Carmes Haut Brion - Pessac-Léognan 2020

Vinous

100 / 100

par Antonio Galloni le 24/02/2023

The 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a total stunner. For the first time I can remember, Les Carmes Haut-Brion marries all of its elements so well that nothing stands out. In the past, the high percentage of Franc and/or the whole clusters were evident. The 2020 is the first modern vintage in which all the elements are so well balanced. Dark red/purplish fruit, rose petal, mint, lavender, dried herbs and incense all build in a ravishing Pessac-Léognan that will take your breath away. The 2020 is 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot, picked between September 14 to 26, which is early here. Whole cluster was 55%. Vinification took place over five weeks, using very gentle extraction, with no pumpovers or punchdowns. Aging was 80% new oak, 11% 18hL foudres and 9% amphorae. In tasting, the 2020 is simply magnificent. There are no soloists, just the most exceptionally vivid, breathtaking orchestra imaginable. The 2020 is a masterpiece from Technical Director Guillaume Pouthier and his team. Don't miss it!

La Revue du Vin de France

95-97 / 100

le 07/06/2021

Les cabernets (40 % de franc et 32 % de sauvignon) sont au cœur de l’assemblage. Une fois de plus le vin des Carmes Haut-Brion affirme une grande originalité. Une teinte moins saturée que les autres ténors de l’appellation, un fruit plus frais, plus floral et plus terrien à la fois (intrigantes notes de mousseron…). Distingué, racé sans conteste, profond. La douceur s’exprime dans le délié de la chair, vraiment en finesse, allant jusqu’à une sensation de minceur, que la magistrale persistance dément énergiquement.

Le Figaro

97-98 / 100

le 02/06/2021

Un nez d'une grande profondeur, aux notes de fruits noirs et d'épices, derrière lesquelles on devine une élégante minéralité. Plutôt suspendue à un fil de prime abord, la bouche se déploie avec une magnifique amplitude, dans un crescendo de velours, avec un équilibre tannique déjà remarquable.

Vinous

95-97 / 100

par Antonio Galloni le 01/06/2021

The 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is dazzling, but it is also a wine of reserve and understatement. I image it will be some years, at the very least, be fore the 2020 is ready to show all it has to offer. Today, it is not particularly expressive. The aromatics, which are usually so penetrating are quite shy, although the significant presence of Cabernet Franc that distinguishes this wine comes through in its energy and sense of drive. I can't wait to taste the 2020 from bottle, and won't be at all surprised if it turns out even better than this note suggests.

Jeb DUNNUCK

96-98 / 100

par Jeb Dunnuck le 28/05/2021

On another level, the flagship 2020 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion is one heck of a dense, backward, concentrated wine that’s going to require bottle age. Coming in with the same technical analysis (acidity and alcohol) as the 2018, this full-bodied beauty offers a thrilling nose of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, charcoal, and gravelly earth. Full-bodied on the palate, with a terrific mid-palate and wonderful purity, it holds things close to its vest yet has flawless balance, impeccable purity, and just a great, lengthy finish. Nevertheless, this is one big bruiser of a wine that’s going to demand bottle age. Do your best to hide bottles for 7-8 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following three to four decades.

Yvesbeck.wine

99-100 / 100

par Yves Beck le 27/05/2021

40% Bouchet, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot
Le terme HD devrait également être appliqué pour les vins et celui-ci, en l’occurrence, mériterait même l'appellation "Full HD". Bouquet précis, subtile, révélant des nuances de cerises, d'iris et de graphite. Touche de garrigue et de poivre gris. L'attaque est exceptionnellement fine, détaillée et même saline en attaque. Le vin gagne lentement en ampleur grâce ses tannins qui atteignent leur amplitude en fin de bouche où ils sont de pair avec la structure acide. Cette dernière est mordante, croquante mais sereine et surtout très efficace car elle porte l'expression aromatique jusqu'en finale.
Les légères notes d'amertume en fin de bouche ont le mérite de non seulement canaliser et contrer toute cette énergie, mais également de favoriser l'expression fruitée. Nuances crayeuses et salines en finale. Un vin d'une rare précision et d'une puissance sereine. Un vin identitaire, unique, même touchant de par cette capacité à nous transporter dans un univers qui frôle la perfection. Peut-êtrecela basculera du côté du graal, l'exceptionnel étant déjà acquis. 2027 2065 99-100/100

Vinous

94-96 / 100

par Neal Martin le 27/05/2021

The 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion was picked at 38hl/ha and matured in 80% new oak, 11% foudres and the remainder in clay amphorae. It has an intense bouquet of blackberry and wild strawberry, plus some light torrefactory scents, undergrowth and black pepper, all delineated and focused. The palate is medium-bodied with beautifully defined black fruit and delicate touches of mint, bell pepper and cracked black pepper. Though it shares the same surname, it is interesting to see how, stylistically, it is cut from a totally different cloth than Haut-Brion and La Mission, which each possess their own distinct attributes. Quite thickly textured and weighty on the finish with a long, spicy aftertaste, this is a serious Les Carmes Haut-Brion with a very long future ahead.

