Chateau Haut Bailly 2019

Product info about Chateau Haut Bailly 2019

Château Haut-Bailly 2019 is the red Grand Vin of the estate in Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux. It is a Left Bank blend led by cabernet sauvignon, supported by merlot, petit verdot and cabernet franc. What stands out in this vintage is the way ripeness, structure and freshness come together without making the wine feel overworked.

The fruit comes from Haut-Bailly's vineyard in Léognan, planted on well-draining soils of sand, clay and gravel. The estate also refers to falun, fossilised material and shells in the subsoil as part of the terroir. One especially characterful element is the parcel of very old vines, some more than a century old, where several Bordeaux varieties are planted together. Manual harvesting, strict sorting and separate vinification by plot all feed into the final selection for the Grand Vin.

The 2019 growing season brought warm, dry periods, followed by around 40 mm of rain at the end of July, helping the vineyard move into a more even ripening phase. Harvest took place from 23 September to 10 October. The wine was vinified at 24°C, a choice linked by the château to preserving freshness and elegance, then aged in French oak barrels with around 50% new oak.

At Drankenshop Broekmans, this is the kind of bottle we place among serious Bordeaux wines with depth, structure and long-term potential. The vintage received very high recognition from James Suckling, Falstaff/Peter Moser, Wine Enthusiast and Jane Anson. With only the last bottles remaining, availability has become part of the story as well.

The aromatic profile is built around dark fruit: cassis, blackcurrant, blackberry, black raspberry, dark cherry and plum. Around that core are floral notes of violet and rose, with graphite, crushed stone, a saline edge, tobacco, cedar, liquorice, dark chocolate, menthol, spices and, in some notes, orange peel or Earl Grey.

On the palate, Château Haut-Bailly 2019 is concentrated and precise, generally described as medium to full-bodied or full-bodied. The tannins are firm but fine-grained, the fruit has depth, and a fresh line keeps the wine energetic. The finish is long, mineral and slightly saline. When opened young, it benefits from two to three hours in a carafe.