Deep ruby, purple in colour, opaque in center, with a wide reddish, translucent rim and a bit of legs.
Fruit forward and leathery on the nose, somewhat perfurmed, with blackberries, blueberries, some strawberries, chocolate, leather, graphite, spices and herbs, and a bit of oaked vanilla. The oak presence is not particularly overbearing.
Leathery with some oak and vanilla on the initial palate with the fruits coming through in the mid palate. Leather, vanilla, chocolate, wet earth, blackberries, blueberries, and black currants. Tannins are fine and silky with decent acidity, with a long beautiful finish.
Beautiful and delicious, already very approachable young. Can't wait to revisit this a number of years from now and see how it develops.
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Re-tasted these days, I am a little disappointed by this wine, which was excellently rated as primeurs. In my humble opinion, it is now surpassed by 2014 and 2017 and there is little chance that this will change.
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My colleagues and I hosted a Carmes H-B mini vertical last night to redefine the odds against the fabulous 2022 vintage. We can't put 100 points everywhere.
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: Expressive and well-defined, classically shaped bouquet. Lots of fine blue fruit, red fruits and then lots of green bell pepper and smoky notes, curshed rocks. On the palate that herbal, smoky and bell pepper notes lends a lot of freshness and lifts the wine with its blue and dark fruit core even more. Very fine but not as luxurious tannins as in the Mission 2015 in the next glass. Overall, this is a very fine, elegant, classic Bordeaux which is very fresh and blue-fruit driven which is not easy to achieve in the hot year. It probably misses a bit of the immediate charm of other 2015 (and the Mission 2015) but is nevertheless a very good wine.
Decanting: Good from the go, a short decant should be sufficient.
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Very clean and precise nose with lots of dark berries and violets. On the palate cassis, blueberries, some sweet plum and young dark cherries. Medium (+) bodied with a medium intense acidity. Silky tannins, surprisingly well integrated for such a young wine. The acidity is very precise too. All in all a beautiful balance and a very precise structure with an amazing complexity and depth. It feels very modern style compared to older vintages of this Château. The finish is very long and elegant. Fantastic Bordeaux blend which is surprisingly enjoyable if you give it some time to breath. But there’s no need to hurry. It will be beautiful over at least the next 15-20 years and will definitely become even more interesting. (IG)
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Opened up and let it sit for about 20 minutes - probably not long enough. Nice tannin expression and a smooth but young panoply of flavors. Dark cherry, bolder presence of fruit flavors. Not earthy tones. Definitely needs time but has real potential to be a big winner.
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Our last bottle at our home in London, so definitely drinking way too early. 1hr+ decant. Give this 10yrs and it has the makings of 95+! Wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but just very reserved across all facets. Very nice texture.
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Same bottle as Curtis. Perfumed nose of dark fruit with violet/lavender. On the palate, dark purple/blue fruit with a bit of chocolate. Silky texured wine. Nice hit of acidity framing everything and providing most of the structure since I didn't get much of a tannic kick. Very suprised at how well this was drinking at this young age. In summary, a modern twist on Bordeaux. Enjoyed/liked but did not love it. Poured the last 4 ounces into a vial and revisted on day 3: the nose was less expressive, the fruid settled down and very subtle interesting note of stone underneath (don't ask me what kind of stone lol).
Made in Pessac, but tastes as glossy and modern as can be.
Decanted this for two hours prior to serving. Smooth and silky on the entry with notes of bubblegum, crushed raspberries, lavender, violet, and sweet plums. Enjoyed the inner-mouth perfume. Finish had a tannic bite and wasn’t as long as expected for a wine with this score.
This is definitely a wine for ratings and for new world palates. People looking for a wine that gives a true sense of place won’t find it here. While I think it could be trimmed 3-4 points (or more) from critics reviews, it’s not a bad wine. Enjoyed sipping it through the hours. Probably won’t buy more, as there’s too much good wine in this price range, but a nice experience nonetheless.
Cellared since release, perfect cork and fill. Dark red to rim. Nice nose of cassis and dark fruits, a bit of toasty oak. Medium-full body, pure ripe fruit, plenty of crisp acidity and bit of green, tannins are there but less prominent than the last bottle, fairly long finish. As with the last bottle, no classic Pessac-Leognan gravelly/earthy notes to speak of, and it’s still vet young, but a fun drink. Will expect more in 5-10 years. Excellent.
