truffles. This just allowed you to be taken by the moment
taste: great medium/full feel with deep and well layered tones of kirsch, cassis, red cherries, mineral rich earth, red currants, some black truffles, and some tones of charcoal. While it certainly comes across as fairly young, its drinking at the same time. The tannins give a nice backbone and don't fully get in the way and they certainly aren't resolved yet, but provide support.
overall: an awesome young wine. This stood head and shoulders above the other blind wines and it wanted to be taken seriously. It'd be hard to keep ones hands off of this wine right now, but there is a bright future for it and it has a very long life ahead of it
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3/11/2009 - gpowell1978 wrote: 92 Points
Tasted at the Cambridge University Wine Society annual dinner, hosted by Chateau Haut-Brion. Decanted at least 2-3 hours beforeghand. Lovely depth of colour. Very perfumed on the nose, lovely red fruits as well as the usual herbaceous and leathery aromas. On the palette it was rich and heavenly - very, very well balanced and smooth. Tannins and fruit perfectly marred - though I imagine with more cellar time this wine would also develop a little more depth and length, which although good and varied was not overly long. Wish I had a case of this.
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2/28/2009 - B Paul wrote: 95 Points
Nice nose with tobacco and lots of spice. Has nice fruit and is medium-bodied. No rough edges. Excellent wine that is drinking nicely right now.
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2/27/2009 - profiler54 wrote: 97 Points
Wow... seriously complex, balanced and long finshing.. great woodsy earthy nose and ample fruit and supple tannins... Decanted for 1 hour before drinking... Very sad when the bottle was empty
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12/25/2008 - gsquireh wrote: 95 Points
Decanted for three hours. A gorgeous dark, dense purple color. Earthy with classic barnyard surrounding the blackberry and smoke. Vanilla aroma not as present in this bottle but, Oh!... the spice was like cake.
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8/4/2008 - gsquireh wrote: 97 Points
Still drinking deliciously since my last bottle in May. Decanted for an hour and a half while we drank the 2005 Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux and the 2002 Hourglass Cab with our dinner. A gorgeous dark, dense purple color. The pages of blackberry and smoke make this a top of your list wines from the cellar that you want to drink but should save for great drinking when you have drank most of your eighties Bordeaux. Beautiful aroma of vanilla and spice, this is a classic of brawn and beauty!
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7/18/2008 - loverboy wrote: 94 Points
Ruby red, seductive nose of damp pebbles, minerals, caramel, vanilla very fruity with red fruits, berries. Very Elegant wine and complex. We've opened this bottle 2 hours before consuming. This wine has excellent structure and starting to shine a little at the moment but still pretty tannic though. Aftertaste is silky, sexy and longgggg.
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6/21/2008 - Zweder wrote: 94 Points
Not so much notes; too busy enjoying. Beautiful expressive and elegant bouquet with everything you could want from a top Bdx. Finesse and complexity. Already soft and a lot of finesse, but the powerful tannin has to soften a little bit more to make it complete.
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5/1/2008 - gsquireh wrote: 99 Points
1285 Avenue of the Americas: Decanted twice and left in decanter for two hours before drinking. Forward and caressed with black fruits this purple queen has has a flushed ruby complexion. Black currant aroma laced with vanilla and tobacco and sealed with plum. Ripe, yes ripe, Fat, even zoftig with many layers of sweet tannin that chews softly like a mindnight meal with your lover or a midnight lover as your meal.This was the wine of the tasting.
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3/29/2008 - jkoenen wrote: 96 Points
California tasting @ Restaurant Savelberg (Netherlands): 'Bordeaux red', resolving, almost translucent core. Drop dead gorgeous wine, extremely pure earthy components, mushrooms, pencil shavings, licorice. Very exciting and captivating wine. Unmeasurable complexity, a real sniffer. This is it, this really got me firing on all cilinders. Perfectly ripe and mature. Phenomenal stuff. 19/20
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2/1/2008 - Claudio161 wrote: 94 Points
Hart Davis Hart Wine Co Comparative Bordeaux Tasting Vintages 1995 & 1996 (Newberry Library, Chicago IL): This is a big wine! Muscular. Tobacco, dark fruits, and slight floral notes. Powerful and awesome - but somewhat prosaic. Pair this with a nice paddle steak or KC ribeye.
