2020 Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan

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Jeb Dunnuck

Reviewed March 2023

I finished my trip through Bordeaux with the 2020 Château Haut-Brion, and it was certainly a fitting cap to the trip. Revealing a deep ruby/plum hue, the 2020 exhibits extraordinary aromatics of ripe black fruits, scorched earth, cold fireplace, and acacia flowers. An absolute blockbuster on the palate, this structured, full-bodied, massively concentrated Pessac builds incrementally, with ultra-fine tannins, a deep, layered mid-palate, and a great, great finish. Richer and more concentrated than both the 2018 and 2019 (there are some similarities to 2010), this is a legend in the making. The blend is 42.8% Merlot, 39.7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance Cabernet Franc, all of which will spend 15-18 months in 77% new French oak. Hide bottles for a decade, and it should evolve for 50-75 years.

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Professional Reviews

Wine Advocate

Review Date: 04/2023

The 2020 Haut-Brion is more aromatically demonstrative than La Mission Haut-Brion, bursting with aromas of blackberries and raspberries mingled with licorice, cigar wrapper, pencil shavings and nicely integrated new oak. Full-bodied, ample and fleshy, it's rich and layered, with an enveloping core of fruit that's girdled by plenty of sweet, powdery tannin. Despite checking in at a similarly lofty alcoholic degree to the 2019, its more granular tannic profile tempers the vintage's sweetness of fruit and lends the wine a more classically proportioned, and more classically structured, profile. (WK)

The Wine Independent

Review Date: 03/2023

The 2020 Haut Brion is a blend of 42.8% Merlot, 39.7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17.5% Cabernet Franc, with a pH of 3.78. Deep garnet-purple in color, it opens with profound blackcurrant cordial, baked plums, and boysenberry preserves notes, leading to an undercurrent of graphite, iron ore, black truffles, and wood smoke, plus a hint of cardamom. The full-bodied palate is tightly knit with black fruit and mineral layers, supported by a rock-solid backbone of grainy tannins and seamless acidity, finishing long and savory.

James Suckling

Review Date: 04/2023

Aromas of blackberry, licorice, tile, stone and mocha. Tobacco and cigar, too. They follow through to a full body with ultra-fine tannins that go on and on. Sophisticated ripe fruit in the center palate with a brightness. Tangerines in the finish. Very supple and savory at the end, in a classy way. Reminds me of the 1998. Already so attractive, but it will reward you much more after 2028.

Staff Reviews

Kate Soto

17.5% Cabernet Franc (up from the usual 8% but this year the Cab Franc was really great), 48.2% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon. My first note was “WOW!” with a heart beside it. It is a knockout. The palate unfolds in layers of rich dark chocolate, espresso, crushed rocks, sweet cassis fruit, and then a long long long finish that just doesn’t quit. This wine is absolutely brilliant.

Notes

98 points, Chris Kissack for Winedoctor.com: "A dark, brooding and rather withdrawn nose compared to La Mission, hinting at dark and savoury fruits, with layers of grilled blackcurrant, liquorice and black pepper, as well as a fragrant Cabernet freshness, infused with powdered chalk and other new oak barrel notes. The palate has just beautiful proportions, showing a core of softly polished dark fruits at the very beginning, with a fresh and linear frame to it, understated and unprepossessing at first, but in the midpalate it slowly builds to reveal layers of dark fruits, blackcurrant, liquorice, black olive, leather and toast, with a correspondingly confident structure increasingly making its presence known, but always maintaining a sense of balance and freshness, before we get to a flourish of energy and charged tannic grip through the middle. A very long finish here. More introverted than La Mission, but clearly with more substance to it, this has stunning potential. The blend is 42.8% Merlot, 39.7% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17.5% Cabernet Franc and the alcohol level is 15%, both in terms of analysis and what is on the label." (12/2022)

Details

Origin	Pessac-Leognan/Graves, Bordeaux, France
Type/Varietal	Cabernet Sauvignon and Blends
Alcohol Content	14.5%
SKU	1539520