- Colour Red
- Producer Château Haut-Bailly
- Region Pessac-Léognan
- Drinking 2026 - 2040
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available Now
2017 - Ch Haut Bailly Grand Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan - 6x75cl
- Colour Red
- Producer Château Haut-Bailly
- Region Pessac-Léognan
- Drinking 2026 - 2040
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available Now
Select pricing type
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Goedhuis, April 2018, Score: 93-95
Ch Haut Bailly lost around 30% of their yield to frost, which mostly affected the plots used in their second wine, La Parde. The château’s owner, financier and philanthropist Robert Wilmers, passed away in December 2017, but there is no doubt this wine would have met with his approval. The Merlot component (32%) is fruity and finely weighted, and the Cabernet Sauvignon (60%) provides aromatic freshness and silky structure to the tannins. 4% each of old vine Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot were co-fermented this year and add spice and depth to the blend. It is a precise and pure wine, and one of the most successful in the appellation.
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Neal Martin, April 2018, Score: 92-94
The 2017 Haut-Bailly was cropped at 28hl/ha (40hl/ha on non-frozen parcels and 2hl/ha on frosted parcels) and includes co-fermented Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It is unlikely to contain any vin de presse this year, unlike in 2016, and it is matured in 50% new oak. There is a pH of 3.74 with 13.2° alcohol. It has an attractive and quite opulent bouquet, a mixture of red and black fruit, hints of crushed stone and briary, a light oyster shell influence. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin but there is good backbone here, quite “solid” for Haut-Bailly and it will need to just soften the edges during its élevage. With moderate length and a very attractive graphite aftertaste, this Haut-Bailly will require five or six years in bottle but will repay the patient wine-lover. 2021 - 2040
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Antonio Galloni, April 2018, Score: 93-96
The 2017 Haut-Bailly is an understated beauty. Nothing in particular stands out rather it is the wine's balance that impresses most. All the classic Haut-Bailly signatures come through in a mid-weight, super-finessed wine that hits all the right notes. Dark red and blue stone fruits, graphite, smoke, licorice and incense are all laced into the super-expressive finish. The 2017 emerges from the estate's central, most historic parcels, as those vineyards were not affected by the April frost that took with it 30% of the production.
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Wine Advocate, April 2018, Score: 94-96
The 2017 Haut-Bailly is composed of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. Very deep garnet-purple colored, it has a wonderfully spicy nose of cinnamon stick, cloves, anise and fenugreek with core of roses, warm blueberries, black forest cake and black raspberries plus hints of underbrush and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied with firm, ripe, grainy tannins, it has oodles of freshness and great finesse, continuing bright and energetic on the long, minerally finish.
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James Suckling, April 2018, Score: 94-95
A firm and silky red with a medium to full body, a solid center palate and a long and integrated finish. Very fine, polished and refined. Creamy tannins. Hints of bitter orange.
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Matthew Jukes, April 2018, Score: 18.5++
This is one of the calmest and most centred wines of 2017. There is no tension here, just precision and balletic balance. The fruit is focussed, deep and proud and the amalgam of the blend is amazing. There are two ages of Petit Verdot vines in the wine and they both add a different aspect to the wine. This spice is integral to this wine’s appeal. There is a voluptuousness and also elegance about this wine and it is not bigger than the second wine La Prade, it is just much longer and finer. This is a succulent, Burgundian-shaped wine in its demeanour and yet the tannins and the acidity are going to keep it going for years and years.
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Jancis Robinson, April 2018, Score: 17.5
Very dark with purple rim. Oozes elegance on the nose, subtle dark fruit, nicely dusty/mineral and a touch of graphite and a slight and attractive herbaceous note. More fragrant with air. Texture is fine like layers of paper, tannins are dry and refined. Lightness of touch but really persistent. Juicy, gentle. Very lovely, the graphite elegance, freshness and fruit go on to the end. (JH) Drink 2027-2040
Producer
Château Haut-Bailly
Rich in sandstone composed of fossilised shellfish ("faluns"), Haut Bailly has one of the mostnoteworthy terroirs in Pessac Léognan. As a direct result of this ancient soil, their wines areextremely elegant and pure. Though not enormously high profile, this château is one of the mostappreciated by critics and collectors alike.
Region
Pessac-Léognan
Stretching from the rather unglamorous southern suburbs of Bordeaux, for 50 km along the left bank of the river Garonne, lies Graves. Named for its gravelly soil, a relic of Ice Age glaciers, this is the birthplace of claret, despatched from the Middle Ages onwards from the nearby quayside to England in vast quantities. It can feel as though Bordeaux is just about red wines, but some sensational white wines are produced in this area from a blend of sauvignon blanc, Semillon and, occasionally, muscadelle grapes, often fermented and aged in barrel. In particular, Domaine de Chevalier is renowned for its superbly complex whites, which continue to develop in bottle over decades. A premium appellation, Pessac-Leognan, was created in 1987 for the most prestigious terroirs within Graves. These are soils with exceptional drainage, made up of gravel terraces built up in layers over many millennia, and consequently thrive in mediocre vintages but are less likely to perform well in hotter years. These wines were appraised and graded in their own classification system in 1953 and updated in 1959, but, like the 1855 classification system, this should be regarded with caution and the wines must absolutely be assessed on their own current merits.
