Chateau Les Carmes Haut Brion 2021

JAMES SUCKLING: "The texture and weight make this wine classy and unique with subtle berries, chocolate, bark and hints of cloves and dried flowers. Graphite. Medium- to full-bodied with very integrated, fine and lightly chewy tannins with lots of polish and focus. Juicy and crunchy. So much spice and earth. Average vine age of the cabernet franc is 80 years. 45% whole-bunch. 40% cabernet franc, 35% cabernet sauvignon and 25% merlot. Give this time, but it’s already a fascinating young wine. Try after 2027."

DECANTER: "A gorgeous aromatic display draws you in: crystalline, floral with iris, peony and violet, herbal, earthy and fruity. Sumptuous, this is a classy wine, beautifully smooth but with powdery tannins that give grip and intensity to the structure. It’s grippy at the moment, not as ethereal or silky as some right now, but it’s characterful with power, all while being nuanced and detailed. Charming but still yet to fully come out of its shell. Crunchy, great energy and focus with salty minerality on the finish. This will be a beauty."

LISA PERROTTI-BROWN: "A blend of 45% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 20% Merlot, Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2021 has a pH of 3.6. 55% whole bunches were used and it spent two years in barrel, which is four months longer than usual. It has an opaque garnet-purple color and it bursts from the glass with vivacious notes of redcurrant jelly, black cherry preserves, and black raspberries, followed by hints of garrigue, wild thyme, cast-iron pan, and dusty soil, with a touch of roses. The medium-bodied palate delivers intense red and black fruit layers, with a sturdy frame of tightly knit, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. With a structure and intensity like this, it should age slowly over the next 30-40 years+, which is an anomaly for this generally earlier drinking vintage."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "With a spicy, savory edge to the red fruits in the nose, you also find a plethora of singed herbs, cigar wrapper, flowers, and cedar in the perfume. The red fruits on the palate are fresh, vibrant, elegant, refined, and salty, almost as if the berries were brined. The long finish has a hint of cocoa, chalk, oyster shells, and savory-tinted red fruits, with olives that come in on the up-beat, backend. The wine was made using 45% whole bunch clusters during fermentation. From a blend of 40% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot, 13.5% ABV, pH 3.6. The wine is aging in a combination of 70% new, French oak, 20% foudres, and 10% amphora. Drink from 2025-2050."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2021 Les Carmes Haut-Brion has turned out beautifully in bottle, though it is more introverted and brooding than it appeared during en primeur tastings, unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries mingled with spices, loamy soil, licorice, rose petals, gentian and black pepper. Medium to full-bodied, deep and seamless, with a concentrated core of fruit framed by ripe but abundant structuring tannins and bright acids, it concludes with a long, palate-staining finish. As readers may remember, it's a blend of 40% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot."

WEINWISSER: "Dunkle Farbe. Offensive, kirschsaftige Fruchtkomponente in der Nase, ganz frisch und einladend, feinwürzig, zimtig und mit frischen Kräutern ausgestattet. Tinte, Teer und feine, blumige Nuancen in der Kopfnote. Satt und samtig beginnt der Les Carmes Haut-Brion auf der Zunge, ist ganz transparent und finessenreich arrangiert. Tiefgründig und komplex kommen die bis zu 99 Jahre alten Cabernet- Franc-Reben in der weitgefassten Struktur mit ihrer transparenten Würze und massiven Fülle durch. Dicht gewoben und in einem Strang, bilden sich die feinen, leicht rauen Gerbstoffe am Gaumen ab. Sehr komplex und konzentriert, mit viel dunkelbeerigem Nachhall, in dem auch schwarzer Tee und frische Pflaumen sowie feine Bitterschokolade mitschwingen. Sehr festfleischig, wird das lange frisch bleiben. Ein großer und wie immer eigenständiger Les Carmes."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Angenehme Kräuterwürze, schwarze Herzkirschen, ein Hauch von Pflaumen, zart nach Minze und kandierten Orangenzesten, attraktives Bukett. Komplex, straff, dunkle Beerenfrucht, stoffige, seidige Tannine, mineralisch und frisch im Abgang, voll Energie und Länge, schwarze Kirschen im Nachhall, große Eleganz, sicheres Reifepotenzial, perfekte Balance."

JEB DUNNUCK: "I'd put the 2021 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion up with the crème de la crème of the vintage. Based on 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Merlot, aging in 80% new barrels, it offers a brilliant perfume of plum and black raspberry fruits supported by lots of spice and exotic floral notes. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has a rounded, expansive mouthfeel that's rare to find in the vintage, terrific mid-palate depth, moderate acidity, and a great finish. It's a singular, brilliant Pessac that will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and cruise for 20-25+ in cold cellars. Enough can't be said about the quality and passion being brought to this estate by winemaker Guillaume Pouthier, and this is an estate readers need to be purchasing."