Chateau Haut Brion Tasting back to 1937

"Red wine with fish. Well, that should have told me something."

Bond in From Russia with Love (1963)

You can eat fish and drink red wine, but we don't recommend it especially with wines like Chateau Haut Brion.  The recent Chateau Latour tasting was incredible and although the 1937 at that event was a bust all the other wines showed up, there are only great bottles once the wines get to be 30+ years old. 

We had a record 6 "Once in a Lifetime" events of October and we had to add another to the calendar in the month of November just to try to live up to our reputation in November.  Part of a recent cellar acquisition included a case of the 1989 Chateau Haut Brion and it is already halfway gone so I decided to put this tasting on the calendar to drink a bottle before it’s gone!

How many times will you be able to tasting this legendary wine back to the 1937 vintage? That is why we call this series of tastings "once in a lifetime". With the price of all the "blue chip" wines from Bordeaux reaching stratospheric proportions the price of this event is almost irrelative. If you can afford to drink Chateau Haut Brion, you don’t need to ask how much it costs. We will taste through 10 vintages of this first growth Bordeaux covering 6 decades including vintages like: 1937, 1949, 1966, 1970, 1989, 1990 and more... Wine Watch Caterings Toni Lampasone will be making a special meal to accompany the tasting wines.  The fee for this tasting is $625 + Tax per person for reservations call 954-523-9463 or email andy@winewatch.com

Vertical Tasting of Chateau Haut Brion back to 1937
Tuesday, November 1st
7pm

1937 Chateau Haut Brion Pessac Leognan

A very hot year with normal rainfall, one of the best vintages of the 30's.  As a group, the wines were rather hard. 

1949 Chateau Haut Brion Pessac Leognan

A dry yea, but above all very hot.  A very great vintage, difficult to make because of the heat.  Some wines suffered because of it, but on the whole it is a year of great quality.

1966 Chateau Haut Brion Pessac Leognan 

Begun like a poor vintage a good amount of rain in June but 1966 revealed itself little by little to be a great year.  August was hot, but especially the dry and very hot September decided the quality.  This abnormal heat was the cause, on September 7th, of the terrible first at the Calvet warehouse.  The 66's are very forthright and solid wines.

1970 Chateau Haut Brion Pessac Leognan
Price: $495.00    Your Price: $435.60
Quantity in Stock: 1

A perfect year without excess (there were only 12 days of very high temperatures).  Very dry summer and a fine month of September.  The harvest was very abundant and of very good quality.  Excellent wines produced in the entire Bordeaux area.

1985 Chateau Haut Brion Pessac Leognan 

A great wine of a late year.  A drought never seen, one of the hottest years of this Century but a few days of fog early September helped the grapes that had been dying off to ripen

1989 Chateau Haut Brion Blanc Pessac Leognan 

Historically an early vintage.  the growing season was particularly hot, sunny and dry providing ideal conditions for budding, flowering, veraison maturity and harvest.  An exceptional year produced and exceptional wine.

(100 Points)  This is the most immense and large-scaled Haut-Brion Blanc I have ever tasted. Jean Delmas, administrator of the Dillon properties, justifiably felt the 1989 fully replicated the fleshy, chewy texture of a great Grand Cru white Burgundy. Only 600 cases were made of this deep yellow/gold-colored, rich, alcoholic, sumptuous wine. It is amazingly full and long in the mouth, with a very distinctive mineral, honeyed character. The low acidity would seemingly suggest a shorter life than normal, but I am convinced this wine will last 25 or more years. It is a real show-stopper! Sweet, honeyed peach, caramel, and buttery aromas tumble from the glass of this prodigious effort. Anticipated maturity: Now-2025. Last tasted, 1/03. Bordeaux Book, 4th Edition, Jan 2003

1989 Chateau Haut Brion Pessac Leognan 
Price: $1575.00    Sale Price: $1295.00
Quantity in Stock: 5

(100 Points) This continues to be one of the immortal wines and one of the greatest young Bordeaux wines of the last half-century. Consistently prodigious and almost a sure bet to top the scoring card of any blind tasting of this vintage as well as other years, the 1989 Haut-Brion is a seamless, majestic classic, and a tribute to this phenomenal terroir and its singular characteristics. The wine still has a very thick, viscous-looking ruby/purple color, a spectacular, young but awesome smorgasbord of aromas ranging from scorched earth, liquid minerals, graphite, blackberry and black currant jam to toast, licorice, and spice box. The levels of fruit, extract, and glycerin in this viscous, full-bodied, low-acid wine are awe-inspiring. The brilliant symmetry of the wine, extraordinary purity, and seamlessness are the hallmarks of a modern-day legend. It is still in its pre-adolescent stage of development, and I would not expect it to hit its full plateau of maturity for another 3-5 years, but this should be an Haut-Brion that rivals the greatest ever made at this estate. Life is too short not to drink this wine as many times as possible! A modern day clone of the 1959? Anticipated maturity: 2005-2030. Last tasted, 1/03. Bordeaux Book, 4th Edition, Jan 2003

1989 Chateau La Mission Haut Brion Pessac Leognan
Price: $995.00    Your Price: $796.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(100 points) Both La Mission-Haut-Brion and Haut-Brion hit home runs in this vintage, which did not produce as many profound wines as the Bordeaux publicity machine suggested. 1989, the 200th anniversary of the French revolution, was an incredibly hot year (surpassed only by 1990 and 2003). Even from barrel the seamless 1989 La Mission revealed a special elixir aspect, tasting like it had been designed by Chanel. It still possesses a blue/purple color with only a hint of garnet creeping in, and the explosive aromatics offer up notes of licorice, creme de cassis, blueberry liqueur, smoky barbecue meats, truffles and graphite. If that’s not enough to get one salivating, the palate has never disappointed either. Full-bodied with extraordinary opulence as well as sweet, well-integrated, velvety tannins, this fresh, lively, blockbuster La Mission appears to be one of those rare wines that never goes through a closed, unfriendly stage. It has been a compelling, multidimensional effort from barrel, in its infancy, and as it heads into late adolescence. A remarkable tour de force in winemaking, it is one of the all-time profound La Mission-Haut-Brions. Anticipated maturity: now-2050. (RP) (8/2012) Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

1990 Chateau Haut Brion Pessac Leognan 
Price: $1400.00    Sale Price: $1190.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

A warm winter so an exceptionally early budding.  The start of spring was cold but summer was exceptionally hot and dry.  Little rain in September allowed an abundant and very healthy crop.

1990 Chateau Bahans Haut Brion Pessac Leognan

The second wine of the great growths are often the best values in great vintages like 1990.

Menu

Selection of cheese

Smoked Mushroom Carpaccio with fresh herbs and black pepper aioli

Duck Confit with Asian Five Spice Noodle Salad

There are only 12 spaces available for this event and the fee for this tasting is $625 + Tax per person for reservations call 954-523-9463 or email andy@winewatch.com