2025 Les Carmes Haut Brion

Auslieferung bis zum Herbst 2028!
Delivery until Fall 2028!

(Pessac-Léognan; 54% Cabernet Franc; 29% Cabernet Sauvignon; 17% Merlot; a final yield of 38 hl/ha; pH 3.59; 13% alcohol; 65% whole bunch fermentation). The highest Cabernet proportion here ever. Nutty and salty again. Rich, plump, plush but oh so refined. Aerial and ethereal with so much vertical lift. Very floral too from the Cabernet - iris, lily of the valley, a little peony, even a touch of violet. A little blood orange, as ever here. Graphite first, cedar second. Ample on the attack but the immediate work of the tannins and the acidity pulls this back towards the spine. It doesn't entirely succeed and the effect is that the external parameters of the wine undulate over the palate, producing a delightful rippling effect. Crystalline and so impressively so given the amplitude and depth of the wine. The tannins that shape the finish are particularly powdery, with the vines searching for water from the limestone subsoil here and hence bringing more of that chalky tannic signature to the wine. A more intellectual Carmes. The Cabernet signature is gorgeous - and reminds me aromatically of Jean Faure and texturally of Angélus's Bouchet.
96-98/100 Colin Hay

With 65% whole-bunch fermentation, a delicate note of rose tea lingers gracefully in the air. Layers of salted plum, sour plum juice, red date cake, and goji candy rise one after another; with each swirl, the aromas surge like a fountain of shifting colors across the palate. Yet this is only the surface. What truly runs through the wine is a clear and persistent thread of salinity. Discreet at first, it gradually reveals itself as the fruit unfolds, gaining presence until it gently but firmly takes hold of the palate. As I taste, I find myself picturing Yu Ji and Xiang Yu dancing together. Yu Ji’s softness is the movement of aroma, the delicacy of texture, the trace of unspoken emotion; Xiang Yu’s strength is the structure, the tension, the depth of salinity, and a power held in quiet reserve. In this moment, I can only offer my admiration to the team at Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion for crafting such an emotional experience.
98-99/100 Alexandre Ma

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2025 Les Carmes Haut-Brion needs a little patient swirling to bring out notes of juicy blueberries, black raspberries, and black cherries, followed by hints of fragrant soil, lilacs, and tar, plus a waft of lavender. The medium-bodied palate is electric with energetic blue, black, and red berry layers, framed by firm yet very fine-grained, silt-like tannins and a crisp line, finishing very long with loads of floral and mineral sparks. The blend is 17% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 54% Cabernet Franc. The alcohol is 13% with a pH of 3.59. This is made with 65% whole cluster, and it is aging in 70% new barrels, with 19% in vats of 30 hectoliters and 11% in amphorae.
96-98/100 Lisa Perrotti-Brown

I was a little nervous to be honest about Carmes Haut-Brion, worried that this would be too sliced-through with steel acidity this year with the high Cabernet Franc, but I was worrying unnecessarily. It's totally beautiful, sleek, grilled campfire, a ton of momentum and there is a spherical feel through the mid palate, expanding and deepening the fruit flavours. High floral as you would expect, a crush of peony, iris, violet right on the first nose, chalky and slate edge to the tannins, full of energy, 14%abv at picking then whole cluster brought it down to 13%, 3.6ph, 65% whole bunch during fermentation. 38hl/h yield (compared to 24hl/ha yield last year after selection), 70% new oak. 3.59 pH. Harvest September 7 to 19, this is highest levels of Cabernet Franc to date.
96/100 Jane Anson