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 Vintage1989 Label 1 of 43 
TypeRed
ProducerChâteau Haut-Brion (web)
VarietyRed Bordeaux Blend
Designationn/a
Vineyardn/a
CountryFrance
RegionBordeaux
SubRegionGraves
AppellationPessac-Léognan

Community Tasting History

Community Tasting Notes (average 97.1 pts. and median of 98 pts. in 61 notes)

 Tasted by vinojones on 8/17/2009 & rated 98 points: dark red; rich plum, blackberry/ cassis nose, with some woody scents, some slate, lead pencil notes, not too forward seems refined; sweet fruit, same palate and boquet as nose promises. Seamless wine, no rough edges, no hurry to drink this wine- easily 20 yrs to go,
Lively finish as if everything the wine had was not showing- not a passive wine. (1384 views)
 Tasted by phenricsson on 7/22/2009 & rated 90 points: 100 point dinner in Sweden. Great fill, perfect cork, looked great but surprisingly, this was not a really good bottle. Looked the most mature with very ripe and mature flavors but tasted thin and dried out. Surprisingly it actually filled out and improved somewhat over time, but still a bit dried out with lots of tannins and acidity but not enough body and sweetness. 90?. (1315 views)
 Tasted by sdr on 7/18/2009 & rated 94 points: Not quite up to the very best bottles of this monumental wine, the '89 Haut Brion is still majestic even when slightly off the pace. Youthful color with no orange. The classic HB aroma of hickory smoke, warm brick and dark red fruit hovers above the glass. Deep, rich and satisfying with good acidity. The very best bottles are even more intense, but no one was complaining. (1787 views)
 Tasted by sphBacchus on 7/5/2009 & rated 99 points: the trouble and strife's 50th birthday treat consumed at a dinner with 8 of us - drunk after the '59 Vigne de L'Enfant Jesus . We went to heaven for a couple of hours - can wine get any better ? (1864 views)
 Tasted by Richard Jennings on 6/19/2009 flawed bottle: Richard and Sandy's Round Robin Dinner (Chablis, Tignanellos, Musars and '89 Bordeaux) (Chez TJ, Mountain View, California): I was so looking forward to this bottle, as I've long loved this vintage of HB. Unfortunately this particular bottle had both brett and TCA. Dark red violet color; brett, TCA and roast beef nose; tasty, tart black fruit, graphite and brett on palate, so not showing at all what this wine is capable of when not TCA afflicted; medium-plus finish (2122 views)
 Tasted by noppakit s. on 6/3/2009 & rated 100 points: The most clean cork for 20 years old wine !!!

My WOTN and I won't talk in details.

Friends, you must feel the legend by yourself.

Plenty of flavors, layers, perfect balance, very long sensational finished.

One of the truly best wine in the world !!!
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" Every little thing she does is magic "

