2023 Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan

A blend of 50% Cabernet Franc, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 20% Merlot, Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2023 has a pH of 3.62. It was fermented with 60% whole bunches and it is aging in 70% new oak barrels, 20% new oak vats of 18 hl, and 10% amphorae. It has an opaque purple-black color and needs a little swirling and coaxing to bring out fabulously pure, well-defined notes of juicy black cherries, blackcurrant pastilles, ripe juicy blackberries, and licorice, leading to hints of tar, peonies, wet slate, and black olives, with a touch of Sichuan pepper. The light to medium-bodied palate is airy and refreshing, with a solid backbone of very fine-grained, prancing tannins and bold freshness supporting the pristine black fruit flavors, finishing long and minerally. I had to spend a good 15 minutes with this wine to allow it to grow: it is incredibly tight to begin but expands to become something powerful. A beguiling 2023 with fully ripe black fruit characters and a paradoxical airiness, it really makes your head spin in the best possible way! (LPB)

Extremely floral nose; peony, iris, rose, expressive and aromatic with black fruits too, liquorice, dark fruit, cedar, some black chocolate and coffee bitterness on the nose too. Smooth and supple, nicely weighted in the mouth, forward, grippy and bright with a soft chew - really quite polished and pristine. Seamlessly integrated with the acidity balancing the tannins and the ripe fruit with some mineral wet stone undercurrents and slight bitter liquorice and grapefruit skin on the finish. It’s a little serious, but certainly polished with a soft chew of strawberry and raspberry and stoney-edged tannins giving excellent terroir signature. Ripe, fresh, clean, fragrant, sleek and streamlined. It has a lovely style and lots of finesse from winemaker Guillaume Pouthier. Harvest 11-25 September, 60% whole bunch fermentation taking the alcohol down from 14.3% at picking to 13.5%. 3.62pH. (GH)