Château Haut-Brion 2009

Exquisite aromatics, immense density without heaviness, breed and excellent, polished tannins, greatest length: delightful!

What a blockbuster effort! Atypically powerful, one day, the 2009 Haut-Brion may be considered to be the 21st-century version of the 1959. It is an extraordinarily complex, concentrated effort made from a blend of 46% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 14% Cabernet Franc, with the highest alcohol ever achieved at this estate, 14.3%. Even richer than the perfect 1989, with similar technical numbers though slightly higher extract and alcohol, it offers a sensational perfume of subtle burning embers, unsmoked cigar tobacco, charcoal, black raspberries, wet gravel, plums, figs, and blueberries. There is so much happening on the nose that one almost hesitates to stop smelling it. However, when it hits the palate, it is hardly a letdown. This unctuously textured, full-bodied 2009 possesses low acidity along with stunning extract and remarkable clarity for a wine with a pH close to 4.0. The good news is that there are 10,500 cases of the 2009, one of the most compelling examples of Haut-Brion ever made. It requires a decade of cellaring and should last half a century or more. Readers who have loved the complexity of Haut-Brion should be prepared for a bigger, richer, more massive wine that does not lose any of its prodigious aromatic allure.

This builds nicely, with dark tobacco, mulled spice and roasted chestnut notes fading into the core of black Mission fig and hoisin sauce flavors. Long and very tarry through the finish, but with excellent polish despite its heft. Best from 2014 through 2026. 100 cases imported.

There's exceptional purity to the dark, sombre fruit that spills out of the glass, pristine and glistening. Despite the intense ripeness, it's peppered with freshness in the form of caperberry salinity, cranberry lift and bright acidity. Big boned, with cotton-wool tannins and marvellous poise and presence.

Extravagant and exotic, yet still lively, this is a super-concentrated and elegant wine that's already breathtaking, yet has enormous aging potential. Plenty of wet earth and mushroom character alongside cassis and blackberry aromas. Super-long, perfectly balanced finish. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)

The 2009 Haut-Brion has a less precocious but more detailed bouquet, more nuanced perhaps with warm slates baking in the summer sun, tilled loam and cedar infusing the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, perfect acidity, layers of mineral-rich black fruit. This seems to have gained more complexity in recent years and is beginning to flirt with perfection. It’s not there yet, but it is moving in that direction. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits' Ten Year On tasting.

Just a fabulous wine from start to finish, the wine opens with nuances of black cherries, blackberries, menthol, burning wood, espresso, scorched earth, barbecue, and spice. The palate is even better with its multiple layers of silk-drenched berries, chalk, black pit fruits, and spice. The wine is opulent, yet, elegant, long, intense, and silky, with a finish that doesn't quit. The oak is fully integrated at this stage. While it is enjoyable to drink today, another few years of aging will add a lot to this gem. Drink from 2027-2059.

Dark ruby garnet with purple reflections and a subtle rim brightening. The nose brings fine dark nougat, ripe black heart cherries, tobacco and a touch of liquorice. Candied violet, cassis and elegant woody tones float in the background of the multi-faceted bouquet. Complex and tightly meshed on the palate—the core of fruit sweetness is matched by powerful, ripe tannins and a pleasant acidity that brings freshness. It feels mineral and taut, with great length. A hint of dark chocolate on the finish that lingers for minutes. A true vin de garde, this should be allowed to mature for another ten years. So: hands off, and better to wait two or three years!

46% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc. Yield: 47 hl/ha. Extremely dark purple with lilac and violet highlights, a shade darker than Mission. Baroque attack, delicate black-berry bouquet, licorice, currants, smoke, and summer truffle notes, with deep tar nuances in the background. On the palate, classic, with very fine, elegant, and harmonious tannins in a generous body, an abundance of licorice on the still slightly powdery tongue, a sort of combination of the 1985, 2000, and 2005 vintages. Without dried heat notes (as in 1982 and 1989), yet a grand, classical style. May perhaps one day reach the maximum score.

Merlot 46%, Cabernet Sauvignon 40%, Cabernet Franc 14%. Sweet, elegant, complex, fresh bouquet with mocha, dried fruits, leather, tobacco, black berries and fine woods. Dense, elegant, velvety, profound, well-balanced palate with a silky, delicate structure, plenty of very fine tannins, full fruit and a dense, powerful, dark aromatic profile. Spicy, velvety, aromatic finish with superb lingering flavors, tobacco, leather, cedar. Can reach the maximum score. 19/20 2015 - 2040

Right up there with the very best of the vintage, showcasing fresh mint, damson, still young with caressing tannins and creamy black fruits, just a stunning wine that is beginning to open up, but will keep delivering for decades. Haut-Brion at its heights, far better than the bottle of the same vintage that I had back in 2022. 100% new oak for ageing, Jean-Philippe Delmas director.

The most impressive second wine of the vintage, nobly spiced, fleshy and velvety, with tannins sufficiently firm and deep to balance the alcohol; complex, it will readily console those who cannot access the grand vin.

The bouquet of the 2009 surprises with its intensity. I have often tasted it more filigreed, more discreet, whereas today it bursts with fruit while revealing nuances of truffle and peppermint. The wine has muscle and breadth on the palate. Its tannins, smooth and compact, give the whole palate fine structure and ensure excellent cellaring potential. The wine is dense and settles in slowly. It makes clear that it needs time. An ambitious, brilliant wine that deserves a bit of development.

Logo on the cork: AL Bad bottle Dark, intense color with slight evolution. Intense nose with pure, ripe, and fresh fruit. It becomes cooler in the glass, with a note of blackcurrant. While the entry caresses the palate, the wine very quickly turns harsh between the mid-palate and the finish, which is nothing like the beauty of the benchmark when the bottle is sound. Damn that cork!

Very ample and generous, more exotic than usual. An impressive volume, well managed by a well-placed acidic backbone. A great success.

46% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc. 47 hl/ha. Extremely dark purple with lilac and violet highlights. A shade darker than Mission. Delicate black-berry bouquet, licorice, currants, smoke and summer truffle notes, with deeply layered tar nuances in the background; baroque on the attack. On the palate, classic, highly refined, elegant tannins that already show beautiful harmony with the generous body; loads of licorice on the still slightly powdery tongue. If you factor in the sweet oak from the forthcoming barriques, you end up with a combination of 1985, 2000 and 2005. No traces of 1982 and 1989, as the desiccating heat is absent. A reassuring classic in a truly grand style that may one day reach a perfect score. (19/20). 13: Deep, dense purple with violet and almost black highlights. Discreet, fine bouquet: tobacco, rosewood notes, cedar, hints of floral shimmer; comes across as delicate but, by the template of the vintage, lacks drive. Even on the nose it can’t keep up with other great Haut-Brion vintages (for example 1989 & 2005). On the palate, dense, fine portions of flesh, subtly brittle tannins, balanced yet demanding astringency. Somehow the music is missing for a truly great vintage performance when compared directly with its rivals in the same price category. 19/20

95-97 Barrel sample. A very solid wine, showing tight wood, plum skins, power. It is much richer than usual at Haut-Brion and this gives a chunky character, the fruit a part of the very tannic structure. The aftertaste is firm, dry.