Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan 2015

100 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Wine Advocate): "A blend of 50% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Haut-Brion is reticent to begin, languidly revealing crushed black cherries, ripe black plums and wild blueberries with sparks of cinnamon stick, cloves, nutmeg, espresso, unsmoked cigars, tapenade, crushed rocks and lavender. The full-bodied palate possesses wonderfully complementary contrasts of bold black and blue fruit richness and delicately nuanced cherry fruit, baking spices and floral accents, strutting ripe, finely pixelated tannins and seamless acidity that is placed firmly in the background, finishing very long and with plenty of attitude. This impeccably poised, exquisitely perfumed 2015 Haut-Brion possesses the most alluring yet seemingly effortless beauty. While it bears only a passing resemblance in its opulent personality to the now legendary 1989, like that vintage the 2015 cannot fail to hedonically satiate and intellectually edify all lovers of great Bordeaux who drink it. What’s more, it also has the blue-blooded tenaciousness to remain this jaw-droppingly impressive, throughout its many guises over time, and for a very, very long time. Drink: 2024-2064. (2/21/18)"

100 points Jeb Dunnuck: "The 2015 Haut Brion is a perfect wine that couldn’t be any better and is certainly at the top of this great vintage. A blend of 50% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance Cabernet Franc, this full-bodied, concentrated, backward, yet sensationally pure 2015 boast knockout notes of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, ground herbs, and graphite, with a terrific damp earth/minerality quality emerging with time in the glass. Straight, focused, and built like a skyscraper, with a stacked mid-palate, forget bottles for 7-8 years and enjoy over the following three to four decades. Drink: 2025-2060. (11/30/17)"

100 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown (The Wine Independent): "The 2015 Haut-Brion is composed of 50% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet in color, it rolls out of the glass with a youthful, still primary core of juicy black plums, crushed blackcurrants, and boysenberries, before revealing evocative notes of iron ore, violets, dark chocolate, and licorice with a waft of tar. The full-bodied palate is packed with muscular black fruits and lots of mineral nuances, framed by very firm, very fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epic length and depth. Stunning! Drink: 2025-2065. (11/17/22)"

100 points Neal Martin (Wine Journal): "The 2015 Haut-Brion is a blend of 50% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Cabernet Franc picked between 8 September and 5 October. Of course, it showed majestically out of barrel, so pressure was on in bottle. Deep in color, the bouquet is a real showstopper: blackberry, raspberry, sage, black olive and warm gravel...this is a profoundly complex bouquet that is nuanced and beautifully delineated. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin and ample freshness, but don’t be deceived because this is a very structured Haut-Brion built for the long-term. Remarkably the 14.9% alcohol is completely disguised. It feels incredibly long, and yet instead of fanning out, it shuts down the door on the finish. It is a behemoth of a wine, one that is up there with the legends of the past. Drink: 2025-2070. (2/28/18)"

100 points Jeff Leve (The Wine Cellar Insider): "If the color does not let you know you're in for a treat, the nose is going to knock you over with its floral, smoke, cigar wrapper, black cherry and cassis notes. The purity of fruit here is off the charts. The wine is all about its silk and velvet textures from that point forward. The finish is so expansive, it feels like it keeps on going, moving across an array of flavors long after you've put the wine where it was supposed to go. This is the best wine yet produced by Jean Philippe Delmas yet. Bravo!"

99 points Andy Howard, MW (Decanter): "Rich and sumptuous on the palate with huge depth of fruit yet reined in by fresh acidity, with masses of tight tannins. It’s already appealing to drink (as are many 2015s) this really needs a decade or more to allow it to fully develop. The 15% alcohol is carried so easily here, with the crushed rock, sage, lavender and warm earth characters making it a standout First growth. Rated as a 100-point wine by many influential judges and undoubtedly one of the wines of the vintage. Drinking Window: 2024-2060. (11/5/19)"

99 points Chris Kissack (Winedoctor): "The élevage here was in barrel, using 78% new oak, for a period lasting 17 months. I find a quite savoury nose, unfurling to reveal perfumed fruit, dried berries and cherries, with a chalk-dust and rose-petal freshness, the aromatics seemingly trying to upstage its La Mission peer in the floral-scented stakes. The palate is very broadly composed, fresh and dark, surprisingly fleet of foot, structurally impressive and yet it carries its substance and frame so elegantly, the ripe and tightly grained tannins sitting within it all, barely noticeable, yet huge in their significance. They only really show their presence over and above the fruit when they sweep in on the finish, Nureyev-style. Fabulous. Magnificent potential here. (May 2018)"

99 points (19.5/20)/'Le Coup de Coeur,' La Revue du Vin de France: "This will become one of the legends produced by the château. In a flamboyant style, but with classy tannins, heady smoky and fruity notes that are the hallmark of this vintage. It should be forgotten in the cellar for at least a decade. (2019)"

98 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "A huge, dramatic wine, the 2015 Haut-Brion is magnificent. Vertical in its construction and towering in its reach, the 2015 is going to need a good decade-plus to even start becoming approachable, as it needs to lose baby fat and develop the full range of its aromatics. Even at this early stage, though, it is wonderfully complete and positively stunning. Drink: 2030-2065. (Feb 2018)"

98 points Wine Spectator: "A brick house of a wine, loaded with roasted fig, warmed currant compote and plum reduction flavors that are as broad as they are deep, carried by warm tar, ganache and smoldering bay leaf and charcoal notes. A swath of tobacco through the finish pulls everything together and ties it up with a bow of roasted mesquite. The core shows lean, muscular strength in spades. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2025 through 2045. (3/31/18)"

98 points James Suckling: "This is all about seduction and beauty with tobacco, berries, tea and wet earth. Full-bodied, round and sexy. Love the polished and beautiful tannins. Racy and refined. Try in 2023. (Feb 2018)"