Vue du Château Haut Brion

Our Top Ten Wines 2021 are actually 11!

As pointed out in our Review of the Vintage,  2021 is a Good Vintage. The Goodness is not concentrated in any single variety or AOC. It is obvious to us, however, that the 2021 vintage is the year of Great White Wine. In fact, five of our top eleven wines are white. (Please remember our conclusion after the tastings).

A scale of 100 for the « Top Ten »

The wines that score from 96 – 100 are Exceptional with the potential to cellar extensively and to improve with the additional age.

Wines scoring from 90 – 95 are Outstanding with the potential to cellar extensively and to improve with the additional age.

Wines scoring from 85 – 89 are Recommended with the potential to cellar and to improve with the additional age.

Wine scoring from 80 – 84 are Satisfactory with the potential to improve with additional age.

The Top Ten in preview

We present these selections as the first of three articles concerning the 2021 vintage. The second will be a release of the second tranche of 80 wines which constitute the balance of the wines that scored 90 points or above, our Outstanding wines. Finally, we shall release a list of all the wines we tasted with their scores and accompanying tasting notes.

Please enjoy this list of our Exceptional wines from the 2021 vintage, the top eleven wines we tasted:

A Top Eleven 2021 to taste without moderation

98 – Château Haut-Brion Blanc, Pessac-Léognan – Grand Cru Classé de Graves

The wine is crystal clean and brilliant with a pale straw robe and sparkling silver reflections. The nose is clean and youthful with an aromatic intensity nestled in the freshly cut, dried straw. On the palate the dried, aromatic herbs marry well with lemon rind, green grapes, and sweet, yellow grapefruit. The herbs and fruit are complicated by a subtle minerality and salinity that refreshes the palate with every taste. The wine is impeccably clean with intensity, complexity, balance, and length. We have always regarded the Château Haut-Brion Blanc as one of the finest white wines produced in Bordeaux. This vintage gives credence to our belief.

97 – Château Lafite-Rothschild, Pauillac – Grand Cru Classé-Premier Grand Cru Classé

The wine is youthful, clean, and brilliant with an intense purple, almost black robe with violet reflections. The nose is clean, young, very intense, and opulent with aromas of fresh black cherries and blackberries. The M+ well-aged oak adds a cardamom, allspice, and nutmeg complexity with a subtle charred character. The palate is full-bodied with very intense black cherry, blackberry, and cassis. The sweet M+ oak gives a luxurious roundness and velvety texture to the wine and adds a complex toasted oak character that focuses the fruit. The fruit and oak drive a long, intense finish that summarizes and encapsulates the wine’s complexity and richness. This vintage shows the greatness that exemplifies Château Lafite-Rothschild.

Lafite Rothchild, «Top Ten» des Bordeaux Primeurs Millésime 2021

97 – Château Margaux, Margaux – Grand Cru Classé-Premier Grand Cru Classé

The wine is brilliant and clean, with an Intense, dark purple, almost black robe with almost iridescent, violet reflections. The nose is clean, young, and expressive with a moderate intensity. The aromas include a broad range of fruit from dried cranberry to black cherry and blackberry with hints of rose petal. The oak contributes dried herbs and spice with an M+ sweetness and roundness. The palate is clean, youthful, and full-bodied. It is very Intense but not strong. There is an excellent fruit-driven attack with red fruit and crushed red berries that rounds in the middle to blackberries and cassis. The tannins are subtle and very soft with a velvety texture. The finish is long and fruit-driven with a refreshing balance. This Margaux is lovely, refreshing, and more subtle than their greatest vintages. Yet, the 2021 Château Margaux remains an Exceptional wine with classic intensity and complexity and a wonderful ageability. This vintage has the positive added dimension of being drinkable at an early age.

«Top Ten» des Bordeaux Primeurs Millésime 2021, Château Margaux

97 – Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux, Bordeaux

The appearance is youthful and brilliant with a very pale, straw robe with flashing white reflections. The nose is young and clean with a hint of reduction. It has a medium intensity with aromas of white grapes and white flowers overlaying the classic dried herb and straw character of Sauvignon Blanc. Subtle oak adds a complexity to the nose without interfering with the aromas. The palate has youthful crispness on attack that evolves into a richer roundness on the middle palate showing lemon and grapefruit with layers of passion fruit and banana, and a whisper of vanilla. The finish maintains the intense fruit and reveals a fine mineral tension and salinity. The wine has excellent balance and length with an oaky roundness that focuses the fruit. The wine is powerful without being overstated. The wine’s complexity is ponderous and consists of great diversity and subtlety. Yet, the wine remains refreshingly drinkable at this early age. Cellar aging will provide the additional roundness and uniform complexity that we look for in the great vintages of Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux.