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Belle couleur sombre. Nez très expressif de cuir, épices, boisé, chocolat, feuille de buis. En bouche, épices et chocolat ressortent. Tanins présents mais adoucis. Une belle surprise pour une ouverture prématurée.
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My first ever Carmes. Really interesting combination of pure ripe fruit, plenty of crisp acidity, a nice green streak, lots of grippy tannins, and a fairly long finish. No classic Pessac-Leognan gravelly/earthy notes to speak of, and it’s still vet young, but a fun drink. Will expect more in 5-10 years. Excellent.
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Pnp. This is already surprisingly well integrated and accessible. Medium body with good freshness, oak barely noticeable, fine to medium tannins. Nice with perhaps some upside. 92+
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Decanted 2 hours, aromas of applewood, blackberry and fresh herbs fill the glass, plush and inviting on the palate, still primary with oak taking the front line, layered, smoked berry, gravel, Thai spiced tea and pepper make up some fine nuances, this has a logical restraint about it, and holds a ton of potential, a value for now, it tastes more expensive than it is, goes well with steak, the hype might be real, time will tell
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This bottle was fairly plush, not tight at all and after an hour of air time, the aromatics came out and it was ready to go.
Middle weight texture with notes of raspberries and cream. Not a ton of stuffing in my opinion. It’s a 10 ish year wine for me. But the fruit is bright and pure, went excellently with a cast-iron seared ribeye and goat cheese crumble. Food brought out more in this bottle
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Tight dense and primary... brambly, blackcuerent and little imagination or real interest. Clean and lovely but unexciting... for now. I’m confident this will unwind and reveal joy. For me 91 now, 93+ in 5+ years so scored in middle.
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Poured into a decanter and Spent some time with this one, all by itself for a few hours. The nose is incredible, all kinds of notes highlighted by some strong blueberry and cassis notes. The palate carries some of the notes, isn't thin per say, but falls a little short IMO to be elite. A very good wine overall but , I've got this more in the 90-94 range depending on your palate, versus a wine garnering 95 or over.
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Concentrated and deep aromas with darker touches on the fruit with blackcurrant, blackberries, espresso and hot tobacco.
Full-bodied with several layers and shows a really nice charm. Blackcurrant, ripe redcurrant, blueberries, vanilla and burnt wood. Charming wine! The sweetening has been significantly reduced since August. Give this wine 10-15 years in the cellar. Very good wine.
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Surprised where the CT ratings on this are starting to cluster - this is good, but I dunno about *that* good. Opens up with classic dark-fruited Bordeaux scents, but it doesn't give away its atypical blend until you take a sip, which has that sharp cabernet franc bite clenching down on what otherwise is a satiny, flowing canvas of vivid maroon/purple fruit - ripe, but still slender in form. There's a whiff of oak toast on the nose, but it's barely evident on the palate, where the fruit is very pure. Structurally, this is much gentler and rounder than the 2014 was. The tannin is barely a factor at all and it gets its definition more from that cab franc acidity. I like this a lot better than what Carmes was doing 15-20 years ago though my persistent nit with it is that it doesn't really exhibit anything in the way of Pessac-Leognan character. If you squint you can maybe see some of that trying to poke out in the leftovers the next day, which show a bit more grit and bitterness pushing this in a somewhat more old-style direction.
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Tasted next to 2012 Les Carmes Haut Brion. Generous, spicy, lovely balance, lots of concentration and richness. Wonderful finish - vibrant, persistent, spicy, mineral. Superb. 94-95+
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Day 1 (Double decanted) - Fabulous nose! Pure aromatics, detected floral notes and elegant. Unfortunately, the light to medium bodied palate didn't match the nose. Was hollow and didn't want to express itself. Finish was fairly long
Day 2 - Retained the nose from Day 1. And pleasant surprise that the palate was filled. The palate felt now more medium bodied but not really complex though. But the finish improved to a long lingering finish that persists in your mouth for about 30-45 seconds.
Day 3 - Forgot to take mental notes
Final thoughts - Got most things going with a very good nose ans long finish. However, I don't find any complexity, quite 1 dimensional
* Double decanted using Menu WineBreather * Recorked using Vacuvin stopper
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The new team - whole bunch at 30%, 45% Franc, 30 Merlot, 25 Cabernet. THis is also the first vintage produced in the new cellar - small tanks, concrete, wood and stainless steel and every year an artist paints a concrete tank which now goes on the back label.
