Chateau Haut-Brion, Blanc, Pessac-Leognan 2021

A complex, thought-provoking white. Vibrant and exciting with green herbs, stones and hints of aniseed and wet sea weed. Sea salt, too. It’s full-bodied and tight on the palate and rather shy. But then it takes off at the end and accelerates. Phenolic, with fine tannins. Iron. Oyster shell. 57% semillon and 43% sauvignon.

Gorgeous depth from first to last moment, nuanced, green apple, white pear, citrus, slate and gunsmoke, all beautifully drawn out through the palate, an impressive white that rises vertically. Harvest September 3 to 13. 44% new oak, with lees stirring once a week.

Drink 2024 - 2034

The 2021 Haut-Brion Blanc has a wonderful bouquet of white peach, yellow plum, kumquat and white flower scents that opens beautifully in the glass, displaying lovely definition. The palate is very well balanced with a killer line of acidity that perfectly counterbalances the intense citrus fruit. Razor-sharp, more than any vintage that I have tasted in recent years. I often think that this is overrated at primeur, but the 2021 is undeniably a showstopping Haut-Brion Blanc.

Drink 2030 - 2060

The 2021 Haut-Brion Blanc also shows considerable promise, offering up aromas of pink grapefruit, nectarine and crisp orchard fruits mingled with notions of freshly baked bread, pastry cream and beeswax. Full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, it's satiny and seamless, with a broader-shoulders, more muscular profile than La Mission's white but similarly vibrant acids. At this early stage, this would appear to be one of the two or three finest Haut-Brion whites of the last 20 years.