Thomas Jefferson loved this wine and so do I. In fact Jefferson was the first person to import a First Growth Bordeaux to the United States.
This wine is from the Graves region of France and the only wine in the region to be given the Premier Cru Classes (First Growth). It is also the only wine that uses the Pessac-Leognan appellation. Haut-Brion tends to have the most Merlot and Cabernet Franc out of any First Growths. Typically somewhere around 30 percent Merlot and 20 percent Cabernet Franc.
1999 Chateau Haut-Brion, Bordeaux Blend, Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux
consumed Thursday, December 30, 2010, with family/love, Retail $149.99 (half bottle)
People in the wine industry seem to always ask, "how did you catch the wine bug?" You typically hear answers like, I was drinking X and it came to me that I need to be in this business or I was drinking this wine while sitting a top a vineyard and looking out over the ocean or I had a wine that brought me back to a place, a place that is ingrained in my head. I've never really had a story quite like that, or what the majority of stories are, which is a little intimidating I guess. I guess my story is more about friendship and a dream which is really central to this blog. A friend of mine, Mike, emailed me one day when I was working at my last job and simply said, "in 5 years, if I got into wine, would you join me and manage the money." It was probably a little more animated than that. For the people that know Mike, you can only imagine! ha. That is when I really started to think of taking my passion for wine and turning into a way of life. That is my story. Okay, so what's the point? If you've read my 'Welcome to my journey' post then you know what's up. So the reason for saying it again, is that I now have two answers to the question, how did you catch the wine bug? One is unconventional, at least in terms of the stories I have heard (read above if you haven't been paying attention :)) and the other answer is a 1999 Chateau Haut-Brion (well technically there are 3 answers, a 1992 Rochioli West Block as well)! So I guess I have an arsenal of answers, sense I am wordy as can be seen by this very blog, I will use all 3 answers. And after that long winded explanation of things.... here is my tasting note.
This wine, for me, is why I love wine and why wine is so different. It is truly an expression of the land, all it is is fermented grapes that is it, nothing else. If terroir were a wine, this would be it. As we saw with the Chateau Pavie, this wine has just layers and layers of complexity. However, this complexity does not cause it to be out of control. It is balanced perfectly. The first smell gives way to a beautiful bouquet: sweet, sweet, candy cherry, a little raspberry, pepper. Then a layer of earth washed over me, and as I focused on this smell all I could come up with was gravel, then stone. It was subtle, it just reminded me of rocky soil. Then I remembered reading something in the Wine Bible about the soil in Graves, and yes, Graves is named after it's gravelly soil. It was so exciting trying to figure this out and gratifying, I was just going nuts when I started to sniff it out. As I look at my tasting note this is exactly what I had written, "gravel, dirt? soil, what's the soil? earthy, I can smell the soil, gravel, stone, check book (Wine Bible)." I finally got around to tasting the wine, and it was just as good as it smelled. Fruity on the palate, flavors concentrated, slight pepper. The finish was long and sweet. One quick note, it wasn't as tannic as the '99 Pavie from Saint Emillion, coming out of a 375ml bottle, this wine was ready to drink. It was silky smooth. What a great wine!
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