December 16, 2022 - Three our decant and still shy at the beginning. Opened up more after a couple of hours.
Still quite youthful for an 05 with lots of notes of fresh fruit - cassis and blackberry - and some herbaceous and floral notes.
The use of new oak is evident but not overbearing. Vanilla and chocolate stand out.
Some tertiary notes emerging, leather, bacon, a bit of forest floor and a fair amount of blackberry jam.
Chalky tannins that can still soften but which are not too overbearing.
Overall, though this wine will likely continue to develop nicely, it doesn't have the underlying intensity to have a long-lived maturity. Peak drinking, with a rapid decline to follow, likely in the next 5-7 years.
November 23, 2022 - 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: Medium expressive nose, green bell pepper, minerality but no charm, not enough fruit. Better on the palate with red and dark red fruit, some coffee notes, some blue fruit, herbs and minerality. Overall a bit light and quite short but with fairly fine tannins, high but well-integrated acidity and good finesse and balance. This is a very solid wine with a beautiful aromatic expression on the attack as the highlight. In this flight it could not compete with the fabolous Mission.
Decanting: 1-2 hours should help to open it up.
July 17, 2022 - Still quite tannic, could use another 5-10 years but was drinakable now with a 2 hour decant and some aeration.
June 30, 2022 - Purchased as futures and stored at 55 degrees. Decanted 45 minutes ahead. Classic Graves with scorched earth and black fruits on the nose. Plenty of earth, tobacco and graphite along with blackberry and cassis on the palate. The wine evolved more than a 2003 Calon Segur and 2000 Leoville Barton over the course of several hours but still had a nice tannin/acid balance. I will drink my remaining 2 over the next 5-7 years..93 points
February 13, 2022 - Gorgeous Bordeaux drinking well. Still relatively young, but hard to imagine it any better in the future. 1.5 hour decant seemed just right. red fruit forward with lush cherries dominating the palate and nose. Just a touch of barnyard on the bouquet and plenty of tertiary flavors blending in harmony. I didn't log what I paid for this but it has to be a real bargain.
January 25, 2022 - Vibrant, bright. Drinking very well
December 10, 2020 - Pnp. Still bright in the glass with a nose of tobacco leaf. Leisurely enjoyed over 2.5 hours, and a good wine to have with food. The lushness faded later and the finish sharpened a bit. Still a very nice wine, paid $80 and it doesn’t quite meet its price....
November 18, 2020 - Amazing wine. Highly concentrated and extracted, not your typical bordeaux. Somewhat vegetal and I got a LOT of green pepers. The wine is extremely similar to a Don Melchor from Chile. Not your typical Bordeaux but also you will never think its a Napa blend. I loved the wine and I think that it is close to its peak. Very elegant
September 7, 2020 - Coravined a glass last night. Needed about 2 hours to open then was in a perfect spot. No rush here but with a proper decant you will be well rewarded.
August 1, 2020 - Very much the same notes as 6 years ago. The tanning softened nicely even though you can still feel it. The same fruit is still there to balance the weight and tannin. Very enjoyable and balanced. Loved to see it evolved the way I expected it to. A great wine in the making. It shall still get better from here.