A very structured young Haut-Brion with blackberry, blackcurrant, black-olive and mushroom character. Medium to full-bodied with a driving balance of firm and ripe tannins and gorgeous fruit. 50.3% merlot, 38% cabernet sauvignon and 11.7% cabernet franc.
May 2022

The 2021 Haut-Brion confirms its fine showing en primeur, cementing its status as one of the wines of the vintage. Its complex bouquet of dark berries and cassis mingled with notions of cigar wrapper and burning embers unfurls in the glass. Full-bodied, deep and velvety, it’s concentrated and layered with a multidimensional core of fruit, sweet tannins and lively acids, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. Reflecting the timeless elegance of Haut-Brions from cooler years, the 2021 will delight Bordeaux purists.

Scented flowers and red berries on the nose, lovely aromatics with green peppercorns, herbal blackcurrant leaf and floral scents. Rich and round for a 2021, high acidity gives the life-force but this has a great structure in the mouth. Quite imposing tannins cover the entire tongue and cheeks, and I love it. Grippy, focused, this is one of the more demonstrative 2021 wines in terms of texture and power, but still keeps precision and direction. Chalky grip, a mineral undertone and feeling of substance on the finish. Allow a few more years before starting on this.

Darker and more brooding than La Mission with notes of soy and balsamic underneath the deep, pure blackcurrant and plum fruit, lifted by fresh tobacco and fine, warm brick and light stone minerality.The palate is extremely pretty and with real depth through the mid palate. Very pure, supple, rich texture again lifted by a freshness that comes from a combination of fine minerality and perfectly integrated acidity. Really great power, but held back with restraint and a gentle touch.
April 2022

The 2021 Haut-Brion has a more extravagant, charming bouquet compared directly with the La Mission at the moment, offering copious blackberry, black truffle, undergrowth and menthol scents. The palate is very well balanced, harmonious and poised, with fine-grained tannins and an almost pixelated finish. This Haut-Brion seems to have reveled in the cooler growing season, and at 13.8% alcohol, there is almost a degree less than recent vintages. Jean-Philippe Delmas has fashioned a contender for wine of the vintage. Neal Martin, Vinous, May 2022

The 2021 Haut-Brion is all class, all finesse. Naturally the overt intensity of recent vintages is replaced by a more understated style in 2021. Silky tannins caress a core of dark cherry/plum fruit. Hints of lavender, new leather, cloves and menthol gradually open. The trademark Haut-Brion aromatics are going to need a number of years in bottle to develop. The 2021 is hardly a blockbuster, and yet in many ways it is so primary.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2022

A classical balance, reflecting a vintage that is fairly strict in its aromatic expression, exceptionally successful on this spot. Soft cassis bud, rose petal and rose stem, subdued power that gently builds over the palate. Unquestionably a different architecture to Haut-Brion than over the past few years, and there is a sculpted feel to the cassis and bilberry fruits, still with concentration and weight through the palate, expertly constructed. Feels like a window to the past, and is delicious. Harvest September 13 to October 8, with no Petit Verdot used this year. 73% new oak.
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, May 2022

Stricter than the Mission at this early stage, with clear distiction, well balanced with grip and confidence, smoked black pepper, cloves, fennel, slate, rose stems, blackberry and cassis fruit, sculpted and concentrated. Exceptionally impressive with a clear rise from start to finish of the palate, building layers that will take it through the decades, and this is a wine to look forward to enjoying over decades to come. Harvest September 13 to October 8, with no Petit Verdot used this year. 73% new oak.

In comparison to its sibling La Mission Haut-Brion, the 2021 Château Haut-Brion is firmer and much more masculine, with an impressive, almost austere style in its smoky red and black fruits, salted meats, graphite, tobacco, and crushed stone-driven aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and elegant on the palate, it picks up density and suppleness with time in the glass and has plenty of tannins, a seamless, layered mouthfeel, and a great finish. It's clearly in the fresher, elegant style of the vintage, yet this brings a serious, age-worthy style that will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and evolve and drink brilliantly over the following two decades. The blend is 50.3% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11.7% Cabernet Franc, hitting 13.8% alcohol, with the elevage in 73% new French oak.

The 2021 Haut-Brion is a blend of 50% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 12% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it needs a lot of swirling and convincing to coax out notions of redcurrant jelly, raspberry coulis, blackcurrant pastilles, and graphite, plus suggestions of cloves, crushed rocks, and underbrush. Medium-bodied, the palate is a little like sucking on stones at this stage, chock full of minerals with emerging black and red fruits, framed by ripe, grainy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and earthy. A very different style and expression of Haut-Brion than in recent years, and yet this is equally evocative and simply gorgeous.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, May 2022

Bright crimson-purple. Fragrant berry-fruit notes as the wine opens. Smooth and refined on attack, the mid palate full and generous swathing powerful but integrated tannins. Impressive length and drive. Quite a powerhouse for such a complicated year. Huge potential. (JL) 13.8%
Drink 2032 – 2055
Jancisrobinson.com, May 2022