Château Haut-Brion

Château Haut-Brion – A legendary wine from Graves

Château Haut-Brion in Pessac, near Bordeaux, is not only the oldest of the region’s great estates but also a pioneer, whose history dates back to 1525, when Jean de Pontac laid the foundations. As early as 1663, the English diarist Samuel Pepys immortalised the wine as ‘Ho-Bryan’ in his journals, thereby providing the world’s first known wine review. The estate was the very first winery to market its wine under the estate’s name, thereby establishing the concept of ‘château wine’ – a revolutionary step that changed the way wine was marketed forever.

This tradition of excellence was officially sealed in 1855, when Haut-Brion became the only estate outside the Médoc to be included in the exclusive ranks of the Premiers Grands Crus Classés – a distinction it still holds today alongside greats such as Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Latour. The estate’s modern era began in 1935, when the American banker Clarence Dillon acquired the property. To this day, it is run by his descendants, the Dillon family – currently by Prince Robert of Luxembourg, who preserves this heritage with great passion and foresight.

The estate’s unique terroir spans some 51 hectares of vineyards, of which around 48 hectares are used for red wines and 3 hectares for white wines. The soil, a fascinating mixture of deep gravel terraces over sand and clay, together with the urban microclimate, lends the wines their unmistakable elegance and complexity. The vineyard is predominantly planted with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc for the red wines, as well as Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc for the famous white wine. The average age of the vines is around 35 years, and the harvest is carried out strictly by hand in several passes to select only the very best grapes.

In the cellar, the estate skilfully combines tradition with innovation. As early as 1961, Haut-Brion was one of the first estates to introduce temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks – a groundbreaking innovation that is now standard practice worldwide. The Grand Vin is then aged for up to 24 months in 100 per cent new French oak barriques. The result is red wines of exceptional depth and finesse, which delight with aromas of smoky spice, tobacco, truffle and warm earth, and are among the longest-lived wines in the world. The legendary 1989vintage was awarded a perfect 100 points by critic Robert Parker and is now the stuff of legend. In addition to the main wine, the estate produces its own second wine , Le Clarence de Haut-Brion, as well as Château Haut-Brion Blanc, one of the most sought-after white wines in the whole of Bordeaux, which is virtually unrivalled in terms of its rarity and quality.