“Top Ten” of Bordeaux Primeurs Vintage 2021, Château Haut-Brion / Mission Haut-Brion

96 – Château Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan – Grand Cru Classé-Premier Grand Cru Classé

The wine is brilliant and clean, with an Intense purple, almost black robe with violet reflections. The nose is clean, young, and slightly closed with great intensity. It has a sweet M+ toasted oak supporting violets and roses, rich black cherry, and blackberry fruit with hints of aromatic herbs and baking spice with hints of licorice.

The palate is very clean, vivid, full bodied, and intense. It has elegant herbaceous touches with ripe blackberries, blueberries, and black cherry. The flavors are rich with an excellent balance and a firm M+ sweet toast that marries the long-lasting flavors elegantly. We have tasted Château Haut-Brion many times during our years in the Beverage Industry. This is the finest vintage we have tasted from them. That means, with their long history behind them, there are potentially many greater things to come.

96 – Château La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc, Pessac-Léognan

The wine is crystal clean and brilliant, with a pale straw robe and green reflections. The nose is clean and youthful with hints of white flowers, intense lemon rind, and yellow grapefruit surrounded with richly toasted oak. The palate is round and enveloping with fresh lemon and grapefruit and hints of kiwi and pineapple with firm oak. The wine is complex and refreshes with its crisp acidity. The finish is very long with excellent mineral tension and fine balance. This is an Exceptional wine it achieves its quality with its freshness, intense complexity, balance, and length on both the nose and palate. It is a fresh, young wine with the potential for excellent development and greater complexity. Domaine Clarence Dillon is making many fine wines. We look forward to wines from an exceptional vintage.

Bouteille de Chateau Ausone 2021, Présentation des Primeurs 2021 au Château : Chapelle et Grand Vin ainsi que Chateau La Clotte

96 – Château Ausone, Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé A

The wine is clean and bright with a dark purple robe and a medium intensity. The nose is sound and clean, youthful, and complex with an M+ toast on well-aged oak with the aromatics of sandalwood and cypress layered on ripe red fruit.

On the palate dried herbs and leaves with hints of dark honey layer on top of the black cherry and red plum. The wine has a medium-plus intensity, exceptional balance, and a sustained length.  Château Ausone has produced another exceptional wine with a luxurious velvety texture even when the quality of the vintage is potentially at its worst. This wine has flashes of the classic Ausone quality with an intensity and balance needed for a long and graceful life.

The wine is youthful, brilliant, and clean with an Intense, deep purple, almost black, robe with violet reflections. The nose is clean, young, and slightly closed with great intensity. Hints of piment spice marry well with black cherry, blackberry, and cassis. The M+ toast on the sweet, well-aged oak focuses the aromas. The palate is clean, youthful, and full-bodied with very intense black cherry, blueberry, and cassis. There is a subtle complexity of aromatic, dusty, dried herbs with a hint of licorice. The finish is long, intense, fruity, and well balanced, with soft, sticky tannin textures. This powerful wine, although slightly closed on the nose, has a wonderful drinkability. It should live well and long in your cellar.

96 – Château Tronquoy-Lalande, Saint-Estèphe

The wine has an intense, almost black, dark purple robe with violet reflections. The nose is clean, youthful, and intense with spicy, crushed red and black berries with the jamminess of lightly cooked black cherries and four spice. The mouth is clean, full bodied, and dense with an expressive attack. It is ample on the middle palate with a luscious roundness of red and black fruit and a touch of fine dustiness on the finish. This is an impressive showing with exceptional density and meatiness, length, and balance. This wine shows well now, but it will live long in your cellar.

96 – Château de Fieuzal Blanc, Pessac-Léognan

The wine is extremely clear and brilliant with a pale straw robe and green highlights. The nose is clean, youthful, and vivid with fresh aromatics, jasmine, and citrus with a hint of green bell pepper on the edges. Young lightly charred oak unifies the nose and palate. The mouth is full bodied and intense with a lean edge. White peach, lemon curd, and key lime marry well with the aromatic green bell pepper. This is a traditional Pessac-Léognan Blanc with an excellent potential for cellaring.

96 – Château Carbonnieux Blanc, Pessac-Léognan

The wine is brilliant with a pale straw robe with green reflections. The nose is clean, youthful, and intensely aromatic with a subtle, yet persistent medium toasted oak supporting the complex aromas. Honeysuckle, white peach, and lemon peel with freshly cut hay infuse the palate. This is a classic Pessac-Léognan Blanc. with an excellent potential for cellaring.