Again with the salty minerality on the nose and palate. They are trying to work more on the aromatics of the wines, the freshness, floral, violet, peony, which makes them very different than, say Haut Brion. Hut Brion means high of the hill. Its the name of the place they are.
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Partial whole cluster, 45 cf, 30 cf, 25 cs. They lignify the stems to keep the herbal character out of the wine, but add more structure. Black fruit driven and ripe. Violet aroma, dense and rich palate. Good structure across palate.
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Joanne Bordeaux Trip 2018 (Bordeaux): The nose was slightly restrained, showing black raspberry fruit, with crushed stone, dark earth, minerals, and haunting florals. It was silky with depths of texture on the palate, as sour black cherry, and raspberry, backed by saline minerals washed across the senses, followed by brisk acids and round tannin. The finish was long with cheek puckering acidity and tannin forming as austere expression with lingering tart raspberry.
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Floral, spicy, pure red and black fruit on the nose. Very well balanced and already very layered and complex - lots of fruit, very polished but grippy tannins, fine acidity. Very long and spicy finish. Excellent! 94-95+
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Count me in the camp that doesn’t see what the fuss is about. Supposed to have been opened earlier in day. I thought this was thin mid palate and not overly expressive. Kind of boring. Note I was generally not impressed with the way the wines of this tasting (mostly 2015) were showing and I was huge fan of 2015 when tasted last at ugc. Honestly even a 90 is being generous today but I think this will certainly open up and improve.
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The 2015 Carmes Haut Brion opens up with beautiful scents of freshly-picked flowers, incense, burning embers and red raspberries. Medium-bodied in the mouth, with cassis, bitter chocolate, a hint of mint and lots of minerals. It finishes very long, with serious but fine-grained tannins that make the gums quiver. This is very impressive, but will need a good decade in the cellar to be at peak. 95+.
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Bordeaux 2015 in bottle (Zurich Arvi / Singapore UGCB): Polished palate also here, whole cluster notes and good freshness. Good structure, needs some time settle but boy this is polished and aromatically sophisticated. Had it a week later at a vertical dinner and the quality was more than confirmed. Then, had it again in 2020 and it was even more convincing. Very good freshness, elegant, light yet present with outstanding aromatic persistency. 96+
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Chateau Les Carmes Haut Brion vertical - Dinner with director Guillaume Pouthier (Zurich): This was denser than the 2012 and 2014 with a riper touch. Polished palate also here, whole cluster notes and good freshness. Much more structure, needs more time than those two years. Very good, can still add points from here. Stash this away till 2025 at least. I hear that 2016 is even better. 96-97
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This is a stunner. It's hard to find a place to start. You have silky, sensuous, refined textures. A complex melange of aromatics that display smoke, oyster shell, tobacco, and fresh, ripe, just picked flowers and dark red fruits. Or perhaps you focus on the long fresh, ripe, lingering, fruit filled finish. Either way, the wine rocks! For the price this is still selling for, you should be all over this treat!
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UGC Tasting Amsterdam 2/5/2018; Tasted twice; the first real jump for this château (?). Creamy bouquet with dark fruit, polished, juicy; everything is very well proportioned, but the wine does not have the concentration of the top Pessacs. I wait for the second jump.
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Tasted at a large Pop n pour tasting through Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux. 55% Cab Franc, but I would never know it. Tasted more like the traditional left bank, cab sauv dominant wines. Enjoyable, not a stand out.
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Minerals, flowers, sweet, ripe berries, forest floor and tobacco scents create the perfume. This wine is soft, silky and smooth with a long finish. The tannins are powerful, elegant, sophisticated and express more of a refined, saline quality in this vintage than in previous years. This wine should age extremely well with little effort. Using 45% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and vinified with 45% of the stems still intact, the wine reached 14.02% alcohol with a pH of 3.7. 90% of the wine is aging in 100% new, French oak barrels and the remainder is aging in amphora. 94 - 96 Pts
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Tasted @ large primeur tasting. Expressive aromatics of sweet black currant, licorice, sweet spices, dark plum, dark chocolat, and a touch of green bell pepper and herbs. It's medium-full bodied with medium-high acidity and pretty high but silky tannin. Great length. A super expressive and unique wine due to the high level of Carbernet Franc. I like it a lot! (93-95).
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4/30/2024 - Scapolite Likes this wine: 94 Points
**Tasted alongside '12 L'Eglise Clinet, PnP**
Deep ruby, purple in colour, opaque in center, with a wide reddish, translucent rim and a bit of legs.
