Haut Brion 2000

Pessac-Leognan, First Growth

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Tasting Notes
The 2000 Haut-Brion has the upper hand over La Mission at the moment, and I don't see that changing. It's always been one of my favourite wines of the vintage. Blackberry and black olive, copious incense and terracotta notes almost hypnotize the senses. The palate is supremely well-balanced with finely sculpted tannins that frame the black fruit laced with white pepper and graphite. It's just entering its drinking window but has the substance to last many years. Tasted at the château. Score: 98 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2030-2075 26 January 2023
The 2000 Haut-Brion has long been one of my favorite wines of this vintage, and at 21 years old it remains a tour de force. Blackberry, briar, black olive, incense and earthenware feature on the nose, which displays wonderful definition and so much personality. The palate is medium-bodied with a mixture of red and black fruit, white pepper, clove and graphite. It just sashays along, fresh and vital, revealing enormous, breathtaking depth on the finish. This has certainly mellowed over the last five or six years, but the bottom line is that you will be hard pushed to find a better millennial Bordeaux. Brilliant. 13.2° alcohol. Score: 98 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2021-2060 01 September 2021
Tasted blind at Bordeaux Index’s 2000 tasting in London. A pure, finely tuned, delineated nose with touches of leather, clove and mint embroidered into the black brambly fruit, wisps of espresso with time. The palate is full-bodied with firm, grippy tannins, very good weight but quite austere and straight-laced. Good acidity though, touches of graphite and smoke towards the weighty finish that loosens up with time. Pencil lead on the aftertaste with breathtaking persistency. Classy - very classy, perhaps more so than La Mission at the moment, although in the long-term - we will see. Score: 97 Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2015-2045 01 September 2010
Its bigger sister, the 2000 Haut-Brion (a blend of 51% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc) showed incredibly at the tasting, and for me is one of the three or four most prodigious wines of the vintage. A compelling nose of roasted herbs, scorched earth, sweet blueberries, plums, black currants, and a hint of graphite is followed by a deep, layered, sumptuously textured, full-bodied Haut-Brion, but one with extraordinary complexity. This wine seems more evolved and approachable than I had expected it to be at age 10. My window of maturity seven years ago was 2012-2040, but I would change that to 2010-2050. Haut-Brion can be among the trickiest Bordeaux to taste young, often needing a full decade before the extraordinary complexity that marks this terroir begins to emerge. I was thrilled to see how well both the second wine, Bahans Haut-Brion, and Haut-Brion performed in this tasting, and both scores are slight upgrades. Score: 99 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2010-2050 01 June 2010
It will always be tempting to compare the 2000 Haut-Brion with the perfect 2000 La Mission Haut-Brion. However, it is not as fat, unctuous, flamboyant, or voluminous as La Mission. Yet, like a great diplomat, it is a wine of intensity, authority, and measured restraint. A supremely elegant offering, its dense ruby/purple color, and burgeoning perfume of scorched earth, liquid minerals, plums, black currants, cherries, lead pencil, and subtle spicy oak are followed by a delicate yet powerfully flavorful, multi-layered, highly nuanced, and extraordinarily pure and seamless wine. There have been so many recent classics from Haut-Brion, it is premature to suggest the 2000 is better than the 1998, 1995, 1990, or 1989, but it is certainly a prodigious wine of dazzling persistence, length, and complexity. A blend of 51% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 7% Cabernet Franc, it should prove to be uncommonly long-lived, even by the standards of Haut-Brion. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2040. Score: 98 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2012-2040 01 April 2003
More orange than the La Mission 2000. Lighter, more fragrant than the La Mission 2000. Apparently much readier. More readable but utterly true to its origins. Very racy and racehorse like. Exceedingly long and subtle. Some pepper. (18+ Points) Score: 18 Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2012-2030 23 March 2010
Full red-ruby. Roasted plum, currant, tobacco and minerals on the nose. Compellingly dense and thick but almost miraculously lively and light on its feet. Has a texture like liquid velvet, coating the entire palate. Wonderfully unmanipulated wine, with perfectly integrated acids giving it superb subtle vinosity and thrust. Finishes with outstanding building persistence, with the substantial tannins perfectly supported by the wine's fat middle. Score: 96 Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com 01 May 2003
Deep ruby-red. Expressive nose combines black raspberry, chocolate, coffee, tobacco and minerals. Lush, thick and stuffed with smoky fruit, with superb vinosity contributing to the impression of firmness and structure. Here's a second wine that will need a good five years of bottle aging to approach its plane of peak drinkability. I underrated this wine a year ago. Score: 88 - 91 Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com 01 May 2002
Medium ruby. Deeply pitched aromas of black raspberry, smoke, roasted stones, burnt rubber and mint. Fat, layered and lush but sappy and delineated. Very pliant and sweet, with superb purity of flavor. Currently a bit unforthcoming in the middle and thus it difficult to get a real handle on this wine today. Finishes with big, dusty, even tannins that seem clearly sweeter than those of the 2000 La Mission Haut-Brion. The estate fermented the very ripe merlot at a cooler temperature to preserve freshness. Score: 91 - 95 Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com 01 May 2001

Tasting Notes

The 2000 Haut-Brion has the upper hand over La Mission at the moment, and I don't see that changing. It's always been one of my favourite wines of the vintage. Blackberry and black olive, copious incense and terracotta notes almost hypnotize the senses. The palate is supremely well-balanced with finely sculpted tannins that frame the black fruit laced with white pepper and graphite. It's just entering its drinking window but has the substance to last many years. Tasted at the château.