Decanter.com

96 / 100

par Jane Anson le 25/05/2021

Clear violet edging to the colour, vibrant and enticing. This is elegant and full of personality, with high floral aromatics, a ton of dark fruits, and a blueberry dominance that gives a classic Carmes Haut Brion feel. Slightly austere, slightly bitter, both in the best possible expression of those terms, where it is mouthwatering and moreish. A juicy salinity ensures this is a wine that doesn't overpower, its flavours are revealed slowly and carefully, tugging backwards, with a texture that heads towards linen rather than silk - meaning that you don't glide through, you carefully step through well-placed tannins and fruits. There is clear delicacy here, and with 55% whole bunch fermentation - the highest level that they have done to date. 3.62pH (they harvested this at almost 1% ABV higher), fermented with their own natural yeasts. Highest percentage of the two Cabernets on recent record (before 2010 Carmes was regularly at 50% Merlot). Strong candidate for the score moving upwards when in bottle.

The Wine Cellar Insider

96-98 / 100

par Jeff Leve le 21/05/2021

Garnet in color, the wine opens with tobacco leaf, cigar box, thyme, herbs, flowers and red berries. Medium/full-bodied, vibrant, fresh and focused on its purity of fruit and elegance, this sublime wine is silky, sweet and sensuous. This finish is long and refined, with sweet, ripe cherries, dark cocoa, spice, herbs and cigar wrapper with a cool touch of salt and crushed rock in the endnotes. The wine was made using 55% whole bunch clusters during fermentation. From a blend of 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot, 13.7% ABV. The wine is aging in 80% new, French oak which is already close to fully integrated. 96-98

Wine Advocate

95-97 / 100

par Lisa Perrotti-Brown le 20/05/2021

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion issues forth a beguiling array of savory scents—black olives, charcuterie, bouquet garni and Sichuan pepper—over a core of bright redcurrant jelly, black cherries and cassis scents, plus fragrant hints of rose petals and preserved mandarin peel. The medium-bodied palate is refreshing and elegantly styled yet with a rock-solid backbone of firm, finely grained tannins and bags of freshness, finishing long and perfumed. This is a stunning expression of the vintage that should be long lived and age with fantastic grace.

Anthocyanes

98-100 / 100

par Yohan Castaing le 11/05/2021

Avec un éclat aromatique tout simplement magnifique, ce Carmes Haut-Brion 2020 semble plus profond et plus complexe que les millésimes précédents. Cassis, myrtille, fleurs de printemps, iris, menthol, un peu graphite. La structure est juteuse, vibrante, énergique avec une fraicheur magnifique et un grain de tanins cristallin et malgré cela très profond. Des notes de Zan apparaissent à l'aération. Un vin encore plus racé que les années précédentes d'autant que le côté viril des cabernets sera magnifié par les élevages totalement maitrisés par Guillaume Pouthier. Tout simplement superbe !

Falstaff

94-96 / 100

le 10/05/2021

Dunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, dezente Ockerrandaufhellung. Mit einem Hauch von Edelholz unterlegte reife Herzkirschenfrucht, zart nach Nou- gat, Waldbeeren, kandierte Orangenzesten, einladendes Bukett. Saftig, reife Herz- kirschen, feine Süße in der Textur, gut integrierte, reife Tannine, etwas Gerbstoff im Abgang, pfeffriger Nachhall, gutes Entwicklungspotenzial.

My Bettane + Desseauve

94-95 / 100

par Bettane & Desseauve le 07/05/2021

Jamessuckling.com

97-98 / 100

par James Suckling le 04/05/2021

Exotic fruit aromas of blackberry, blueberry, peach and orange peel. It’s full-bodied with a vertical flow of layered, chewy tannins that are integrated and intense. Extremely polished and focused. Crushed stone to the fruit in the aftertaste. Some bark and forest flowers, too. Great potential.