2023 Haut-Bailly II, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
Carefully balanced, with precision, cloves, fennel, dried fruits, joyful and vibrant, with savoury black fruits, moreish and delicious. 40hl/h yield. Includes the vines from Le Pape for the second year (and from now on).
Drink 2027 - 2038
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com (April 2024)
The 2023 Haut-Bailly II is a blend of 64% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc, picked from September 11 and 29. It has quite a potent bouquet with perfumed black fruit, touches of dark chocolate and mint, well-defined and focused. The palate is framed by powdery tannins and nicely balanced with gentle grip. There's moderate depth and a touch of white pepper toward the finish, actually gaining cohesion in the glass. The 2023 will need two or three years in bottle.
Drink 2027 - 2038
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (April 2024)
The 2023 Haut-Bailly II is soft, open-knit and very pretty. I am almost shocked by how accessible the II is today. Then again, I tasted it on a warm, very sunny day, ideal conditions for tasting wines from barrel. Crushed flowers, spice, mint, dried herbs and rose petal are all very nicely lifted. Silky tannins add to the wine's considerable charm.
Drink 2028 - 2043
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (April 2024)
A blend of 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 64% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2023 Haut-Bailly II has a pH of 3.75. It is deep garnet-purple in color and it leaps from the glass with energetic notes of crushed Bing cherries, juicy raspberries, and strawberry preserves, giving way to hints of cumin seed, Sichuan pepper, mossy tree bark, and black olives. The medium-bodied palate is velvety and juicy, with a great concentration of mid-palate fruit and a spicy finish.
Drink 2027 - 2037
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent (May 2024)
64% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc. Cask sample.
Round, broad with hedgerow notes, the Merlot distinctive (contains quite a bit from the former Le Pape vineyard). Sweet and gourmand on the palate. A little warm but has freshness as well. Powdery tannins on the finish. Shouldn’t need to wait too long but the longevity can often surprise.
Drink 2027 - 2038
James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com (April 2024)
Aromas of cassis, mulberries, violet and dark wild berries characterized this elegant, gourmand and fresh 2023 Haut-Bailly II. This is a blend of 64% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc matured 30% in new oak and the rest in one- to two-year-old barrels.
Drink 2025 - 2035
Yohan Castaing, Wine Advocate (April 2024)
This is very structured for the second wine, a chewy and layered red with lots of blackberry and blackcurrant character. It's medium- to full-bodied, creamy and layered with a long finish. Muscular and flexing. Serious for a second wine. More tannic than 2022. 64% merlot, 34% cabernet sauvignon and 2% cabernet franc.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (April 2024)
Fragrant nose, really quite floral - rose, violets and peonies on the nose with raspberry and red cherry. Soft and suave, this has a silky elegance to it. Tannins are a little powdery, giving some structure, and just take over the fruit, bit this has ripe fruit and a minty, fresh undercurrent which keeps the lift all the way through. Plus this feels like it has depth. A great second wine, more body than some, a chew and soft sweetness that is nice. It’s a little light overall, but very Haut-Bailly esque, elegant with some wood spice, cedar and bitter liquorice on the finish. 3.75pH. Ageing 12 months, 30% new oak.
Drink 2027 - 2038
Georgina Hindle, Decanter (April 2024)
The second wine from this great château, the 2023 Château Haut-Bailly II is based 64% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc, resting in 30% new barrels, representing 35% of the total production. Ripe black cherries, currants, tobacco, spice box, and floral notes all emerge on the nose, and it's beautifully balanced, medium-bodied, and elegant on the palate, with ripe, polished tannins.
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (May 2024)
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-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.
Merlot/Cabernet Franc
Merlot and Cabernet Franc are grape varieties commonly used in Bordeaux-style blends, particularly in the Bordeaux region of France. When these two grapes are blended, they can create a wine that combines the best characteristics of each variety.
Merlot is known for its smoothness, soft tannins, and ripe fruit flavours. It often contributes black cherry, plum, and chocolate flavours to the blend. The grapes are relatively easy to grow and ripen earlier than other Bordeaux varieties, making them versatile for blending.
Cabernet Franc, on the other hand, adds structure, depth, and complexity to the blend. It typically brings aromas of red fruits such as raspberry and strawberry, along with herbal notes like bell pepper and tobacco. These grapes have thinner skins and can be more challenging to cultivate, requiring specific growing conditions to reach their full potential.
When Merlot and Cabernet Franc are combined, the result is a well-balanced wine with various flavours and aromas. The blend often exhibits a Bordeaux wine's medium to full body, along with a smooth texture and moderate tannins. The specific flavour profile can vary depending on the proportions of each grape in the blend and the terroir and winemaking techniques employed.
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.
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Description
Blend: 64% Merlot; 34% Cabernet Sauvignon; 2% Cabernet Franc.
Merlot reacted well to the heat of the vintage, according to the property; it once again finds itself the dominant variety here. Haut-Bailly II is made from a selection of younger vines, and this year sees 30% new oak. It feels remarkably accessible even tasting at this very early stage, with racy acidity and a well-defined fruit profile. This is a very well-poised, pretty and elegant Haut-Bailly II. Stylistically, it shares many similarities with the grand vin. Drink 2026 - 2038
Our score: 16.5/20
Berry Bros. & Rudd
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