Fruit forward and leathery on the nose, somewhat perfurmed, with blackberries, blueberries, some strawberries, chocolate, leather, graphite, spices and herbs, and a bit of oaked vanilla. The oak presence is not particularly overbearing.
Leathery with some oak and vanilla on the initial palate with the fruits coming through in the mid palate. Leather, vanilla, chocolate, wet earth, blackberries, blueberries, and black currants. Tannins are fine and silky with decent acidity, with a long beautiful finish.
Beautiful and delicious, already very approachable young. Can't wait to revisit this a number of years from now and see how it develops.
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12/9/2023 - ggroebli wrote: 93 Points
Froid, élégant, aérien.
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11/25/2023 - watcheslover Likes this wine: 94 Points
Re-tasted these days, I am a little disappointed by this wine, which was excellently rated as primeurs. In my humble opinion, it is now surpassed by 2014 and 2017 and there is little chance that this will change.
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6/11/2023 - watcheslover Likes this wine: 96 Points
My colleagues and I hosted a Carmes H-B mini vertical last night to redefine the odds against the fabulous 2022 vintage. We can't put 100 points everywhere.
1) 2022 100/100
2) 2016 99/100
3) 2020-2021 98-99/100
4) 2018 98/100
5) 2014-2017-2019 97/100
6) 2005 96/100
7) 2012 94/100
8) 2013 91/100
(2021 and 2022 tasted on samples)
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4/23/2023 - Philip67 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very nice and beginning to drink. Classic Bordeaux, with good all round structure and fruit. Long, some complexity. Drinking now, better in 5 years.
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11/23/2022 - Cailles wrote: 94 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: Expressive and well-defined, classically shaped bouquet. Lots of fine blue fruit, red fruits and then lots of green bell pepper and smoky notes, curshed rocks. On the palate that herbal, smoky and bell pepper notes lends a lot of freshness and lifts the wine with its blue and dark fruit core even more. Very fine but not as luxurious tannins as in the Mission 2015 in the next glass. Overall, this is a very fine, elegant, classic Bordeaux which is very fresh and blue-fruit driven which is not easy to achieve in the hot year. It probably misses a bit of the immediate charm of other 2015 (and the Mission 2015) but is nevertheless a very good wine.
Decanting: Good from the go, a short decant should be sufficient.
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11/1/2022 - Irish_Wine wrote: 94 Points
Medium ruby
Amazing nose with lovely defined black currant, blackberry, cedar, mint, graphite.
Lovely palate. Long finish.
*** Tasted as part of a walkaround Bordeaux tasting. Not full notes ***
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4/16/2022 - DrZett wrote: 94 Points
Very clean and precise nose with lots of dark berries and violets. On the palate cassis, blueberries, some sweet plum and young dark cherries. Medium (+) bodied with a medium intense acidity. Silky tannins, surprisingly well integrated for such a young wine. The acidity is very precise too. All in all a beautiful balance and a very precise structure with an amazing complexity and depth. It feels very modern style compared to older vintages of this Château. The finish is very long and elegant.
Fantastic Bordeaux blend which is surprisingly enjoyable if you give it some time to breath. But there’s no need to hurry. It will be beautiful over at least the next 15-20 years and will definitely become even more interesting. (IG)
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7/1/2021 - alexbhurst1678 wrote:
Opened up and let it sit for about 20 minutes - probably not long enough. Nice tannin expression and a smooth but young panoply of flavors. Dark cherry, bolder presence of fruit flavors. Not earthy tones. Definitely needs time but has real potential to be a big winner.
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1/30/2021 - PMJak11 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Our last bottle at our home in London, so definitely drinking way too early. 1hr+ decant. Give this 10yrs and it has the makings of 95+! Wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but just very reserved across all facets. Very nice texture.
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11/18/2020 - Vietty Likes this wine:
Same bottle as Curtis. Perfumed nose of dark fruit with violet/lavender. On the palate, dark purple/blue fruit with a bit of chocolate. Silky texured wine. Nice hit of acidity framing everything and providing most of the structure since I didn't get much of a tannic kick. Very suprised at how well this was drinking at this young age. In summary, a modern twist on Bordeaux. Enjoyed/liked but did not love it. Poured the last 4 ounces into a vial and revisted on day 3: the nose was less expressive, the fruid settled down and very subtle interesting note of stone underneath (don't ask me what kind of stone lol).
