Description

Using a more traditional blend, C des Carmes Haut-Brion focuses on Merlot subtly complemented by Cabernet Sauvignon. The fruit is in the spotlight here, offering an elegant range of aromas. Drunk young, the wine develops a crisp intensity which will gain the patina of beautiful complexity as the year's pass. -The 2016 Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion comes from vines located in the clos over towards Martillac, rather than the vines in the original Les Carmes Haut-Brion vineyard in the Bordeaux suburbs, known as "Le Clos des Carmes Haut-Brion" up until the 2013 vintage. It is a blend of 51% Merlot, 48% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot, matured in 30% new oak and the remainder one-year-old barrels. This includes 25% whole berry fruit. It offers plenty of brambly black fruit on the nose, crushed violets, fresh fig, and a touch of spice that opens nicely in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, neatly integrated oak, a little plushness on the entry thanks to the Merlot, and then it dovetails into a more structured, gently grippy, chalk-textured finish with attractive black fruit. Give this two or three years in bottle just to shave off a little abrasiveness and you will have a fine Pessac-Léognan. 2020 - 2035 90/92 Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (230), April 2017-