2012 Château Haut-Bailly, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

2012 Château Haut-Bailly, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

Product: 20128006996
Prices start from £335.00 per case Buying options
2012 Château Haut-Bailly, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
Case format
Availability
Price per case
12 x 75cl bottle
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £630.00
BBX marketplace BBX 2 cases £650.00
New To BBX
New To BBX
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £680.00
New To BBX
New To BBX
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £680.00
BBX marketplace BBX 2 cases £680.00
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6 x 75cl bottle
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £335.00
New To BBX
New To BBX
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £350.00
3 x 150cl magnum
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £325.00
1 x 1800cl melchior
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £2,000.00
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Description

Not many châteaux in Bordeaux are blessed with as fine a terroir and a chatelaine as exquisite as Véronique Sanders, but Ch. Haut-Bailly has both. Véronique mentioned that after the highs of 2009 (£450.00/6) and 2010 (£516.00/6), she wanted to get her 2012 back within the reach of buyers perhaps ‘priced-out’ as well as attract some new ones.

The 2012 is a commendable reduction on the 2011 (£294.00/6) – and it is a very fine Ch. Haut Bailly indeed. It has great depth, and a warmth, but with structure there too , with all that old-vine intensity and classis Graves freshness that makes this one of the few Bordeaux to consider every vintage. It will take on more volume in time and prove as rewarding as any Haut-Bailly of the last 15 years. For me it is one of the wines of the vintage (true, it always is..).
Tom Cave Cellar Plan Manager

Possessing a warm and heavy coco content, Ch. Haut-Bailly has a dark, rich, chocolate nose which is outstanding and lures you in like a siren. It has a sumptuous, unctuousness texture and weight which would hint at a far more decadent year. I am not quite sure how Véronique and her team have pulled off yet another superlative wine that once again out-performs several of the First Growths, but I am delighted that she has. It was one of the most striking wines we tasted in Bordeaux; all we need now is a little bit of corrective pricing and it will be an essential case to add to our cellars.
Simon Staples, Asia Director

wine at a glance

Delivery and quality guarantee

Critics reviews

Wine Advocate94/100
The 2012 Haut Bailly is a brilliant wine for the vintage. It has a very intense bouquet with scents of blackberry, bilberry, cedar and a touch of pencil lead. This is very well defined and focused. The palate is medium-bodied with quite firm tannin, certainly one of the most structured Pessac-Lognan wines that I have encountered, yet it is struck through with wonderful balance and focus. It tightens up a little on the finish, a 2012 built for long-term drinking pleasure, and as such, I would afford it five or six more years in bottle if wishing to experience this in full flight. Tasted March 2017.
Neal Martin - 28/07/2017 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW16.5+/20
Dark with a purple rim. Lifted, appetising nose. Racy and flattering even if without enormous concentration. Flattering mouthfeel. No rusticity here! Though perhaps a little alcohol on the dry, slightly angular finish. A menthol note.
Jancis Robinson - jancisrobinson.com - April 2013 Read more
Wine Spectator90-93/100
Very pure, with dusty cherry, plum and cassis fruit flavors, featuring a suave finish threaded with warm stone and licorice notes. Shows solid length for the vintage. Tasted non-blind.
James Molesworth, Wine Spectator, April 8 2013 Read more
Robert Parker91-93/100
While the 2012 Haut-Bailly is not as powerful or rich as the 2009 and 2010, it is classically elegant, racy and noble. This medium-bodied effort is the poster child for elegance, finesse, balance and equilibrium. The Cantemerle of Pessac-Leognan? Its deep ruby/plum/purple color is followed by a sweet nose of black cherries, black currants, lead pencil shavings and a touch of spicy oak. This medium-bodied, pretty wine will benefit from 4-5 years of cellaring and last for two decades.

The grand vin has been impressive under the administration of Veronique Sanders and her boss, Robert Wilmers, who has given her carte blanche to do whatever is necessary.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate #206 - Apr 2013 Read more
Decanter17.5+/20
Superb colour, fine depth of earthy fruit, slightly green now, but natural richness and fragrance for a very good future. Read more

About this WINE

Chateau Haut-Bailly

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.

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Pessac-Léognan

Pessac-Léognan

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.

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Cabernet Sauvignon blend

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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When is a wine ready to drink?

We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.

Not ready

These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.

Ready - youthful

These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.

Ready - at best

These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.

Ready - mature

These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.