Look what it has done to me...................2011 - 2036...................... (2251 views)
 Tasted by JJL on 5/2/2009 & rated 95 points: The Big "Four-O": 40+ Wines for 40 Years: I really thought this was going to be the WOTN going into this, but it got beat by a few others. It appeared to be somewhat shut down and was more burgundian this night than the bruiser of a wine I recalled from previous tastings. Quite a contrast to the bottle of '90 HB, I had a few months ago that was just singing from start to finish. Group #3 of the blind tasting. (2844 views)
 Tasted by rnfinley on 4/21/2009 & rated 95 points: (2496 views)
 Tasted by rsepulve on 3/9/2009 flawed bottle: Oxidized. Poor storage at some point prior to getting into my cellar. Another reminder of the risks of buying at auction. (3669 views)
 Tasted by Roland Knecht on 12/24/2008 & rated 100 points: (3125 views)
 Tasted by Roland Knecht on 12/24/2008 & rated 100 points: (3119 views)
 Tasted by sdr on 8/23/2008 & rated 91 points: For me this generous offering from Hugh to the HB/LMHB comparison tasting we did at Riley McDermott's was slightly disappointing. Perhaps the fact that it was a little too warm caused it to be more diffuse and less intense that this wine can be, since it's almost routinely spectacular. Not that it's average or bad; it's clearly a big boy for Haut Brion without losing the inimitable elegance of the property. Yet I kept hoping for more and I preferred the '82 HB we had along with it although mine was probably the minority opinion. (4129 views)
 Tasted by ChillyWino on 6/18/2008 & rated 99 points: We poured this into the decanter immediately upon arriving at the restaurant and poured a small taste for ourselves. The nose just shot out of the glass; tobacco, spice, cherry, cedar, and more. In a word, WOW. The first sip was great, nose follows through on the palate and it struck me as one of the most put together and seamless wines I've ever had. Incredible feel and finish. We set aside for about 30 minutes and poured a full glass. It actually seemed to have closed down since our initial taste. We continued to drink over the next 2 hours and at about the 90 minute mark it really opened back up and was singing. Everything from the first smell and taste was there and then some. this wine is just at the beginning of it's drinking window. If you are going to open one, give it 1 1/2 -2 hours in the decanter. An incredible wine that will be hard to beat. (4819 views)
 Tasted by Richard Jennings on 4/18/2008 & rated 96 points: Haut Brion & La Mission Haut Brion Tasting Dinner (Martin Weiner's home in Westwood, Los Angeles, California): Medium red violet color with pale to clear meniscus; mature, redolent, berry and cassis nose; lovely, thoughtful, profound, tart cassis, beef jus, tart plum palate with herbal notes and great structure; long finish (2790 views)
 Tasted by gsquireh on 4/15/2008: Wine and Food Society of New York annual BYOB (Steve Hanson's Primehouse, NYC) (3911 views)
 Tasted by Eric on 11/21/2007 & rated 100 points: A decadent 30th birthday for Justin Wells (Sammamish, WA): I wasn't scoring on this night, but this wine was obvious. Decanted for about 45 minutes. OMFG and my clear wine of the night. Just unconscious stuff. Smoky chicory, unreal mineral, a sweet core of pure Bordeaux elixir, what else could you want? Sage, soaring cherry, graphite, this is just a baby, but it is so delicious, approachable, vibrant and complex. After a few hours it started to tighten up and strut its unreal structure. This is a wine that my grandchildren will likely enjoy if they are lucky, but it's already so beautiful that it's haunting. A true legend. (8923 views)
 Tasted by La Turque on 11/6/2007 & rated 99 points: This is as close as a wine gets to perfect. (8162 views)
 Tasted by La Turque on 11/5/2007 & rated 97 points: Drinking beautifully. Sweet, balanced, rich, a little atypical of Graves, but full of hedonistic pleasure. (8167 views)
 Tasted by Alpine on 10/17/2007 & rated 97 points: Amazing nose and structure with outstanding length....Drank as part of a vertical of HB during my DOV group tasting at the Wine & Cheese Place in Clayton, MO. (8177 views)
 Tasted by gorm on 9/28/2007 & rated 99 points: Uncorked DK tasting: 1989/1990 Bordeaux (Kenneth): Dark red with a slightly brown rim. The nose is very intense, dark and herbal with a bit of mint and lots of pepper. In the mouth this instantly reveals itself as an amazing wine, from the second it enters and to the second it leaves (which it almost never does) it is virtually seamless with nothing sticking out, nothing to detract from the experience of a great wine. The length is unbelievable - at least 2-3 minutes. I actually gave this 98 points at first. After having later tasted two more perfectly eligible candidates for a perfect score (Troplong Mondot 1990 and Margaux 1990) I had to go back and revise. It "only" gets 99+ however as I didn't get that certain inexplicable 100! feeling, but it's certainly among the 3-5 best wines I have ever had. (8782 views)
 Tasted by amred on 6/23/2007 & rated 98 points: Drank our second bottle in a blind tasting of "favorite wines". Had been decanted one hour only. The nose was classic...nothing to be improved on in any way. The wine is maturing...just a touch of brick around the edges. The wine is perfect. We had another 1989 Bordeaux (Angelus) in this tasting..it had more fruit, more forward, but the Haut Brion was the classic, perfect Bordeaux. The cedar, leather, lead pencil was very evident, the fruit was solid and the tannins softening. Can't really add to it. I assume, believe it will last for decades. (9657 views)
 Tasted by ewsb on 5/18/2007 & rated 100 points: Charityworks - 100 point wine dinner: Smooth - I would have thought it was older than a 1989. (4583 views)
 Tasted by MRichman on 5/7/2007: Haut Brion Vertical at Craft in NYC (Craft restaurant, NYC): Wow. Young, but delicious. Lots of tobacco, very complex. Great punch. Will improve with some age but the outlines of the great wine it will become are easily evident, and I think it will become an A+. My WOTN.
A/A+ (9924 views)
 Tasted by Keith Levenberg on 5/7/2007 & rated 98 points: Haut-Brion Vertical (Craft): The aroma of this isn't loud, but it's different, bordering on exotic and picking up cocoa and coffee grounds with air. The first impression the wine makes on the palate is with its finesse and roundness, like a grand cru Burgundy. And just as you begin to savor that you can feel the wine expanding in size and density. So dynamic, it unfolds in real-time. It's the biggest wine of the flight and the blackest in profile, but also the most elegant. I guess that's how it became the legend. (10421 views)
 Tasted by DelYap on 4/25/2007 & rated 95 points: Dinner at Ray's; Older Burgs, Bordeaux and Italian (Vancouver, BC): This was from Ray's cellar and I know he likes it cold, but this wine was ridiculous. Acquired on release and stored since this wine tasted like it was bottled only a few years ago. Powerful wine full of cedar and tobacco notes. This didn't last long for the nose to really open up as we popped and poured. (10395 views)
 Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine...

