New
75cl
Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2022
Vendor code : 967
En Primeur 2022 campaign: the wine will arrive to the owners in 2025. Place your order online or with a personalized manager. We will fix the payment to receive the wine - it will arrive at your doorstep in two years. Thanks to the pre-purchase option (En Primeur), we have the chance to buy wines from Bordeaux at very attractive prices. Why buy in advance? Because it is favorable! You get the lowest possible price now and protect yourself against future currency fluctuations. It's reliable! The wine will be directly delivered to you from the château cellars, which guarantees 100% protection against counterfeiting. Get access to unique examples! Wines that are readily available today can quickly become rare, appearing on the market two years from now. Les Carmes Haut-Brion one of the most inspiring estates in modern Bordeaux, has been doing a remarkable job for several harvests in a row, and the 2022 surpasses all that has been achieved before. Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion produces unique wines while remaining true to Les Carmes Haut-Brion's distinctive DNA based on the Cabernet Franc varietal.
A brilliant and very individual wine, the 2022 Les Carmes Haut-Brion shows great potential. The aroma is of cherry, blackberry, exotic spices, smoke, and slate. It is full-bodied, bright, and seamless, with a deep, dynamic fruit core and a long, penetrating finish. The 2022 Les Carmes Haut-Brion has a lot laid down in Les Carmes Haut-Brion that will evolve dynamically over the years.
Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a Bordeaux estate that was once part of the famous First Growth Château Haut-Brion. Les Carmes Haut Brion has a total vineyard area of 29.6 hectares. However, a mere 7.6 hectares of grapevines are employed in the production of Les Carmes Haut Brion. The vineyard is planted with 41% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Franc and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyard can be divided into 17 separate plots. The vineyard has a terroir of gravel, sand, and clay with a small amount of limestone in the soil. Les Carmes Haut Brion retains a significant proportion of Cabernet Franc in the vineyard. In fact, over time Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion plans to continue to add more and more Cabernet Franc to their plantings while reducing Merlot until about 50% of the vineyard is planted to Cabernet Franc. Thanks to the limestone and gravel in the soil, Cabernet Franc blends beautifully here. Keep in mind, however, that historically Les Carmes Haut Brion has always retained a significant proportion of Cabernet Franc in its vineyard. In fact, in the early 1900s and through the mid to late 1940s, nearly 90% of the vineyard was Cabernet Franc. On average, the vines are closer to 45 years old. However, there are some older Cabernet Franc vines, some of which are nearly 90 years old, as they were planted at the beginning of World War II. The complex soil composition of Les Carmes Haut Brion creates three distinct terroirs. For the production of Chateau Les Carmes Haut Brion wine, the grapes are vinified with whole berries. No pump-overs are used here. Instead, the grapes and juices are saturated with the skins. The whole process is very gentle. Not long ago, Les Carmes Haut Brion began vinifying an average of 45% of their fruit in whole bunches. This means that about half of the grapes are fermented with the stalks intact. This is done to give the wine more freshness and oceanic minerality. It is important to remember that this is not new to Les Carmes Haut Brion, as they did not de-stem the grapes in the 1960s either. Malolactic fermentation takes place in barrels. The winemaking process occurs in 27 diverse tanks, utilizing a combination of wood, stainless steel, and cement. The Chateau Les Carmes Haut Brion wine is then aged in 100% French oak barrels for almost 18 months. However, 5% of the wine is aged in clay amphorae. At Les Carmes Haut Brion you will find two types of amphorae: concrete and clay. The difference in the amphorae is the amount of air that goes into each type of amphorae. There is a second wine, Les Clos de Carmes Haut Brion, which is considered unique because it comes from a completely different vineyard.
Reviews from critics
100/100
5 points
95-100
5
90-94
0
85-89
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80-84
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75-79
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0-74
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Wine Advocate
Yohan Castaing:"The remarkable 2022 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a strong candidate for the title of wine of the vintage. It's also one of the most singular, characterful wines being produced in the region today. Unfurling in the glass with complex aromas of blackberries and cherries mingled with notions of exotic spices, orange zest, pencil lead, rose petals and vine smoke, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a velvety attack that segues into a layered, seamless and multidimensional mid-palate framed by rich, powdery tannins. Pure, perfumed and penetrating, this blend of 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot is a brilliant success that caps a decade of relentless work by Guillaume Pouthier and his team that have seen Les Carmes Haut-Brion emerge as one of Bordeaux's leading estates. It checks in at a mere 13.5% alcohol, with a very healthy pH of 3.64."
Vinous
Technical Director Guillaume Pouthier follows his majestic 2020 with another riveting wine. The 2022 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is, quite simply, unforgettable. A wine of tremendous energy, the 2022 saturates the palate with inky red/blue fruits, lavender, sage and mint, showing remarkable density that builds into an eternal finish enshrouded by seamless tannins. The 2022 is a co-ferment of 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot done with 70% stems that saw six full weeks on the skins. Élevage is 70% new oak, 20% 18HL cask and 10% amphora. It is an incredibly modern wine that marries Bordeaux classicism with hints of Northern Rhône and Piedmont inflections. All the elements are so well-balanced that nothing sticks out. Instead, it is the wine's profound beauty that leaves a lasting impression. –Antonio Galloni
Jeb Dunnuck
I think one of the legendary wines in the vintage will be the 2022 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion, which comes from a tiny vineyard not far from Haut-Brion and is based on 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Merlot, vinified with 70% whole clusters, and aged 70% in new barrels, 20% in foudre, and 10% in amphora. Despite mostly being not destemmed, you wouldn't know it by tasting it. It has a classic bouquet of ripe blackberries, cassis, leafy herbs, graphite, and violets, while in contrast, the C Des Carmes Haut-Brion, which is vinified with just 30% stems, is clearly marked more by its stems. Full-bodied, concentrated, beautifully balanced, and with a rare mix of purity, freshness, and power, it's going to rival the 2018 as one of the finest vintages ever produced from this address. It's worth noting this estate has a unique terroir in Pessac that includes some limestone in the soils, and this worked particularly well in 2022. Don't miss this wine.
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