1997 Haut-Bailly

Veronique Sanders describes the '99 as a more classic style of Haut-Bailly, in contrast to the more concentrated '98, which is dominated by its aromatic merlot component and which was far easier to taste the spring after the harvest. In '99, leaf-pulling on both sides of the grapes for the first time helped the wind dry the grapes, and a severe green harvest further contributed to ripening the remaining fruit. Production has been lower in the last three vintages than in '96 and '95 as replanting, which will carefully match rootstocks to the estate's numerous parcels, is underway. The '99 consists of 43% cabernet sauvignon, 33% merlot, 6% cabernet franc and 18% "old vines"—a parcel of 80-year-old vines in which numerous varieties, including carmenere, are interplanted. Following three years in which the estate did the malolactic fermentation in barriques, Haut-Bailly switched back to the traditional approach with the '99 vintage. "Malolactic fermentation in oak merely makes the wine more presentable in March," explained Sanders.

New owner Robert Wilmers has for the time being left winemaking techniques essentially unchanged, but has taken a number of steps to improve quality at this estate. In addition to careful selection in the vines, there is now a table de trie to provide another level of selection after the fruit is destemmed. The estate has also hired a second enologist to consult on matching rootstock to closely defined site (Haut-Bailly has used the services of Pascal Ribereau-Gayon since 1990). Veronique Sanders, granddaughter of long-time director Jean Sanders, told me that the splendid merlot of '98, picked before the damaging rains, was the estate best in many years; the '98 will be nearly 50% merlot.

I arrived at this property just in time to learn from director Jean Sanders that it had been sold to Buffalo, NY-based banker Robert Wilmers. Sanders, who owned Haut-Bailly with his two sisters, will stay on as director, and this will come as good news to long-time fans of this consistently suave, charming man-and-wine team. During my time with Sanders, he seemed more anxious about recent increases in Bordeaux prices than about the change in ownership. "The first goal for a producer should be to keep his customers," he noted, implying that this has not been a high priority for either chateau proprietors or negociants in recent vintages. 1997 was a small crop here due to a rare late April frost, and, because the barrels are bought in advance, this vintage saw a relatively high 72% new oak. "We still had some green grapes at the beginning of September," said Sanders, "so we sent out our team to cut off grapes before we picked. The harvest itself took a full four weeks."