Château Les Carmes Haut Brion 2006

Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2006: A Pessac-Léognan of rare individuality

Introduction

The 2006 vintage in Bordeaux is regarded as a classic, if sometimes underrated, vintage – a year characterised by changeable weather conditions that presented winemakers with major challenges. Yet it is precisely in difficult years that the true quality of a terroir and the art of winemaking are revealed. Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion, a small but remarkable estate in the Pessac-Léognan appellation, produced a wine in 2006 that bears the estate’s characteristic hallmarks: an unusual blend of grape varieties, a distinctive minerality and remarkable ageing potential.

The Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion estate

Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion is situated on the famous Graves plateau on the south-western outskirts of Bordeaux, not far from the renowned Châteaux Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. The estate’s history dates back to the 16th century: In 1584, Jean de Pontac, then Lord of Haut-Brion, donated several hectares of land to the Carmelite monks, who planted it with vines. The estate’s name is derived from this donation – ‘Les Carmes’ refers to the Carmelite Order, which managed the estate until the French Revolution in 1789. During the Revolution, the estate was nationalised and subsequently auctioned off. It came into the possession of the Chantecaille family, who ran it for almost a century. In 2010, Patrice and Diane Pichet acquired the estate and ushered in a new era, characterised by a modern winery designed by Philippe Starck.

The terroir of Les Carmes Haut-Brion is exceptional: the vineyards cover an area of approximately 4.7 hectares in the 2006 vintage and are planted with around 10,000 vines per hectare. The soils consist of Mindel gravel over a limestone subsoil, which ensures excellent drainage and allows the vines to develop deep roots. The average age of the vines in 2006 was around 36 years. The proximity to the city of Bordeaux brings a milder microclimate, which reduces the risk of frost and allows the grapes to ripen early.

The distinctive feature of the grape variety blend

What distinguishes Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion from its neighbours on the left bank of the Gironde is its unusually high proportion of Cabernet Franc. Whilst Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot traditionally dominate on the left bank, Les Carmes Haut-Brion has always relied on a distinctive Cabernet Franc base. In the 2006 vintage, the blend consisted of 55 per cent Merlot, 30 per cent Cabernet Franc and 15 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon. This composition lends the wine a characteristic spiciness, a cool minerality and a silky texture, which clearly sets it apart from other Pessac-Léognan wines.

The 2006 vintage in Pessac-Léognan

The 2006 vintage was characterised by contrasting weather conditions. A warm, dry spring and a heatwave in July were followed by a cool, rainy August. September brought high temperatures once again, reaching up to 35 °C, but these did not affect the health of the grapes – on the contrary: under these conditions, the berries achieved excellent ripeness. The harvest took place from 6 to 20 September 2006, exclusively by hand. Compared with the Médoc, which suffered more from the late weather fluctuations, the earlier-ripening vineyards of Pessac-Léognan and Graves benefited from more favourable conditions. The wines are characterised by fresh acidity and good structure.

Winemaking and Maturation

Wine-making at Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion for the 2006 vintage followed traditional methods combined with modern technology. Fermentation took place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, with an average maceration period of 26 to 28 days. Malolactic fermentation took place partly in barriques. Ageing lasted 18 months, with 50 per cent of the wine maturing in new French oak barrels and 50 per cent in barrels that had been used once before. The alcohol content is 13.5 per cent and the pH value is 3.55. A total of around 31,000 bottles were produced.

Tasting notes

A well-aged Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2006 now presents itself as a wine of remarkable finesse and complexity. On the nose, there are aromas of ripe red fruits – raspberry and redcurrant – accompanied by spicy notes of tobacco leaf and a hint of barbecue smoke. The minerality of the terroir is clearly evident and lends the wine a cool, stony character. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, with silky tannins and lively acidity that lend it freshness and make it a pleasure to drink. The finish is long, leaving notes of cedarwood, wet stone and a hint of mint.

The wine magazine *Wine Spectator* describes the wine as “full-bodied, with velvety tannins and a long, aromatic finish – stylish and very well made”. Robert Parker of The Wine Advocate praised its “minerality, finesse, elegance and complexity” and described the wine as “pure and not overly powerful, built on delicacy and purity”. James Suckling, on the other hand, described the wine as “dense and very firm, with aromas of earth, redcurrant, iron and stone”.

It is worth noting that some tasters found the wine to be closed and austere in its youth. Michael Bettane of *The World of Fine Wine* noted a “cedar-like nose verging on asceticism; dry tannins, no fruit, no smile”. Thierry Desseauve described it as “a linear wine, with austere tannins, serious and ascetic”. These assessments underline that the wine needed time to open up – a typical characteristic of great Bordeaux wines, which are designed for longevity.

The significance of the 2006 vintage for the estate

The 2006 vintage coincided with a transitional phase for the estate: still under the management of the Chantecaille-Furt family, with Yves Glories as a consultant, the wine was produced using traditional methods. It was not until 2010 that Patrice and Diane Pichet took over the estate and ushered in a new era with the construction of the spectacular winery designed by Philippe Starck. The 2006 vintage is thus a testament to the ‘old school’ style of Les Carmes Haut-Brion – a wine that demonstrates the estate’s distinct character even before the wave of modernisation that swept through in the 2010s.

Conclusion

Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2006 is a wine that tells the story of a challenging vintage whilst revealing the unmistakable signature of this small Pessac-Léognan estate. With its unusual blend of grape varieties, its cool minerality and its elegant structure, it is not a powerhouse, but a wine of nuance and slow maturation. For lovers of classic Bordeaux wines who appreciate mature, terroir-driven wines, the 2006 is a rewarding discovery – a quiet ambassador for one of Bordeaux’s most fascinating appellations.