Quite jammy on the nose with lots of fruit. Plums, berries and jam. Full body, with a fluid center palate and chewy tannins. Round and rich. Seems more upfront and friendly than the second wine of La Mission. 52% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. Better in 2018.
-www.jamessuckling.com, 'Tasting Report: 2010's Greatness Across The Board in Bordeaux', 17 Feb 2013

The second wine of Haut-Brion is now called Le Clarence de Haut-Brion, and the 2010 is among the finest I have tasted there. It is a broad, powerful and more muscular wine than its cross-street rival, La Chapelle de la Mission, but all the same, it is wonderfully fresh and precise, with notes of blueberry and boysenberry as well as hints of smoke and wet stones. Endowed with gorgeous fruit, texture, purity and elegance, this relatively dense second wine demonstrates how draconian the selection process has become for the top estates in Bordeaux in recent years. The blend of this wine is 52% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest mostly Cabernet Franc with just a touch of Petit Verdot. I would expect it to last at least 20 years, which is remarkable. Drink: 2013 - 2033

Kudos to the team at Haut-Brion and to the proprietors, the Dillon family, who are now represented admirably and meticulously by Prince Robert of Luxembourg. He has made some changes, and all of them seem to have resulted in dramatic improvements to what was already an astonishing group of wines.
-Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #205 Feb 2013

(90-93 pts)
Probably the greatest second wine made at this estate since the 1989 Bahans-Haut-Brion, this blend of 52% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot reveals elegant minerality along with lots of sweet black cherry and raspberry fruit intermixed with hints of damp earth and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied and lush, it should drink beautifully for 10-15 years.Drink: 2013 - 2026
-Wine Advocate # 194 May 2011

Intense, with a bold, roasted apple wood note out front and anise-infused plum and blackberry fruit surrounding the core. Lots of bramble, tar and warm stone accents course through the finish. Displays impressive range and grip. JM

Cedar wood, forest, cassis and espresso scents open to a fleshy, soft, refined, concentrated wine with real personality that finishes with polished red berries, freshness and spice. Tasted May 2013

Tasted at Chateau Haut-Brion. I must say that comparing this against the La Chapelle, I find the latter more expressive at the moment, the Le Clarence perhaps riper and a tad more generous, yet without quite the same degree of clarity. The palate is medium-bodied with a ripe, cedar and tobacco infused entry. There is more weight and fruit intensity than the La Chapelle and builds nicely towards an iodine, dark plum and slightly saline finish. I was perhaps expecting a little more after its showing in barrel. Tasted November 2012.

(92-94 pts)
A blend of 52% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, this has a very different nose to the La Chapelle, the Cabernet very potent here, crushed stones with a hint of graphite. This has more backbone that the La Chapelle, very fine tannins with good acidity, dense blackberry, cassis and a touch of black plum, strict and linear towards the finish which is more masculine than the La Chapelle. Do not overlook this second label. Tasted March 2011.
-Wine Journal May 2011