2000 Chateau Haut-Brion Pessac-Leognan France

Winemaker Notes
Beautiful color, very deep with a mixing of the Haut-Brion ruby and its purple-violet shade of youth. Swishing the wine around in the glass gives a notion of its density. This complexity is followed up in the aromas that suddenly burst forth all at once: a woody hint of fine polished oak, mulberry jam, cherry pits, a touch of blackcurrant, and the bittersweet of mango. One discovers this complexness again with even more intensity in the mouth. The specific notes oft his vintage: the finesse of mocha, the toasted trace of praline all join with the above, melding together with tannins of great complexity and softness. The finish is never ending... exceptional bottle. To be drunk today, tomorrow and surely even 100 years from now.

Press
Rated 100 Points Decanter
Is this as good as the 1989? Certainly it is lush and powerful, lingering and expanding in the mouth with sweet tobacco and cigar box notes, along with still young blackcurrant and blackberry fruits, all given lift by the trademark Haut-Brion aromatics. It beds in and shakes off early reticence after a good hour in the glass, suggesting that this is only just leaving its primary phase and has many decades left ahead of it. A great wine that highlights the success of Haut-Brion under the partnership of estate director Jean-Bernard Delmas, father of current director Jean-Philippe Delmas, and owner Joan Dillon the Duchess of Mouchy (president of the company until 2008 before handing over to her son Prince Robert of Luxembourg). A supremely confident wine that is hard to fault in its depth of expression.