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11/14/2020 - Satoshi Nakamoto wrote: 90 Points
Made in Pessac, but tastes as glossy and modern as can be.
Decanted this for two hours prior to serving. Smooth and silky on the entry with notes of bubblegum, crushed raspberries, lavender, violet, and sweet plums. Enjoyed the inner-mouth perfume. Finish had a tannic bite and wasn’t as long as expected for a wine with this score.
This is definitely a wine for ratings and for new world palates. People looking for a wine that gives a true sense of place won’t find it here. While I think it could be trimmed 3-4 points (or more) from critics reviews, it’s not a bad wine. Enjoyed sipping it through the hours. Probably won’t buy more, as there’s too much good wine in this price range, but a nice experience nonetheless.
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10/24/2020 - dbg wrote:
Cellared since release, perfect cork and fill. Dark red to rim. Nice nose of cassis and dark fruits, a bit of toasty oak. Medium-full body, pure ripe fruit, plenty of crisp acidity and bit of green, tannins are there but less prominent than the last bottle, fairly long finish. As with the last bottle, no classic Pessac-Leognan gravelly/earthy notes to speak of, and it’s still vet young, but a fun drink. Will expect more in 5-10 years. Excellent.
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10/1/2020 - renatodug wrote: 92 Points
Belle couleur sombre. Nez très expressif de cuir, épices, boisé, chocolat, feuille de buis. En bouche, épices et chocolat ressortent. Tanins présents mais adoucis. Une belle surprise pour une ouverture prématurée.
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6/25/2020 - dbg wrote:
My first ever Carmes. Really interesting combination of pure ripe fruit, plenty of crisp acidity, a nice green streak, lots of grippy tannins, and a fairly long finish. No classic Pessac-Leognan gravelly/earthy notes to speak of, and it’s still vet young, but a fun drink. Will expect more in 5-10 years. Excellent.
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2/23/2020 - pavel_p Likes this wine: 92 Points
Pnp. This is already surprisingly well integrated and accessible. Medium body with good freshness, oak barely noticeable, fine to medium tannins. Nice with perhaps some upside. 92+
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11/22/2019 - whits wrote: 94 Points
Decanted 2 hours, aromas of applewood, blackberry and fresh herbs fill the glass, plush and inviting on the palate, still primary with oak taking the front line, layered, smoked berry, gravel, Thai spiced tea and pepper make up some fine nuances, this has a logical restraint about it, and holds a ton of potential, a value for now, it tastes more expensive than it is, goes well with steak, the hype might be real, time will tell
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6/21/2019 - jviz wrote: 93 Points
This bottle was fairly plush, not tight at all and after an hour of air time, the aromatics came out and it was ready to go.
Middle weight texture with notes of raspberries and cream. Not a ton of stuffing in my opinion. It’s a 10 ish year wine for me. But the fruit is bright and pure, went excellently with a cast-iron seared ribeye and goat cheese crumble. Food brought out more in this bottle
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5/15/2019 - jmoon Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tight dense and primary... brambly, blackcuerent and little imagination or real interest. Clean and lovely but unexciting... for now. I’m confident this will unwind and reveal joy. For me 91 now, 93+ in 5+ years so scored in middle.
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2/2/2019 - Wine G Likes this wine: 92 Points
Poured into a decanter and Spent some time with this one, all by itself for a few hours. The nose is incredible, all kinds of notes highlighted by some strong blueberry and cassis notes. The palate carries some of the notes, isn't thin per say, but falls a little short IMO to be elite. A very good wine overall but , I've got this more in the 90-94 range depending on your palate, versus a wine garnering 95 or over.
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12/29/2018 - hemingway23 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Damp earth followed by hints of dark red fruits. Very well balanced. Decanted for 1 hour.
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12/1/2018 - Andre Brattland wrote: 94 Points
44% Cabernet Franc, 32% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Concentrated and deep aromas with darker touches on the fruit with blackcurrant, blackberries, espresso and hot tobacco.
Full-bodied with several layers and shows a really nice charm. Blackcurrant, ripe redcurrant, blueberries, vanilla and burnt wood. Charming wine! The sweetening has been significantly reduced since August. Give this wine 10-15 years in the cellar. Very good wine.
