Le Clarence de Haut-Brion 2018 Pessac-Leognan

A refined, silky red with currant, chocolate, walnut and leaf aromas and flavors. Medium to full body with very fine tannins and a polished, refined finish. Very sleek and creamy. It really sneaks up at the end. Better after 2025.

Ripe and rich, but suave and elegant in style, letting its range of steeped plum, warmed cassis and mulled black cherry fruit play out slowly while sweet tobacco, incense and black tea notes swirl about. Very finely beaded acidity stretches out the finish. Hard to resist now, but this has some time to develop. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2034.

A rocking second wine, the 2018 Le Clarence De Haut-Brion (58% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot) offers lots of ripe blackcurrants, cassis, damp earth, tobacco leaf, violets, and spring flower-like aromas and flavors. Rich, medium to full-bodied, beautifully textured, and elegant on the palate, it's a more focused, backward wine than the La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion and needs 4-5 years of bottle age (at a minimum) and will evolve for 20+ years or more. Rating : 93+

Broad-shouldered, with impact and a fairly swift tannic build-up. The construction is clearly laid out, with spicy, concentrated rosemary and cinnamon, and ripe berry and fig fruit character. A confident Le Clarence, if a little marked by a hot summer. Ageing in 20% new barrels. 36.7% of production. Drinking Window 2022 - 2040

The 2018 Le Clarence de Haut-Brion is composed of 58.2% Merlot, 28.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9.7% Cabernet Franc and 3.6% Petit-Verdot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it jumps up out of the glass with exuberant notes of black cherry compote, baked plums and blackberry pie, plus hints of star anise, underbrush and charcoal. The medium to full-bodied palate has impressive freshness with finely grained tannin's supporting the juicy black fruits, finishing on an earthy note. Rating : 92+