2000 Chateau Haut-Brion 750ml

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Region or Appellation: Pessac Leognan/ Bordeaux / France

Classification: 1er Grand Cru Classé

Vintage: 2000

Blend: 51% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon & 6% Cabernet Franc

Alcohol ABV: 12.5-14.5 %

Sweetness: Dry

Drinking Window: 2010-2060

Closure Type: Cork

Vintage Notes:

A mild start to the year, a very wet, hot spring, followed by a dry, scorching summer: such were the weather features of this year, which has become legendary both through its date and the quality of wine produced. Temperature records were broken: 1.5°C above average over the twelve months – a massive difference. September, hot and dry, followed suit, allowing harvesting to take place in the best possible conditions.

99 points by Robert Parker: A compelling nose of roasted herbs, scorched earth, sweet blueberries, plums, black currants, and a hint of graphite is followed by a deep, layered, sumptuously textured, full-bodied Haut-Brion, but one with extraordinary complexity. This wine seems more evolved and approachable than I had expected it to be at age 10. My window of maturity seven years ago was 2012-2040, but I would change that to 2010-2050.

Jean de Pontac began constituting the Haut-Brion vineyard, in the Graves region, in 1525. His descendants went on to produce “New French Claret”, the precursor of today’s great red wines. Their efforts enabled Arnaud III de Pontac to sell his wine under the estate’s name as early as 1660. It gained a fine reputation and enormous success in London. The first of the Bordeaux great growths was born!

Haut-Brion’s history has been marked by many famous men: Count Joseph de Fumel (Field Marshal, Governor of the Province of Guyenne, and Mayor of Bordeaux), Talleyrand (Foreign Minister of Napoleon I, Emperor of France) and, more recently, C. Douglas Dillon (American ambassador to France and US Secretary of the Treasury during the Kennedy administration).

In 1961, Haut-Brion was the first of the great growths to use stainless steel fermentation vats, and continues to be in the forefront of innovation thanks to the meticulous selection of the ideal clones for each grape variety used at the estate.