2023 Château Haut-Batailley, Pauillac, Bordeaux

The 2023 Haut-Batailley is another impressive wine from this Chateau. There's plenty of the typical dark fruit and overall breadth that is such a signature, but the tannins show greater finesse than in some prior years—a very positive evolution that continues here. Black cherry, plum, lavender, cloves, leather and licorice are all beautifully amplified. The 2023 marks another major step forward for Haut-Batailley.

Drink 2028 - 2043

Fragrant raspberries and blackcurrants on the nose with floral touches, too. Vivid purple in the glass. Some herbal notes include liquorice and menthol/eucalyptus. It is nicely structured, with good bounce and flesh, but cool and sleek. I like the weight, enough tannins, and well integrated, but it gives structure and power. It’s not heavy and really has a clear vein of freshness that is so appealing. Lots of cool blueberry, mint, graphite and liquorice on the finish. It's almost chewy but clean and direct. Finessed but with power and depth. Really very good.

Drink 2027 - 2038

71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot. Cask sample.

Lovely purity of fruit. A certain opulence but fresh and defined. Tannins suave and long but present. Persistence on the finish. Well crafted.

Drink 2030 - 2045

This shows structure and focus, with creamy, powdery tannins and a very pretty, silky texture. Medium to full body with a solid line of tannins running through the wine. Blackberries and currants with a hint of crushed stone. Better than 2022?

Delivering elegance and finesse, this showcases why Haut-Batailley is so different in personality from Lynch Bages in this stable of wines, with a fragrant violet and peony note that takes it almost into St Julien, while slowly building the tannins that root it in Pauillac. Smoke, campfire and slate mix with blackberry and bilberry fruits. 65% new oak for ageing.

Drink 2029 - 2048

The 2023 Château Haut-Batailley brings a much more focused, serious style while still staying in the elegant, vibrant style of the vintage. Based on 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot resting in 65% new oak, this deep purple-hued effort has classic Cabernet darker, almost blue fruits, graphite, tobacco, and chalky earth-like nuances as well as medium to full-bodied richness and depth on the palate. It's balanced and has beautiful tannins, as well as outstanding length. Tasted twice.

The 2023 Haut Batailley was picked from 14 September and matured in 65% new oak. It has a harmonious and focused bouquet with blackberry, graphite and iris flower scents. The oak here is neatly integrated. It's actually stylistically not dissimilar to the Mouton Rothschild! The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins—quite rounded in the mouth, but there is backbone here. A subtle white pepper note mixes with pencil shavings on the classically styled finish, completing this refined Pauillac.

Drink 2028 - 2050

The 2023 Haut-Batailley is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot that increasingly resembles its stablemate Lynch Bages in style. Offering up aromas of dark berries, plums, pencil shavings and creamy new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with plenty of generously extracted, youthfully chewy tannin and a long, lusty finish.