Här redovisar och presenterar vi kända vinskribenters utlåtande om specifika viner. Utöver dessa lägger vi in en egen kommentar när vi har provat samma vin.
At the same level as the perfect, 2016, this is an extraordinary-tasting experience. Opaque in hue, aromatically, the wine delivers a cornucopia of fruits, incense, curry, flowers, and smoke. The palate is even better with its endless layers of seamless fruits that caress your senses with their display of salt-tinged, spices, crushed rocks, pit fruits, berries, and white pepper. The seamless finish crosses the 60-second mark with poise, refinement, and purity. The wine was made using 60% whole bunch clusters, blending 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 26% Merlot. The wine was aged in a combination of 70% new, French oak, 20% foudres, and 10% amphora. Drink from 2029-2060.
70% whole bunches for Carmes Haut Brion 2022, which was matured in 80% new barrels, 10% foudres and 10% amphorae. This wine is full of depth, energy, finesse, delicacy and detail, and shines with harmony, brilliance and countless facets, all dedicated to subtlety. On the palate, the wine's logic of detail continues. Each element is in place and an integral part of the whole, with nothing dominating except sapidity, freshness and salivation. Everything is coherent and in harmony, with a breathtaking ability to shine even now, to make you want to drink the wine, while realising that it has been crafted for several decades. Another masterpiece!
Floral and brooding, this offers violets, irises and peonies alongside ripe black cherries, liquorice and dark chocolate. Concentrated yet vibrant, with a mineral backbone of wet stones. Crisp tannins and bright acidity add incredible tension, keeping it weightless despite its depth. Red fruits shine with pristine balance. A true expression of place, bursting with energy and finesse. A compelling wine, effortlessly drinkable now but built to age. 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot.
The 2022 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a towering masterpiece from Technical Director Guillaume Pouthier. Dark and seamless in the glass, the 2022 presents an exotic mélange of black cherry, lavender, sage, blood orange, menthol, espresso and dried flowers, showing tremendous depth and substance in all of its dimensions. Time in the glass hints as to what is to come in the years and decades that follow. The 2022 is a co-ferment of 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot done with 70% stems that saw six full weeks on the skins. Élevage is 70% new oak, 20% 18HL cask and 10% amphora. Most importantly, all the elements are so well balanced that nothing sticks out. Instead, it is the wine's total sense of harmony that is mind-blowing. Magnificent.
The 2022 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is the finest wine bottled to date at this estate under Patrice Pichet's ownership and Guillaume Pouthier's direction. Unfurling from the glass with aromas of violet, iris, dark wild berries, pencil lead and mulberries, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated with a deep core of fruit beautifully framed by velvety, precise tannins, segueing into a long, saline and perfumed finish. Suave and harmonious, it was crafted with 70% whole bunches and matured in 70% new oak. This unconventional blend of 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot represents a turning point for the estate, cementing its rapid ascendancy in the Bordeaux firmament.
The purity and focus here is impressive with blackcurrants, crushed stones and floral undertones. The whole-bunch character comes through clearly with rose-stem and floral aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, this is always so delicious but has lots of integrated, open-grained tannins. 70% whole-cluster fermentation. 40% cabernet franc, 34% cabernet sauvignon and 26% merlot. Idiosyncratic. So attractive now but will age beautifully.
The 2022 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion checks in as a blend of 42% Cabernet Franc, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance Merlot that saw plenty of stems in the ferments and 20 months in 80% new barrels. Its deeper ruby/purple hue is followed by a sumptuous nose of red, blue, and black fruits, as well as leafy herbs, darker chocolate, crushed stone, and almost bloody, iron-like nuances. I love its overall balance on the palate, and it's medium to full-bodied, has a pure, layered mouthfeel, beautifully integrated tannins, and a great finish. It shows the class of this great terroir and will benefit from 4-6 years of bottle age and still be drinking well in 30-40 years. You'd be hard-pressed to describe this as Bordeaux in a blind tasting today, yet I have no doubt it will develop more and more classic Graves character over the coming decade. It’s a sensational, singular wine.
Bright deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, purple reflections, delicate rim brightening. Floral touch of candied purple fruit, ripe red cherries, a touch of blackberry confit, nuances of liquorice, very complex bouquet. Juicy, very complex, taut, ripe tannins, fine dark berry fruit, mineral, fine vieille vignes character, balanced, very great length, certain ageing potential for decades. Also has an enormous volume with its 13.5%, silky at all times, fresh and unique in its kind.
