Very aromatic, with a real airy quality of jasmine, lilacs, crushed stone, pear skin and apple, as well as some citrus. Full-bodied and dense with a creamy, phenolic texture that lasts for minutes at the end. Structured like a red wine. Reserved, compact and intense, and holding back for the future. Drink after 2028 and onwards.
The 2019 Château Haut-Brion Blanc is a more Sauvignon Blanc-dominated white that includes 36% Semillon. Its light gold hue is followed by a bright, racy Sauvignon nose of crushed limes, caramelized grapefruit, white flowers, and subtle minerality. It's incredibly pure, vibrant, and crystalline on the nose. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied and shows the richer side of the vintage with good mid-palate density, bright, juicy, clean acidity, flawless balance, and a great finish. It's a beautiful, elegant, seamless Blanc that will evolve for 20 or 30 years if well stored. Bravo!
Green apple, gooseberry and lots of elderflower notes on the nose - smells like elderflower cordial. Great definition and precision here, there's body for sure, it's not a light wine with richness and depth but so wonderfully precise and defined that the fruit flavour almost glides across the palate. Lovely freshness here too, with a mineral, almost salty tang to the fruit keeping the mouth cool. It's still a bit shy but has juicy lemon sides and an amazingly deep core of fruit with a cooling overtone lifting the whole palate. A wine you want to sit with and one destined for long ageing. Such intensity but also elegance. A blend of 64.4% Sauvignon Blanc and 35.6% Semillon.
TWI
97pts
The Wine Independent
Composed of 64.4% Sauvignon Blanc and 35.6% Semillon, the 2019 Haut-Brion Blanc needs a bit of shaking to wake up intense notes of lime leaves, fresh green apples, and wet slate, followed by hints of salted almonds and coriander seed. The medium to full-bodied palate has a satiny texture and restrained citrus and mineral layers, finishing long and steely. This is certainly more muted than when Iast tasted, which is the typical aging curve for this wine. Give it a good 3-5 years more in bottle, at least, then drink it over the next 20-years+.
The 2019 Haut-Brion Blanc has a well-defined bouquet with neatly integrated oak, fine focus with more tension than many of its peers. Pedigree here. The palate is well-balanced, tensile from start to finish, with fine focus and mineralite, and palpable energy throughout. Grand Vin! Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.
A bit reticent but with clear pedigree, as there's a seamless feel to the fleur de sel, white peach, talc, Key lime and verbena notes that stretch out slowly but surely, picking up subtle brioche, lime curd and quinine accents through a very long and pinpoint finish. Very impressive for the vintage. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Best from 2024 through 2035.
This impressive wine is going to be rich, dense, textured and superripe. It still does have freshness and acidity but that is subsumed into the wine's combination of tropical flavors and citrus, filled out with spice. Drink from 2026. (Cellar Selection)
The 2019 Haut-Brion Blanc is richer and rounder than its stablemate across the street, bursting with aromas of peaches, citrus zest, ripe orchard fruit, pastry cream and white flowers. Full-bodied, broad and textural, it's ample and enveloping, with a demonstrative core of fruit, lively acids and a long, saline finish.