Château Haut-Bailly 2020

An absolute gem from France. In Bordeaux like no other from Haut-Bailly. This has incredible power and drive with blackberry, black olive and graphite. Its full-bodied, yet dynamic and agile, with so much polished and muscular tannin. Yet, it remains in harmony and balance. So much character. The head of the castle calls it diabolical beauty.

Deep purple-black in color, it prances out of the glass with naturally beautiful notions of fresh black cherries, violets, mulberries and boysenberries, giving way to hints of redcurrant jelly, star anise, tilled soil and menthol. The medium to full-bodied palate is delicately crafted with velvety/grainy tannins and fantastic freshness framing the perfumed red and black berry layers, finishing on a lingering fragrant-earth note.

2020 is the first vintage aged in the new green-roofed winery, fitting gracefully into the top of the Haut-Bailly hillock. Long, serene, very pure, the wine of this vintage is in the vein of the magnificent 2019. With a superior naturalness, it lets the fruit speak, a whole range of red and black berries, a touch of pepper and pencil lead . It never asserts its power, the tannins are imperceptible until mid-palate but carry the finish very far. Great art.

So much intensity, complexity and subtlety in this bouquet. It is marked by elegant fruity notes such as blueberries, raspberries as well as refreshing nuances of peppermint. In the mouth the wine settles in stages; the attack is fruity while the tannins reveal themselves little by little and gain power along the palate. They are tight, imposing but also silky thanks to their exceptional fineness of grain. So much precision in this wine with such a beautiful notion of quiet strength. A powerful, fine, elegant and persistent Haut-Bailly. It is among the greatest successes of Pessac-Léognan in 2020.