2005 Château Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

56% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc. Seen by some as similar to the legendary 1949, a very dry winter was followed by a wet April, before dry weather set in for the rest of the growing season.

Quite different to the other first growths, with exotic notes combined with dark and red fruit, along with distinctly earthy, meaty characters. Plenty of opulence here, with a spice-laden palate, fine acidity and a hint of iodine on the finish. Nicely mature and in good balance, this still has a long way to go.

The 2005 Haut-Brion is a deep, meaty wine. Black cherry, game, smoke, tobacco, licorice, gravel and scorched earth saturate every corner of the palate. The 2005 is inky, creamy and voluptuous right out of the gate. It is also very young and in need of time in bottle. Most wines I tasted for this report started to lose a little steam after 24 hours, but the Haut-Brion kept getting better and better. It’s a magical wine, if a bit less accessible than most other 2005s at this stage. Tasted two times.

One of my wines of the night, the 2005 Haut-Brion, is stratospheric. Remarkably vivid and nuanced, the 2005 presents a compelling mélange of dark flavours laced with the savoury/mineral notes typical of Haut-Brion. The 2005 is a thrill to follow in the glass, as it continually reveals new shades of its personality, which I consider a common attribute among the world's truly great wines—the dense, explosive finish points to a very bright future. Readers who own the 2005 should be thrilled; it is truly magnificent.

Drink 2020 - 2055

This classic from the heralded 2005 vintage is finally living up to its potential, with a forward, ripe plummy fruit and elements of wood smoke, gunflint and earth. The texture is still firm and tannic, but there is no astringency, and the somewhat monolithic character has faded. A nuanced, subtle sheen now gives the wine an elegance and harmony that it did not possess in the early years of its evolution. It is now evident that this is a wine for the ages. Merlot dominates the blend at 56% of the total.

A blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc.

The 2005 Haut-Brion was the last wine I tasted of the weekend, yet it transcended the potential for palate fatigue to impress me immensely. I ranked this as the best wine in a powerful flight, and like the Lafite on the first day, I felt it was near perfection. The aromas ranged from ripe blackcurrant and plum to pepper, cedar, leather, and earth. Although youthful and still very primary, it was accessible and engaging at this early stage. It is a wine of massive concentration with a robust structure, boasting firm but fine-grained tannins, lots of extracts, and a pleasant freshness that gives the finish extraordinary persistence.

Drink 2021 - 2040

This is a wine that makes you dream. The nose is packed with flowers, sweet tobacco, iodine, spices, raspberries, blackberries, and great freshness. The texture is perfection, pure silk and the fruit is wonderfully complex and subtle. Currants, fresh mushrooms, flowers, and stones fill the mouth and make way to a delightful finish. Please leave this alone until 2020.

Dark ruby; looks more evolved than the Haut-Bailly. Mmmm! A lovely weave of different elements that's already beautifully approachable and has that warm-bricks element plus freshness. Really complete. Just so vital and satisfying, and so persistent. The freshness is its USP because some of these wines are just a bit earthbound and stolid.

100% new oak. Double decant + 6 hours.

The stand-out First Growth in my recent tasting of the 2005s, and again here it blew us all away. This was a drought year, with almost no rain from May to October, but never excessively hot, and the balance is evident. The slightly dry tannins that affected many 2005s when young were never such a problem on the warm soils at Haut-Brion, and this is generous, exceptionally nuanced and flavourful, with vivid black cherry and cassis fruits, riven through with liquorice, cocoa bean, pomegranate, sage, cocoa bean and luscious acidities. Jean-Phillip Delmas, the winemaker, was two years into his tenure after taking over from his father, Jean-Bernard Delmas, in 2003.

Drink 2023 - 2050

Tasting this just after the Haut-Brion 1998 and it feels almost impossibly young, but as with every time I have tasted this wine, you just know that it has the balance, depth, structure and sense of joy that will carry it through the decades. Exceptional quality, plush and fragrant, incense, blackberry and pencil lead. Jean-Philippe Delmas estate director as of 2003, Jean-Philippe Masclef technical director, no outside consultant. 100% new oak. I have given this 100 points every other time I've tasted it recently, but this tiny one point downscore is simply to point out that it is still a baby when sat in a lineup of older Haut-Brions!

An absolutely perfect wine in every way, the 2005 Château Haut-Brion reveals a more vivid ruby/plum hue as well as a quintessential Haut-Brion bouquet of ripe blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, iron, and lead pencil, with just a hint of background violet and floral, earthy nuances. Rich, full-bodied and powerful, it stays tight and compact on the palate and has building, flawless tannins as well as nicely integrated acidity.

The 2005 Haut-Brion is a blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-brick in color, the nose explodes with heart-thumping floral and fragrant earth notes over a core of Morello cherries, black raspberries, and creme de cassis. It is medium to full-bodied, with super-firm, ripe tannins and a lively backbone lending a rock-solid structure to the bright, muscular fruit. The palate absolutely shimmers with stunning mineral and floral notes, finishing with epic length. Tantalizingly good now, expect even greater things with 5-10 more years of bottle age. It will cellar to 2070 and, most likely, well beyond. Bought by an American banker / financier Clarence Dillon in 1935, it remains in the family today, with Prince Robert of Luxembourg now managing the 125-acre estate on the edge of Bordeaux city, in the town of Pessac. The soils include some very deep gravels and a good amount of clay. Clonal variation adds to the complexity of the site, with over 500 different clones. Jean-Phillip Delmas is the third generation in his family to oversee winemaking at this estate. The style is often more elegant, minerally, and refined than its flamboyant sibling La Mission Haut-Brion. Indeed, Haut-Brion can appear austere in its youth.

The nose is potent, attacking, fairly oaky, and closed, and the fruit is grainy, tense and introverted!  All the elements are here, but there is undoubtedly a need for patience and composure!  Perhaps it could do with more refinement at this stage.  Let’s see, but this might be a bit of a gamble, given the price tag.

The 2005 Haut-Brion has a more sophisticated and delineated bouquet than the 2005 La Mission Haut-Brion with layer upon layer of pure black fruit commingling with crushed stone, Montecristo cigar and light black olive scents. It becomes more floral as it opens in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with a slightly powdery texture and a peppery, liquorice-tinged finish. That it feels more savoury compared to previous bottles is a sign of its evolution. This needs more time but is a fabulous First Growth, albeit one eclipsed by subsequent vintage where I feel that Jean-Philippe Delmas foraged more finesse and precision. Tasted at the château.

The mineral-laced 2005 Haut Brion (56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc) is exquisite. With its elegance and finesse, it is not as powerful as La Mission, but the nobility and complexity of the aromatics, incredible fragrance (subtle smoke and blue, red, and black fruits) that persists in the glass, full-bodied mouthfeel (though very light and delicate on its feet), and incredible length characterize this great Haut-Brion. It is just starting to drink well, and should continue to do so for at least another three decades. It is a tour de force in winemaking, but only 9,000 cases were produced.