Wine Advisor
Chateau Haut Brion 2000
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Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at Bordeaux Index’s 2000 tasting in London. A pure, finely tuned, delineated nose with touches of leather, clove and mint embroidered into the black brambly fruit, wisps of espresso with time. The palate is full-bodied with firm, grippy tannins, very good weight but quite austere and straight-laced. Good acidity though, touches of graphite and smoke towards the weighty finish that loosens up with time. Pencil lead on the aftertaste with breathtaking persistency. Classy…very classy, perhaps more so than La Mission at the moment, although in the long-term…we will see. Drink 2015-2045. Tasted March 2010.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
It will always be tempting to compare the 2000 Haut-Brion with the perfect 2000 La Mission Haut-Brion. However, it is not as fat, unctuous, flamboyant, or voluminous as La Mission. Yet, like a great diplomat, it is a wine of intensity, authority, and measured restraint. A supremely elegant offering, its dense ruby/purple color, and burgeoning perfume of scorched earth, liquid minerals, plums, black currants, cherries, lead pencil, and subtle spicy oak are followed by a delicate yet powerfully flavorful, multi-layered, highly nuanced, and extraordinarily pure and seamless wine. There have been so many recent classics from Haut-Brion, it is premature to suggest the 2000 is better than the 1998, 1995, 1990, or 1989, but it is certainly a prodigious wine of dazzling persistence, length, and complexity. A blend of 51% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 7% Cabernet Franc, it should prove to be uncommonly long-lived, even by the standards of Haut-Brion. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2040.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2000 Haut-Brion possesses a saturated ruby/purple color as well as a striking perfume of wet steel, hot rocks, minerals, plums, black currants, and cherries. Elegant yet deep, delicate yet authoritatively flavorful, this subtle, highly nuanced yet stunningly rich offering is a great Haut-Brion. The wine (a blend of 51% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 7% Cabernet Franc) is a sensational Haut-Brion that should be uncommonly long-lived, even by the standards of this noble chateau. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2040.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Slightly more opaque than the Haut Brion 2001 served alongside. The nose is extremely closed at first: you have to really dig your nose into the glass but it is worth it, for there are lovely scents of blackberry, raspberry, iodine and violets (indeed there is almost a floral Margaux quality to it.) The palate makes a huge entrance with the tannins adopting a vice-like grip in the mouth. Full-bodied and muscular, fine acidity (not sharp) with notes of blackberry, cassis and a touch of bitter cherry. Very long length: this is a mighty Haut-Brion demanding serious cellaring. Tasted December 2006. Drinking 2020-2060
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
A delectable nose: complex and minerally. More backward and broody than La Mission. The palate has incredible purity with notes of cedar and raspberry. Out of all the Firsts I think this displays the best balance. Very concentrated fruit, tannic with a blackberry and cassis finish. Very elegant smooth and focused. A fantastic wine. Tasted September 2003,
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Its bigger sister, the 2000 Haut-Brion (a blend of 51% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc) showed incredibly at the tasting, and for me is one of the three or four most prodigious wines of the vintage. 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. Haut-Brion can be among the trickiest Bordeaux to taste young, often needing a full decade before the extraordinary complexity that marks this terroir begins to emerge. I was thrilled to see how well both the second wine, Bahans Haut-Brion, and Haut-Brion performed in this tasting, and both scores are slight upgrades.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2000 Haut-Brion, a blend of 51% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 7% Cabernet Franc, possesses tremendous richness, and a highly-nuanced, complex personality with abundant quantities of black fruits, minerals, vanillin, and subtle earth. It is delicate yet thick, juicy and succulent. However, the 2000 seems to possess an obvious overlay of tannin as well as a degree of precision and freshness, largely attributed to slightly high acidity. A superlative effort. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2035.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted from an ex-château bottle in Bordeaux, I was not surprised to find the 2000 Château Haut-Brion flirting with perfection. The nose is simply breathtaking - quintessential Haut-Brion with ebullient red berry fruit, roasted herbs, gravel, terracotta tiles on a warm summer's day...it is simply wave after wave of intoxicating scents that could bring even the most stoic person to tears of joy. The palate displays heavenly balance, pitch-perfect acidity, perhaps spicier than previous bottles that I have tasted, and what depth and dimension in this outstanding wine. That hint of graphite on the finish is a cheeky nod to Pauillac, as if to thumb its nose at the First Growths, because alongside Château Latour, almost by stealth, the Haut-Brion is one of the greatest Bordeaux in this millennial year. Tasted November 2014.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2000 Haut-Brion has the upper hand over La Mission at the moment, and I don't see that changing. It's always been one of my favourite wines of the vintage. Blackberry and black olive, copious incense and terracotta notes almost hypnotize the senses. The palate is supremely well-balanced with finely sculpted tannins that frame the black fruit laced with white pepper and graphite. It's just entering its drinking window but has the substance to last many years. Tasted at the château.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2000 Haut-Brion has long been one of my favorite wines of this vintage, and at 21 years old it remains a tour de force. Blackberry, briar, black olive, incense and earthenware feature on the nose, which displays wonderful definition and so much personality. The palate is medium-bodied with a mixture of red and black fruit, white pepper, clove and graphite. It just sashays along, fresh and vital, revealing enormous, breathtaking depth on the finish. This has certainly mellowed over the last five or six years, but the bottom line is that you will be hard pushed to find a better millennial Bordeaux. Brilliant. 13.2° alcohol.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Full red-ruby. Roasted plum, currant, tobacco and minerals on the nose. Compellingly dense and thick but almost miraculously lively and light on its feet. Has a texture like liquid velvet, coating the entire palate. Wonderfully unmanipulated wine, with perfectly integrated acids giving it superb subtle vinosity and thrust. Finishes with outstanding building persistence, with the substantial tannins perfectly supported by the wine's fat middle.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Deep ruby-red. Expressive nose combines black raspberry, chocolate, coffee, tobacco and minerals. Lush, thick and stuffed with smoky fruit, with superb vinosity contributing to the impression of firmness and structure. Here's a second wine that will need a good five years of bottle aging to approach its plane of peak drinkability. I underrated this wine a year ago.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Full medium ruby. Great smoky aromas of black raspberry, plum, tar, hot bricks and minerals. Utterly silky on entry, then less fleshy and open in the middle palate (I also found this rather unforthcoming last spring). Today, La Mission is sweeter. But this shows terrific vinosity and structure, and finishes very long, with major, toothcoating tannins. Should be quite long-lived.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Medium ruby. Deeply pitched aromas of black raspberry, smoke, roasted stones, burnt rubber and mint. Fat, layered and lush but sappy and delineated. Very pliant and sweet, with superb purity of flavor. Currently a bit unforthcoming in the middle and thus it difficult to get a real handle on this wine today. Finishes with big, dusty, even tannins that seem clearly sweeter than those of the 2000 La Mission Haut-Brion. The estate fermented the very ripe merlot at a cooler temperature to preserve freshness.
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