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11/12/2018 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine: 92 Points
Surprised where the CT ratings on this are starting to cluster - this is good, but I dunno about *that* good. Opens up with classic dark-fruited Bordeaux scents, but it doesn't give away its atypical blend until you take a sip, which has that sharp cabernet franc bite clenching down on what otherwise is a satiny, flowing canvas of vivid maroon/purple fruit - ripe, but still slender in form. There's a whiff of oak toast on the nose, but it's barely evident on the palate, where the fruit is very pure. Structurally, this is much gentler and rounder than the 2014 was. The tannin is barely a factor at all and it gets its definition more from that cab franc acidity. I like this a lot better than what Carmes was doing 15-20 years ago though my persistent nit with it is that it doesn't really exhibit anything in the way of Pessac-Leognan character. If you squint you can maybe see some of that trying to poke out in the leftovers the next day, which show a bit more grit and bitterness pushing this in a somewhat more old-style direction.
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10/27/2018 - rossi.wine wrote: 95 Points
Tasted next to 2012 Les Carmes Haut Brion. Generous, spicy, lovely balance, lots of concentration and richness. Wonderful finish - vibrant, persistent, spicy, mineral. Superb. 94-95+
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7/26/2018 - DrewWongo Likes this wine:
Day 1 (Double decanted) - Fabulous nose! Pure aromatics, detected floral notes and elegant. Unfortunately, the light to medium bodied palate didn't match the nose. Was hollow and didn't want to express itself. Finish was fairly long
Day 2 - Retained the nose from Day 1. And pleasant surprise that the palate was filled. The palate felt now more medium bodied but not really complex though. But the finish improved to a long lingering finish that persists in your mouth for about 30-45 seconds.
Day 3 - Forgot to take mental notes
Final thoughts - Got most things going with a very good nose ans long finish. However, I don't find any complexity, quite 1 dimensional
* Double decanted using Menu WineBreather
* Recorked using Vacuvin stopper
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7/17/2018 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
The new team - whole bunch at 30%, 45% Franc, 30 Merlot, 25 Cabernet. THis is also the first vintage produced in the new cellar - small tanks, concrete, wood and stainless steel and every year an artist paints a concrete tank which now goes on the back label.
Again with the salty minerality on the nose and palate. They are trying to work more on the aromatics of the wines, the freshness, floral, violet, peony, which makes them very different than, say Haut Brion. Hut Brion means high of the hill. Its the name of the place they are.
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7/17/2018 - Joe Kane wrote:
Partial whole cluster, 45 cf, 30 cf, 25 cs. They lignify the stems to keep the herbal character out of the wine, but add more structure. Black fruit driven and ripe. Violet aroma, dense and rich palate. Good structure across palate.
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6/20/2018 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 92 Points
Joanne Bordeaux Trip 2018 (Bordeaux): The nose was slightly restrained, showing black raspberry fruit, with crushed stone, dark earth, minerals, and haunting florals. It was silky with depths of texture on the palate, as sour black cherry, and raspberry, backed by saline minerals washed across the senses, followed by brisk acids and round tannin. The finish was long with cheek puckering acidity and tannin forming as austere expression with lingering tart raspberry.
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6/16/2018 - rossi.wine wrote: 95 Points
Floral, spicy, pure red and black fruit on the nose. Very well balanced and already very layered and complex - lots of fruit, very polished but grippy tannins, fine acidity. Very long and spicy finish. Excellent! 94-95+
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5/31/2018 - yeti575rider wrote: 90 Points
Count me in the camp that doesn’t see what the fuss is about. Supposed to have been opened earlier in day. I thought this was thin mid palate and not overly expressive. Kind of boring. Note I was generally not impressed with the way the wines of this tasting (mostly 2015) were showing and I was huge fan of 2015 when tasted last at ugc. Honestly even a 90 is being generous today but I think this will certainly open up and improve.
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5/3/2018 - J o e wrote: 95 Points
The 2015 Carmes Haut Brion opens up with beautiful scents of freshly-picked flowers, incense, burning embers and red raspberries. Medium-bodied in the mouth, with cassis, bitter chocolate, a hint of mint and lots of minerals. It finishes very long, with serious but fine-grained tannins that make the gums quiver. This is very impressive, but will need a good decade in the cellar to be at peak. 95+.
