2011 Château Haut-Bailly, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
The harvest lasted from September 9 to 29.
As with the 2007, this 2011 is bursting with pleasure right now. Carefully controlled and elegant while still being juicy, allowing the tannins to tiptoe across the palate in that way Haut-Bailly does so well. Fine tannins, well-expressed cassis and blackberry fruits, with a curl of pencil lead and cool ash on the finish. The Spring of 2011 was the hottest and driest in 50 years, with only 78mm of rain falling between March and June, balanced out by a cool and rather wet July and August, and then a warm September allowing good ripening window but keeping this rather elegant savoury fruit frame.
Drink 2021 - 2040
Jane Anson, Decanter.com (July 2020)
Tasted at the Haut-Bailly vertical at the château.
The 2011 Haut-Bailly has a much more conservative bouquet than the previous two vintages: pretty black, earthy fruit mingling with cedar and tobacco, though it does not possess enormous vigour. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, balsamic infused black fruit. it is grippy towards the finish but missing the amplitude of a truly great Haut-Bailly. This has its ankles tied together by the growing season.
Drink 2021 - 2032
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (April 2022)
The saturated ruby/purple-hued 2011 Haut-Bailly exhibits a glorious, subtle, noble set of aromatics consisting of red and black currants, sweet cherries, graphite, truffles and a faint hint of wood spice. The wine hits the palate with the profound elegance and purity that have become so much a characteristic under Wilmers and Sanders. Still youthful, with good acidity and freshness, this brilliant, medium-bodied 2011 needs another 4-5 years of bottle age, and should evolve effortlessly for 20-25 years.
Drink 2018 - 2043
Robert M. Parker, Jr., Wine Advocate (April 2014)
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc.
Deep red colour to the rim. Slight reticence initially then opens to blackberry and blackcurrant notes. The palate is juicy and refreshing and the tannins are present but well-handled. Minerally, stone-sucking character typical of Graves. Firm, dry and harmonious on the finish. My preference over 2012 today.
James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com (August 2020)
Wow. The nose is wonderfully aromatic, with currants, blackberries, and lilacs. The body is full but refined and beautiful. The quality of the tannins is exceptional—so fine. The finish has lovely austerity and tension.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (October 2012)
There are graphite and stone scents. The palate has black rather than red fruits, dense tannins, and plenty of smoky complexity.
Drink 2016 - 2028
Andrew Jefford, Decanter.com
The 2011 Château Haut-Bailly has tough shoes to fill following the 2009 and 2010, yet it's clearly an outstanding wine. More medium-bodied, focused, and firm, yet with a complex, layered style, it shows the tannins on the vintage, but the overall balance here is spot on, and it has beautiful purity of fruit. It's not one to hide away in the cellar, but it will unquestionably evolve gracefully over the coming decade.
Drink 2023 - 2033
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (October 2023)
About this WINE
Chateau Haut-Bailly
Château Haut-Bailly is a Graves Cru Classé estate that has really hit form in the last 5-7 years. Haut-Bailly was bought by the Sanders family in 1955 and was run by Jean Sanders until 1998 when Robert G. Wilmers, an American banker, purchased it. It is located in the commune of Léognan, which is usually more associated with white wine production.
Haut-Bailly has 28 hectares of vineyards which are very well sited on high, gravelly ground just east of Léognan village. The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (65%), Merlot (25%) and Cabernet Franc (10%). It is matured in small oak barriques (50% new) for 15 months and is bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Ch. Haut-Bailly makes small quantities of a rosé from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, preferring to use the single varietal to maintain freshness in the blend. The wine is fermented 1/3 in new oak barrels and 2/3 in stainless steel at 16°C.
Haut-Bailly is renowned for its smoothness and silkiness but, since the mid 1990s, the wines have better depth of fruit as well as more grip, concentration and body. They are now amongst the top echelons of Pessac-Léognan wines.
Pessac-Leognan
In 1986 a new communal district was created within Graves, in Bordeaux, based on the districts of Pessac and Léognan, the first of which lies within the suburbs of the city. Essentially this came about through pressure from Pessac-Léognan vignerons, who wished to disassociate themselves from growers with predominately sandy soils further south in Graves.
Pessac-Léognan has the best soils of the region, very similar to those of the Médoc, although the depth of gravel is more variable, and contains all the classed growths of the region. Some of its great names, including Ch. Haut-Brion, even sit serenely and resolutely in Bordeaux's southern urban sprawl.
The climate is milder than to the north of the city and the harvest can occur up to two weeks earlier. This gives the best wines a heady, rich and almost savoury character, laced with notes of tobacco, spice and leather. Further south, the soil is sandier with more clay, and the wines are lighter, fruity and suitable for earlier drinking.
Recommended Châteaux: Ch. Haut-Brion, Ch. la Mission Haut-Brion, Ch. Pape Clément, Ch Haut-Bailly, Domaine de Chevalier, Ch. Larrivet-Haut-Brion, Ch. Carmes Haut-Brion, Ch. La Garde, Villa Bel-Air.
Cabernet Sauvignon blend
Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.
In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.
In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and Australia.
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Description
Absolutely brilliant - again! The charming Veronique Sanders and the team at Château Haut-Bailly have done it once more. In a vintage where all the châteaux had to craft their babies and contend with more than problematic growing conditions, Château Haut-Bailly has come out almost on top of the pile, surpassing several First Growths in quality. Sadly, the rigorous selection needed to make the Grand Vin so Grand will have a staggering effect on supply this year in an already tiny production.
Incredible intensity and deep red and black fruit, with the finest tannins of the vintage coating the palate. It has precision, grace, complexity, and power, with an outstanding richness that fills the mouth completely. Better than 2009 or 2010? It sits between the two, with the power of 2009 and the finesse of 2010. It's a real must-have. Heavenly happiness!
Berry Bros. & Rudd
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