Score: 98

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2030-2075 26 January 2023

The 2000 Haut-Brion has long been one of my favorite wines of this vintage, and at 21 years old it remains a tour de force. Blackberry, briar, black olive, incense and earthenware feature on the nose, which displays wonderful definition and so much personality. The palate is medium-bodied with a mixture of red and black fruit, white pepper, clove and graphite. It just sashays along, fresh and vital, revealing enormous, breathtaking depth on the finish. This has certainly mellowed over the last five or six years, but the bottom line is that you will be hard pushed to find a better millennial Bordeaux. Brilliant. 13.2° alcohol.

Score: 98

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2021-2060 01 September 2021

Tasted blind at Bordeaux Index’s 2000 tasting in London. A pure, finely tuned, delineated nose with touches of leather, clove and mint embroidered into the black brambly fruit, wisps of espresso with time. The palate is full-bodied with firm, grippy tannins, very good weight but quite austere and straight-laced. Good acidity though, touches of graphite and smoke towards the weighty finish that loosens up with time. Pencil lead on the aftertaste with breathtaking persistency. Classy - very classy, perhaps more so than La Mission at the moment, although in the long-term - we will see.

Score: 97

Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2015-2045 01 September 2010

Its bigger sister, the 2000 Haut-Brion (a blend of 51% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc) showed incredibly at the tasting, and for me is one of the three or four most prodigious wines of the vintage. A compelling nose of roasted herbs, scorched earth, sweet blueberries, plums, black currants, and a hint of graphite is followed by a deep, layered, sumptuously textured, full-bodied Haut-Brion, but one with extraordinary complexity. This wine seems more evolved and approachable than I had expected it to be at age 10. My window of maturity seven years ago was 2012-2040, but I would change that to 2010-2050. Haut-Brion can be among the trickiest Bordeaux to taste young, often needing a full decade before the extraordinary complexity that marks this terroir begins to emerge. I was thrilled to see how well both the second wine, Bahans Haut-Brion, and Haut-Brion performed in this tasting, and both scores are slight upgrades.

Score: 99

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2010-2050 01 June 2010

It will always be tempting to compare the 2000 Haut-Brion with the perfect 2000 La Mission Haut-Brion. However, it is not as fat, unctuous, flamboyant, or voluminous as La Mission. Yet, like a great diplomat, it is a wine of intensity, authority, and measured restraint. A supremely elegant offering, its dense ruby/purple color, and burgeoning perfume of scorched earth, liquid minerals, plums, black currants, cherries, lead pencil, and subtle spicy oak are followed by a delicate yet powerfully flavorful, multi-layered, highly nuanced, and extraordinarily pure and seamless wine. There have been so many recent classics from Haut-Brion, it is premature to suggest the 2000 is better than the 1998, 1995, 1990, or 1989, but it is certainly a prodigious wine of dazzling persistence, length, and complexity. A blend of 51% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 7% Cabernet Franc, it should prove to be uncommonly long-lived, even by the standards of Haut-Brion. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2040.

Score: 98

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2012-2040 01 April 2003

More orange than the La Mission 2000. Lighter, more fragrant than the La Mission 2000. Apparently much readier. More readable but utterly true to its origins. Very racy and racehorse like. Exceedingly long and subtle. Some pepper. (18+ Points)

Score: 18

Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2012-2030 23 March 2010

Full red-ruby. Roasted plum, currant, tobacco and minerals on the nose. Compellingly dense and thick but almost miraculously lively and light on its feet. Has a texture like liquid velvet, coating the entire palate. Wonderfully unmanipulated wine, with perfectly integrated acids giving it superb subtle vinosity and thrust. Finishes with outstanding building persistence, with the substantial tannins perfectly supported by the wine's fat middle.

Score: 96

Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com 01 May 2003

Deep ruby-red. Expressive nose combines black raspberry, chocolate, coffee, tobacco and minerals. Lush, thick and stuffed with smoky fruit, with superb vinosity contributing to the impression of firmness and structure. Here's a second wine that will need a good five years of bottle aging to approach its plane of peak drinkability. I underrated this wine a year ago.

Score: 88 - 91

Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com 01 May 2002

Medium ruby. Deeply pitched aromas of black raspberry, smoke, roasted stones, burnt rubber and mint. Fat, layered and lush but sappy and delineated. Very pliant and sweet, with superb purity of flavor. Currently a bit unforthcoming in the middle and thus it difficult to get a real handle on this wine today. Finishes with big, dusty, even tannins that seem clearly sweeter than those of the 2000 La Mission Haut-Brion. The estate fermented the very ripe merlot at a cooler temperature to preserve freshness.

Score: 91 - 95

Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com 01 May 2001

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