En Primeur 2024

I tasted the 2024 Haut-Bailly twice and found it hard to understand. Judgement reserved until after bottling.

Score: - William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2027 - 2040

The 2024 Haut-Bailly was picked from September 25 to October 4 and matured in 50% new oak, possibly with a shorter élevage. As usual, it deserves patience at this stage as it gradually opens and coheres with aeration. This has a perfumed bouquet built around redcurrant, cranberry and wild strawberry fruit. It's quite floral in style with finely delineated touches of freshly-rolled tobacco and wilted rose petal. The palate is creamy on the entry and velvety in texture, with finely chiseled, lace-like tannins. It is very well balanced with one of the few sensual vintages that you will find from this year. This will be much earlier drinking than other vintages, but that does not detract from what will be one of the most pleasurable 2024s to drink.

Score: 93 - 95 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2030-2055

The 2024 Haut-Batailley offers up aroma of cherries, kirsch and petroleum jelly, followed by a medium-bodied, chunky and tannic palate.

Score: 87 - 89 William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com

The 2024 Haut Batailley was picked from September 25 to October 7 and aged in 60% new oak. This has a light bouquet with graphite-tinged black fruit, but I am seeking more vigor in this Pauillac. The palate is medium-bodied with a chewiness on the entry and decent structure, though it feels conservative and strict toward the finish. I need to be more convinced by this—perhaps it will gain a bit more substance by the time of bottling?

Score: 90 - 92 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2032-2048

The 2024 Haut-Brion is more perfumed than La Mission Haut-Brion, unfurling in the glass with aromas of raspberries, cassis, dark berries and spices mingled with elegantly floral touches. Medium to full-bodied, layered and sappy, it has a firm texture and powdery tannins, leading to a long, spicy and lead pencil-inflected finish. Composed of 47.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37.5% Merlot and 15.3% Cabernet Franc, this vintage features one of the highest proportions of Cabernet Franc in recent years—comparable to vintages such as 1993, 2004, 2010, 2011 and 2020—and should gain harmony with the élevage. In the context of the vintage, this is a notable success, owing in large part to Haut-Brion’s intramural position in Pessac, where the estate’s terroir benefits from slightly warmer average temperatures than properties located outside the city, contributing to more complete ripening of the grapes.

Score: 93 - 95 William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2028 - 2044

The 2024 Haut-Brion, which contains more Cabernet Franc this year from a high-performing vat, has an altogether more polished, powerful and fruit-driven bouquet than La Mission at the moment. Black and blue fruit, black olive and subtle sea spray scents emerge with time in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied, vibrant and focused, with fine tannins and an engaging underlying sapidity coming through with more weight and sustain on the finish. This is a very capable Haut-Brion that will not kowtow to the challenges of the 2024 season—rather, it seems to relish them.

Score: 93 - 95 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2030-2055

A blend of 56.1% Sémillon and 43.9% Sauvignon Blanc, the 2024 Haut-Brion Blanc reveals a complex, dense bouquet of smoke, iodine, white fruits and flowers mingled with delicate notes of citrus zest. Medium to full-bodied, it has a sappy and layered palate that's perfectly integrated, with a long, saline and ethereal finish. This vintage beautifully reconciles the intrinsic power of the terroir with the slow ripening of the growing season, resulting in a wine of remarkable finesse and vibrant white-fruited energy.

Score: 93 - 94 William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2027 - 2050

The 2024 Haut-Brion Blanc also has a reserved bouquet like the La Mission Blanc and demands more encouragement than usual. Eventually, there are lime, gooseberry, crushed stone and mirabelle scents that start to gain intensity after ten minutes. The palate is very well balanced with a slightly more pithy texture. It is quite peppery, with fine grip and hints of green olive toward the persistent finish. This is excellent.

Score: 95 - 97 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2028-2050

The 2024 D'Issan wafts from the glass with attractive aromas of cassis, burning embers, pipe tobacco and violets. Medium-bodied, pillowy and lively, with a sweet core of fruit framed by powdery tannins, it's an elegant, fine-boned Margaux that will offer a broad drinking window.

Score: 89 - 91 William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com

The 2024 Château d’Issan is a classic blend picked between September 26 and October 8, matured in 50% new oak. This has a quintessential Margaux nose with crushed violet permeating the black fruit, fine delineation, focus and satisfying vigor. The palate is medium-bodied with a surprisingly sweet entry and decent grip. Blueberry infuses the mid-palate and a dash of white pepper and a little graphite emerge toward the finish. This d'Issan probably has the legs to mature in bottle for up to 20 years, though its lack of substance means that I would be more inclined to drink this in its flush of youth.

Score: 90 - 92 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2029-2055