Grapelive Daily Pick
By Kerry Winslow
***
2000 Chateau Haut-Bailly Pessac-Leognan Red Bordeaux, France.
This is one of the most bright and pretty Bordeauxs I’ve ever tried and I was intrigued by the length and pure pleasure it delivered, this might be one of the great sleepers of the vintage! The nose is ripe and perfumed with lots of violets, roses and wildflowers mixed with spicy berry and cloves before a elegant array of fruit that comes in layers across the palate. The mouth is raspberry, blackberry, plums and red currants that come out in savory and spicy fashion with mineral, mushroom and leather notes in the background. This is one very pretty wine that is what most people expect of a fine Bordeaux or Claret (in England) and a wine that has plenty of style and depth. Enjoy this wine now, but this wine has plenty of years left to grow and expand, so be patient and enjoy, and if you can get some as it is a great value. I tasted this wine in a line up of six 2000 Bordeaux wines over the course of a few hours and from start to finish it was in my top two the whole time and compared well with wines almost four times its price!
*This small Cru Classe estate, Haut-Bailly, is making wines that according to Parker put it at least at Third Growth level and more recently seen great improvement. The production is pretty small at around 12,000 cases from vines that are close to 40 years old on average with 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. Haut-Bailly has a long history even if they are considered a newcomer, and the second owner in 1872 thought that adding cognac added dimension to his wines, but quality has really been much on the rise since 1979, though Parker notes that both the ’61 and ’64 vintages were fabulous.
($65 Est.) 93-94 Points, grapelive
Available at:
***