2021 Haut-Brion

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There’s a ton to like in the 2021s from Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. The reds show off the gracious side of the vintage to great effect, with lifted aromatics, silky textures and primary fruit at this early stage. It’s a terrific vintage for the whites as well, all of which are the same 55% Sémillon/45% Sauvignon Blanc blend. “Back in the 1990s, harvest dates were chosen for us by deteriorating conditions at the end of harvest. Rain and the risk of rot essentially dictated when fruit had to come in,” Managing Director Jean-Philippe Delmas told me. “In the 2000s, with climate change, we were forced to the other extreme, that is to say picking earlier and earlier to avoid losing acidity and bringing in overripe grapes. Two thousand twenty-one was a very rare vintage in which we could harvest when we wanted to, with no pressure whatsoever.”

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What I find fascinating is the diversification on approaches between Jean-Philippe Delmas at Domaine Clarence Dillon’s two estates, and that of Les Carmes Haut-Brion. It’s worth reading and juxtaposing both to see how their tenets are at times almost diametrically opposed. “We had little frost, so yields are normal for both La Mission Haut-Brion and Haut-Brion at 47 to 48hL/ha. We are not organic, and so in this kind of vintage with a lot of rain, almost every day in June, using conventional treatments means you did not lose a large part of the crop. The key is to spray at the right moment before the arrival of mildew. We did some green harvesting for the Merlot and bled the Merlot vats by 10%. For the 50% of Cabernet Sauvignon, we chaptalised by around 0.5%. The season did not favour one particular variety, but we did have beautiful vats of Cabernet Franc, 12% of the blend in the Haut-Brion. We started picking the white on 3 September and finished 13 September, the reds picked from 13 September until 8 October, almost a month to obtain the optimal ripeness for each parcel. Each plot is different, so you have to manage each one of them like its own estate. You had to be patient. For the whites, for the first time in many years, we started exactly when we wanted without any pressures.”

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