Château Haut-Brion
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A bottle of the 1990 Haut-Brion |
Château Haut-Brion is a
First Growth in the
Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. It is one of the most expensive and prestigious wines in France. It is located in
Pessac, Graves just one mile (2 km) from the city of
Bordeaux. The
vineyard consists of 109 acres (441,000 m²) producing 12,000 to 15,000 cases of wine each year. Located in the
Graves region, it was the only non-
Medoc estate to be included in the famous 1855 classification.
Although grapes are thought to have been grown on the property since Roman times, the earliest document indicating cultivation of a parcel of land dates from 1423.[
1] Bordeaux's first internationally acclaimed winemaking estate, Château Haut-Brion dates back to
1525 when
Jean de Pontac married
Jeanne de Bellon, who brought to him in her dowry the land of Haut-Brion. Illustrious owners have marked Haut-Brion for more than four centuries: admirals, an archbishop, a Grand Marshal of France, a Governor of
Guyenne, three mayors of Bordeaux,
Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord (at the time he was Minister of Relations for the Consulate), and more recently the Ambassador of the United States in Paris,
C. Douglas Dillon, who was also Minister of Finance in the U.S. when
J.F. Kennedy was president. Today, the
Duchesse de Mouchy, granddaughter of Clarence Dillon, is chairperson of the public limited company of "Domaine Clarence Dillon". Today, Haut-Brion is the only first-growth to be
American-owned.
In the 1960s, Haut-Brion was the first of the great growths to innovate with new stainless steel fermentation vats.
Château Haut-Brion is planted with 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc. Average age of vines is 30 years.
The Grand Vin at Chateau Haut-Brion is fermented in stainless steel vats and aged in new oak barrels for 24 to 27 months, and clarified with six egg whites per barrel. The winemaking is managed by
Jean-Philippe Delmas, who believes in a controlled but rather hot, short fermentation.
The wine has a complex bouquet of ripe fruit, tobacco and mineral, earthy scents. The wine is rich, ripe, medium to full-bodied and well structured. A wine that seems to balance power and elegance, richness and harmony perfectly. It goes very well with beef, lamb, veal and game.
Diarist
Samuel Pepys (who called it "Ho-Bryan"), Philosopher
John Locke, Cardinal
Richelieu and U.S. President
Thomas Jefferson all wrote about the special quality of wine produced at Haut-Brion.
*Château Haut-Brion competed against nine other red wines in the historic
Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, where it ranked number four.
*In the
Ottawa Wine Tasting of 1981, it ranked last in the field of 13.
*In the
Wine Spectator Wine Tasting of 1986, it finished last in the competition among ten red wines.
*In the
French Culinary Institute Wine Tasting of 1986, it finished last in the field of 10.
*In
The Wine Rematch of the Century, it ranked number 8 in the field of ten.
*
French Wine*
Bordeaux wine*
Château Haut-Brion*Taber, George M.
Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the historic 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine. NY: Scribner, 2005.