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2/1/2008 - KeithAkers wrote: 96 Points
HDH 95/96 Comparative Tasting (Newberry Library, Chicago IL): nose: real nice thick and layered nose of smoke, black fruit, spice box, and vanilla bean
taste: real nice long and elegant feel on the palate with chocolate, mocha, dark fruit, and vanilla
overall: just a beautiful wine. Very long and balanced this just takes you to another place and give you a smile from ear to ear
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9/29/2007 - the godfather wrote: 92 Points
Tasted blind with some hints from the host, knew I was on the left bank and got the year right, however I guessed Mouton because of serious lead pencil and cassis notes with lods of cedar. This wine needs lots of time.
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5/7/2007 - MRichman wrote:
Haut Brion Vertical at Craft in NYC (Craft restaurant, NYC): Juicy, punchy with lots of structure. Needs some time. Dense with sweet core. High toned compared to the 1996.
A-
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4/14/2007 - Eric wrote: flawed
Second Annual First Growth Tasting (Bellevue, WA): Smokey and roasted, some vanilla and then a whiff of TCA. Bummer, corked!
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3/13/2007 - Gregory Dal Piaz wrote: 94 Points
University Settlement dinner (Christies): A classic expression of tobacco and gravel over a very deep core of ripe, dark fruit greats the nose, Spicy and with a hint of camphor, a seductive nose. Opulent, ripe and chewy upon entry, zest and lively with lots of soft, ripe tannins, the fruit remains very crisp though continues to add layers, the long finish just echoes the flavors of the midpalte. While still very young this has the balance and intensity to age impeccably.
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2/13/2007 - trankin wrote: 93 Points
SOBER haut Brion Tasting (CB's house): Tobacco dominates the nose. On the palate, tobacco and leather. Very tannic, but more or less open for business. Will improve considerably with time.
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12/13/2006 - Rupert wrote: 91 Points
Haut Brion Vertical (Bentley Hotel, London): Lean and vegetal on the nose, also some whisky like spirity tones, grippy, cedary, lean, classically claret
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9/2/2006 - jkoenen wrote: 95 Points
Bordeaux 94/95 @ Peter V. (Netherlands): This wine is so complete... and so strong and promising. It has all the fruit and texture of the previous wine, but it's more ripe, more suave, more complex and deeper. Especially liked the unbelievably pure, damp earth notes in the bouquet. Fascinating wine. 18.5-19/20
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9/2/2006 - Zweder wrote: 95 Points
Occasional tasting group: Top Bordeaux 1994 & 1995 plus a few extra's. (@ PVa): Wonderful bouquet with ripe fruit and soft, luxurious oak. A very complete wine with juice, some good sweetness and good tannins.
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8/29/2006 - 128 wrote:
After dinner at home with the wife.
Cedar and spice on the nose. Dry, and mineraly on the palate. Tannins were present but not intrusive. Good balance and length. Less sweet than the 89, 82, 90 and 98 versions. The wife commented that it tasted like ginseng.
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8/28/2006 - Stephan O wrote: 97 Points
(At The Square in London.) What an unbelievably sexy wine. In my view, the leading lights have vastly underrated this. It's larger-than-life, powerful, and effusive, and yet it's feminine and alluring too. Ruby red color, and the nose (which you could almost detect from across the room) shows smoke and leather, along with currant, blackberry, and even strawberry notes. The palate is precise and silky smooth, with superfine tannins -- whatever the percentages, the spirit seems more Merlot than Cabernet. And the finish is a blockbuster. All of that having been said, is this complex enough to be considered a classic? I could see how others might not think so, but all in all I think that this stuff is just too heavenly for me to care.
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8/26/2006 - Colonel Lawrence wrote: 92 Points
In my open comparison (26th Feb 2006) between Latour, Mouton Rothschild and Haut Brion 1995's, that was the order they finished in: scores 95:93:92.
Unanimous agreement with six friends on this order (although as I've said the tasting was not blind).
Latour: fuller, rounder, more luscious, with good fruit and nicely softened tannins, sweet vs the dryness, especially of the Haut Brion. Long finish. Drinking well now, but with the legs to improve.
