Descrição

Château les Carmes Haut-Brion é um autêntico ícone de Bordéus proveniente de um ambiente privilegiado. Um local que se orgulha de um terroir composto por cascalho, areia, argila e calcário, que permite que variedades como Cabernet franc, Cabernet sauvignon e Merlot alcancem a sua máxima expressão.

Informações de produto

A adega
Château les Carmes Haut Brion
Tipo
Tinto
Colheita
2021
Álcool
13.5% vol.
Variedade
40% Cabernet franc, 35% Cabernet sauvignon, 25% Merlot
Origem
Pessac-Léognan

Prova

Vista
Cor vermelho rubi brilhante.
Nariz
Extremamente complexo, com notas de fruta madura, cassis e amoras, aromas florais, fumo e cedro.
Boca
De corpo completo a tubular, o vinho está agora a esticar-se. Frescura e facilidade de beber. Delicadeza explosiva, finura mineral, atmosfera suculenta e resinosa, notas de íris e violeta, flor de sabugueiro, especiarias negras e picantes.
Temperatura de servir
Recomenda-se servir a 16 ºC.
Consumo
Ótimo até aproximadamente 2055, se mantido em boas condições de conservação.

Vinha e preparação

Tamanho
7 hectares.
Idade
Vinhas com uma idade média de 43 anos.
Solo
Mistura de cascalho, areia, argila e calcário.
Colheita
Vindima manual 100% selecionada à mão.
Vinificação
Elaboração em todos os depósitos sem esmagamento e, em parte, através da fermentação de cachos inteiros. Cubas utilizadas na fermentação alcoólica: tanques termorregulados troncocónicos de inox, depósitos de aço (60 hectolitros), depósitos de madeira (76 hectolitros), depósitos de betão (50 hectolitros). Fermentação inicial de 35 dias. Malolática em barrica.
Envelhecimento
Estágio previsto de 24 meses (70% em barricas novas de carvalho, 20% em cubas de 18 hectolitros e 10% em vasos de terracota).

Avaliação dos peritos

James Suckling:

The texture and weight make this wine classy and unique with subtle berries, chocolate, bark and hints of cloves and dried flowers. Graphite. Medium- to full-bodied with very integrated, fine and lightly chewy tannins with lots of polish and focus. Juicy and crunchy. So much spice and earth. Average vine age of the cabernet franc is 80 years. 45% whole-bunch. 40% cabernet franc, 35% cabernet sauvignon and 25% merlot. Give this time, but it’s already a fascinating young wine. Try after 2027.

Decanter:

Beautiful aromatic complexity on the nose, floral nuances and expressive blackcurrant, black cherry and dark chocolate but you're really getting the perfumed Cabernet fruit. This has an instant presence in the mouth, fully flavoured and juicy but so balanced, nothing sticking out, with the elegance of the ripe cool fruit touching the sides of the mouth. Tannins are present but fine and gently grippy with detail and definition to them. This has a lot of life for the vintage, one of the more full, round wines with chewy, fleshy tannins. The Cabernet gives backbone and density, the Merlot ripe red fruits, and then the chalky, slate, pencil lead, graphite salinity of the terroir comes in on the finish, giving that nuance, the sense of place and the vintage. Great rise and persistence all the way through, such drive but also lift, it doesn't let up. A stand-out wine - extremely classy and memorable. Skilled winemaking on show from Guillaume Pouthier. 5% more tannins than in 2020 which was already high. Grapes were picked at a natural alcohol of 14.2% so no chaptalisation here. 3.6pH. 45% whole bunches. Ageing in 70% new oak, 20% new foundre and 10% amphoras.

The Wine Advocate:

The 2021 Les Carmes Haut-Brion has turned out beautifully in bottle, though it is more introverted and brooding than it appeared during en primeur tastings, unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries mingled with spices, loamy soil, licorice, rose petals, gentian and black pepper. Medium to full-bodied, deep and seamless, with a concentrated core of fruit framed by ripe but abundant structuring tannins and bright acids, it concludes with a long, palate-staining finish. As readers may remember, it's a blend of 40% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot.