Right from the first moment you look at this wine you can see that it remains young, concentrated and full of life. Clear smoked caramel on the nose, the texture is supremely silky and seductive, creamy in a way that sits against the taut precision of most vintages of Haut-Bailly and yet still maintaining control and poise. The aromatics are young and seductive, and the terroir has not yet fully overtaken the vintage expression, but it will do in another five or six years. A huge success. Drinking Window 2020 - 2050
Tasted by Jane Anson (at Haut-Bailly, 03 Jul 2020)
Part of Tasting 20 years of Château Haut-Bailly: 1998-2018

Aromas of blackberries, wet earth and mushrooms, follow through to a full body, with a solid core of fruit. Velvety and delicious, yet wonderfully structured. Muscular wine. Best ever? Try in 2018.

Medium ruby-red. Very ripe but subdued aromas of dark berries, black cherry, minerals, woodsmoke, mocha and smoky underbrush. Silky on entry, then utterly smooth and seamless in the middle, with outstanding concentration and lift to the berry, tobacco and hot rock flavors. Finishes with utterly noble tannins and outstanding, slowly building length and lingering perfume. This outstanding Haut-Bailly saturates every square millimeter of the palate without leaving any undue impression of weight. I was reminded of the time I was served three classy old Pessac-Leognan wines blind. I guessed that I was tasting Haut-Brion, but the bottles turned out to be Haut-Bailly 1961, 1945 and 1928.

The 2009 Haut-Bailly has a very pure bouquet with blackberry, liquorice, hints of star anise and boysenberry jam, opulent and vivacious, a little glossy perhaps? The palate is medium-bodied with very supple and lithe tannin matched with a fine bead of acidity. Lovely balance here, fine tension with a insistent grip, layers of black fruit laced with cedar and graphite towards the very Pauillac-like finish. Superb. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits' Ten Year On tasting.

Offers a rich, very dense feel, but stays racy thanks to a strong graphite frame around the core of roasted fig, plum sauce and maduro tobacco. Muscular but defined on the finish, with a long tarry edge in reserve. This shows serious depth and is more backward than most of its peers. Should really stretch out nicely in the cellar. Best from 2017 through 2035. 6,665 cases made. — JM

[60/37/3CF] Very ripe fruit - raspberry, blackcurrant, and mineral too; rich, very nicely balanced, relatively full and fleshy middleweight with a very fine grained, but present tannin; juicy ripeness within the finely firm structure; long, minerally, warm, and with fine, scented, gently fruity, sweet length. A fairly weighty Haut Bailly, but retaining its usual elegance and finesse as well. 2018-30

100 RP- I have had this wine now four separate times since I wrote my official review after bottling of the 2009s. It goes from strength to strength, and it is not surprising that it is now one of the perfect wines of this great, great vintage – the finest vintage of Bordeaux that I have tasted in 37 years covering that epicenter for world-class quality in wine. Much of it is attributable to winemaker Véronique Sanders and her boss, Robert Wilmers. Their incredibly draconian selection process and their enormous investments in both the viticulture and the estate as well as the winemaking facility have paid off brilliantly over the last decade. The 2009, which has an opaque ruby/purple color, an extraordinary nose of high-quality unsmoked cigar tobacco, graphite, blackcurrants and spice, hits the palate with a medium to full-bodied, saturated and rich mouthfeel, but an elegant and ethereal quality that is difficult to articulate. It is rich, complex and tastes as if it were the vinous equivalent of a remarkable haute couture creation from the late Coco Chanel. It is full-bodied yet elegant, powerful yet delicate, and remarkably velvety-textured, sumptuous and loaded with upside potential. It can be approached now, as most 2009s tend to be, given their richness of fruit, low acidity and extraordinary concentration, but the great complexity that will emerge from this fabulous terroir is at least a decade away, and this wine is set for 50 or more years of longevity. Kudos to Haut-Bailly!



97 LPB - Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2009 Haut-Bailly hits the ground running with bold black fruit preserves, Morello cherries, baked blueberries and tilled earth scents with nuances of fried herbs, chargrilled meat and a ferrous waft plus a touch of menthol. Medium to full-bodied, the taut palate has a firm, grainy texture with a lively line lifting the core of muscular fruit, finishing long and earthy. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, March 2019

Leading off a duo of truly legendary beauties, the 2009 Château Haut-Bailly possesses that rare mix of opulence and elegance that's the hallmark of all truly great wines. Incredible notes of sweet red and black fruit, flowery incense, mint, smoked tobacco, and assorted spices give way to a full-bodied, layered, weightless 2009 with velvety tannins and a magical finish. This is pure Bordeaux magic that I wish every reader could taste. It's also been incredibly consistent for me, and this has consistently topped out my scale every time I'm lucky enough to drink a bottle. 100pts Nov 2023
I continue to think the 2009 Château Haut-Bailly is the finest wine from this estate to date. It exemplifies the inherent elegance and finesse of this terroir while offering an incredible level of richness and depth, revealing a ruby/plum hue as well as a smorgasbord of black cherries, red currants, lavender, unsmoked tobacco, truffle, and flowery incense. Every bit as sensational on the palate, this full-bodied Haut-Bailly has a flawless, layered, multi-dimensional texture, beautiful mid-palate depth, and again, just off-the-charts elegance and finesse. It needs an hour in a decanter if drinking any time soon and has another 30 years of prime drinking ahead of it. Hats off the team of Véronique Sanders for this legendary Graves. 100pts Nov 2020
Deep ruby/purple-colored, with loads of red currants, smoked meats, dried flowers, Asian spices and hints of truffle-like aromatics, the 2009 Haut Bailly is full-bodied, ethereally textured, super elegant, and possesses a purity of fruit that’s off the charts. In addition to a wealth of fruit, this absolutely perfect wine glides across the palate and carries incredible intensity and richness without any sensation of weight or heaviness. It's already impossible to resist, yet will keep for another two to three decades. This is the epitome of elegance and finesse in Bordeaux! 100pts Dec 2017