Professional 'Channels'
By Lyle Fass
Rockss and Fruit (3/20/2007)
(Chateau Haut Brion) This was just amazing wine and one of the best Bordeaux I have ever had. My first time with this legendary wine. I was expecting to be hit over the head but instead I got a back massage. Delmas' masterpiece as Dave so aptly put it. Defines the whole cerebral element of Haut-Brion with one sniff. Just a cacophany of Haut-Brion goodness seamlessly presented. Tobacco, spice, gravel, mineral, cassis, cherries, cedar, tweed but in such a refined package. Palate had an amazing texture and wonderful acidity which made it come alive on your palate. So elegant and ripe but the harmony here is what separates it from the pack. The finish is brillant and lip-smacking and soooooo long. A masterpiece no matter how you look at it.
By John Kapon
Vintage Tastings, A Double Dose of Angry Man Action (3/7/2005)
(Haut Brion) I wonder how many times I am going to have this wine, I thought, and settled on 100 times as a goal. I have already had it at least a dozen times if not more, and it continues to be one of the all-time greats&for a young wine, that is. Mike noted .lots of spearmint,. and it was minty but also long, smooth and earthy, full of leather and alcohol. The wine was amazing: great, long, spicy and intense  98 points
By John Kapon
Vintage Tastings, Hanging with Mr. Parker and Mr. Squires in Baltimore and D.C (2/21/2005)
(Haut Brion) was a sleeping lion in the nose, majestic yet reticent. There were aromas of cassis, pencil, earth, meat, leather and exotic banana. Loads of t .n a were also present in its regal nose and came out with aeration but still remained reined in like a Triple Crown winner. The wine was so young yet so fabulously long on the finish with its earth, length and style. It is still one of the all-time greats  98 points
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vintage Tastings and Rockss and Fruit. (manage subscription channels)

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The variety Red Bordeaux Blend on CellarTracker implies any blend using any or all of the five traditional Bordeaux varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. As such, this is used worldwide, whether for wines from Bordeaux, Meritages from California and Canada, some Super-Tuscan wines etc.
Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Vins Bordeaux (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux) | Simple Bordeaux primer


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