2018 Château Haut-Bailly

Community Tasting Notes (13) Avg Score: 94.3 points

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  10/30/2022 - cebarthes wrote:

  A OUBLIER

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  11/25/2021 - wineappellation wrote: 88 Points

  Dried violet, lavender, smoke and tobacco, savoury. A bit disjointed and lean. Might just need time.

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  8/13/2021 - HFLED Likes this wine: 93 Points

  2 hour decant, from a 375.
  
  Very dark garnet. Muted nose with just some black cherry, dust, and red currant. Palate has that classic mix of red cassis, earth, pipe tobacco, and crushed rock. Pleasant finish though not super long.
  
  Wine is very tannic, though has a ton of acidity for a 2018 (I’ve had 1-2 that have been flabby), which keeps the wine relatively fresh. That said, not as much tension as you’d typically see in a young Bordeaux.
  
  This is definitely relatively modern for Haut Bailly, though it’s by no means overripe. Will need 15 years or more for the tannins to settle out and then will be something quite complex and pleasant.

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  8/4/2021 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine: 94 Points

  By far the most packed and stacked Haut-Bailly I have ever had, which explains the pointgasms you are seeing from certain quarters. If you are accustomed to the lithe, ethereal house style that distinguished Haut-Bailly for, oh, a good century or so until recently, tasting this will make you wistful and maybe even a little bit sad. Still, I can't deny how impressive it is in its own way and under any other label I wouldn't have mixed feelings about it. It opens with plump black fruit that feels as dense as tar with a scorched, charcoal-singed element that screams Pessac. With a little bit of time some crunchier red fruit emerges in the treble band. If the old Haut-Baillys were rendered in gentle watercolor strokes, this one is a big wet splotch of Midnight Black oil paint dripping off the canvas. Well, truth be told it is not as sloppy as it may sound from that description but it definitely struggles to find its contours and hew to them. The tannin is a fine powder but the sheer volume it's infused with to remain proportionate to its fruit concentration imposes some physical limitations on its claims to finesse. If the mood strikes for something deep and intense, this can be enjoyed now for the way it expresses its Graves character in poster-sized boldface but if you want to see it mellow out even a little bit I think you will have to sign up for an aging cycle that might not be entirely compatible with many buyers' actuarial tables.

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  6/21/2021 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 91 Points

  Amsterdam UGCB Tasting (Amstel Boathouse, Amsterdam, NL): A generous and ripe style for Haut-Bailly, quite spicy and warm, not the most refined of tannic textures, tight and dry finish.

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View all 13 Community Tasting Notes

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