Mouton Rothschild: soft, wood and pencil, with pleasant acidity/tannins. Maybe some chocolatey notes? Dry finish. Well and ready to drink now??
Haut Brion: alcoholic, dry and tannic, although not unpleasantly so - a little austere. I detected little fruit flavors, although others did. Felt there was room for improvement and woud drink better in 3-5 years.
All had excellent color, clarity and brightness - Latour the deepest, Haut Brion still some purple, Mouton perhaps a hint of brown.
The scoring mirrored almost exactly the prices I paid for the wines - maybe there is justice in the wine business.
Plaudits came from all attendees to a high class tasting - the tasting order was the reverse of the scores - it just got better and better.
Surprisingly I found myself believing the money I paid was worth it for all wines!
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7/28/2006 - D. Fulton wrote: 96 Points
Notes of graphite, earth, and mineral dominate, but there is also plenty of fruit seemingly stuffed into this wine. Gracefully structured, almost high toned, but most definitely lithe and nimble. This bottle was initially much tighter than the last I tasted, but with air it significantly softened. It was immensely enjoyable to follow the wine as it evolved in the glass. It ended up soft, yet powerful, and very smooth, very sexy. A wonderful wine.
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7/1/2006 - Zweder wrote: 95 Points
Southern Nights #1 (@ PVa): Not many notes; enjoying the wine too much. Full bodied and powerful. Dark fruits, vanilla and graphite. Refinement. Delicious and still very youthful.
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6/12/2006 - D. Fulton wrote: 95 Points
Beautiful nose showing lots of dynamic fruit. A perfectly made wine showing well integrated fruit and earthiness. Very bright, but soft, beautiful, and strikingly mature. Surprisingly, the 1995 is more mature than the 1990 Haut Brion at this point in time.
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12/7/2005 - steffenpelz wrote: 95 Points
2nd Annual Cellar Treasures Tasting (Long) (Asti Trattoria): Started out tight despite having been open for 12 hours+. Clearly a wine with massive structure and more delineation than the 1990. Really pronounced cigar box aroma, dried flowers, tobacco, cassis, and certain savory character. I think this could turn out to be a much better wine in 10 years (relative to other vintages of HB) than many think today.
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11/20/2005 - Ben Andersen wrote:
BLIND 1995 Bordeaux etc...: Tasted BLIND. TN: tight. Dark fruit . Structured. Tobacco. A bit closed. Good potential for long-term development. I liked this wine quite a bit, but preferred both the '95 an '90 Pichon Lalande blind in this flight...
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5/14/2005 - cassetta wrote: 93 Points
Blair's Burgundy and Bordeaux Blowout: Dark garnet. Earth, smoke and mushrooms on the nose. Rich, smoky and full bodied. The mid-palate seems a little thin when compared to the competition though. This drank much better on release and seems to be in kind of an awkward state. Give it a few more years in the cellar.
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4/16/2005 - Jeff W wrote:
HS offline.
Purple, leather and resin on the nose. This wine is intense but still tight. There is good minerality and a long spicy finish. It's still very young and one senses a brooding, powerful wine that is yet to reveal its depth. dg
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3/8/2005 - madeiradog wrote: 94 Points
Almost right bank in its sweetness, it exhibited none of the classic left bank cedar and tobacco aromas. Voluptuous in the mouth, full finish at the end showing dark berry, leather and cassis. Tastes young, but not too tannic, I am sure it will continue to improve.
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2/20/2004 - JeffJo wrote: 96 Points
What a joy to drink. Rich, multi-faceted nose with loads of fruit, shoe leather, tobacco and a hint of currant. Started out transparent and developed into a huge palette after 30 minutes being open. Explodes in your mouth when combined with steak with a finish that just won't quit. The tannins are incredibly fine and almost totally integrated. The wine is mature now but will doubtless put on more weight and complexity over the coming years.
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11/15/2002 - Burgundy Al wrote: 93 Points
Wine tasting. Black cherries on nose with some cedar hints in background. Big, sweet black fruit flavors on palate, somewhat hidden behind strong, brawny tannins. Great structure and balance all the way through to finish. Needs at least 5, probably 10 more years.
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3/24/2002 - peternelson wrote: 95 Points
Weiner: Darker wood than Mission; Smokier, acid in mid-palate; More t’s; “Nice incredible balance.”
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