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3/19/2018 - Weinmeister wrote: 88 Points
88,5 (88); besser?; tolle Säure; Balance
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3/19/2018 - Collector1855 wrote: 96 Points
Bordeaux 2015 in bottle (Zurich Arvi / Singapore UGCB): Polished palate also here, whole cluster notes and good freshness. Good structure, needs some time settle but boy this is polished and aromatically sophisticated. Had it a week later at a vertical dinner and the quality was more than confirmed. Then, had it again in 2020 and it was even more convincing. Very good freshness, elegant, light yet present with outstanding aromatic persistency. 96+
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3/18/2018 - Collector1855 wrote: 96 Points
Chateau Les Carmes Haut Brion vertical - Dinner with director Guillaume Pouthier (Zurich): This was denser than the 2012 and 2014 with a riper touch. Polished palate also here, whole cluster notes and good freshness. Much more structure, needs more time than those two years. Very good, can still add points from here. Stash this away till 2025 at least. I hear that 2016 is even better. 96-97
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3/12/2018 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
This is a stunner. It's hard to find a place to start. You have silky, sensuous, refined textures. A complex melange of aromatics that display smoke, oyster shell, tobacco, and fresh, ripe, just picked flowers and dark red fruits. Or perhaps you focus on the long fresh, ripe, lingering, fruit filled finish. Either way, the wine rocks! For the price this is still selling for, you should be all over this treat!
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2/14/2018 - Philippe_C wrote: 95 Points
Very nice nose of ripe black fruit, cedar wood, characoal, hint of smoke… Deliciously sappy black cherries, super soft tannins… Fabulous!!
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2/6/2018 - FransS wrote: 93 Points
UGC Tasting Amsterdam 2/5/2018; Tasted twice; the first real jump for this château (?). Creamy bouquet with dark fruit, polished, juicy; everything is very well proportioned, but the wine does not have the concentration of the top Pessacs. I wait for the second jump.
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1/29/2018 - PanosKakaviatos Likes this wine: 93 Points
Graves and Pessac Leognan from bottle: 2015 vintage (UGCB tastings in New York and Washington DC): A lovely nose precedes a rich palate, opulent, that envelopes the taster with multilayered texture. Ripe fruit, mainly dark, but not heavy, this wine exudes its Cabernet Franc driven freshness, too, with nearly 60% in the blend, with 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot.
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1/28/2018 - aero wrote: 91 Points
Fragrant, pure, rich nose of berries. Drying tannins. Far too young and shut down. Needs quite some time to develop, try again in 5-7 years.
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1/27/2018 - Purple Tooth wrote: 92 Points
2015 UGC- The long awaited day and the tales of the Euro: Cab Franc is king here..Lots of smoke, fruit, and good balance. Mid term beauty...drink or hold
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1/25/2018 - aagrawal wrote: 90 Points
UGC Bordeaux Tasting 2015 Vintage (City View, Metreon, San Francisco): 55% cab franc. Lovely balanced nose; surprisingly smooth palate. 90
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1/24/2018 - SWHighlander Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasted at a large Pop n pour tasting through Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux. 55% Cab Franc, but I would never know it. Tasted more like the traditional left bank, cab sauv dominant wines. Enjoyable, not a stand out.
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5/3/2016 - PanosKakaviatos Likes this wine:
Feeling Pessac-Léognan pizzaz, appreciating dry extract #bdx15: whites and reds (Bordeaux, actually tasted during en primeur week): Deep dark fruit nose. Silky and juicy mid palate. The oak, though prominent, seems more contained by the fruit than the other way around. The tannins ripe and smooth, palate full bodied, with a tonic finish. Another sample seemed more oak driven, with a headier finish. But given many positive reactions from fellow writers, I rely on the first sample… 92-94+
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4/23/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Minerals, flowers, sweet, ripe berries, forest floor and tobacco scents create the perfume. This wine is soft, silky and smooth with a long finish. The tannins are powerful, elegant, sophisticated and express more of a refined, saline quality in this vintage than in previous years. This wine should age extremely well with little effort. Using 45% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and vinified with 45% of the stems still intact, the wine reached 14.02% alcohol with a pH of 3.7. 90% of the wine is aging in 100% new, French oak barrels and the remainder is aging in amphora. 94 - 96 Pts
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4/21/2016 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasted @ large primeur tasting. Expressive aromatics of sweet black currant, licorice, sweet spices, dark plum, dark chocolat, and a touch of green bell pepper and herbs. It's medium-full bodied with medium-high acidity and pretty high but silky tannin. Great length. A super expressive and unique wine due to the high level of Carbernet Franc. I like it a lot! (93-95).
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