Château Haut-Batailley 2019

This is linear and tight with blue fruit and fine tannins. Some graphite and lead pencil, too. Medium to full body with very Pauillac sensibility. Delicate, yet structured. Restrained. Needs time to open. 76% cabernet sauvignon. Try after 2026.

Slightly darker fruited and denser than the more ethereally styled 2018, the 2019 Château Haut-Batailley offers up a gorgeous array of red and black currants, black raspberries, tobacco, and flowers, with more classic lead pencil and tobacco notes emerging with time in the glass. Balanced, medium to full-bodied, and concentrated, it has ripe, supple tannins, terrific mid-palate density, and a great finish. The quality continues to soar at this estate under the helm of the Cazes family and this is a gem of a Pauillac well worth seeking out. Give it a few years and enjoy over the following two decades.

A fine effort from this cru classé located between Lynch-Bages, Forts de Latour and Pichon Lalande, the 2019 Haut-Batailley offers up aromas of minty berries, loamy soil, violets, cedar and spices, followed by a medium to full-bodied, succulent palate with a pretty core of fruit, lively acids and powdery structuring tannins. This is the second vintage produced by the Cazes family since their acquisition of the château in 2017.

The third vintage under the Cazes ownership, and happy to see that they maintain a style that is distinct from Lynch Bages, one than emphasizes the elegance that Cabernet Sauvignon can give over the power and concentration of Bages. This has a touch of rusticity on the tannins, with an unfussy elegance, some delicious juicy cassis fruits and a ton of Pauillac character.