0

2014 Château les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

  • Red
  • Dry
  • Medium Bodied
Not ready
Jane Anson MW
94/100
17.25/20
Neal Martin MW
91/100
Product: 20148013701
2014 Château les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

Description

Change continues apace at this estate, which has been under new ownership since 2010, with their new cellar and tasting room opening in summer 2015. Displaying a lighter, more ethereal style, the 2014 has notes of menthol, tobacco and sweet blackcurrants, with violets and floral aromatics. Medium-bodied with a dark, plum-like colour, there is some sour cherry in the mix too. Earthy, mineral and with plenty of acidity, the luscious fruit balances out really nicely alongside the savoury edge. Persistent on the finish, spice and green pepper linger on the palate. The wine is quite powerful and serious, with layers of complexity. The 2014 is a very good effort.

55% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot
Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2014
Maturity Not ready
Body Medium Bodied
Producer Château les Carmes Haut-Brion

Critics reviews

Jane Anson MW 94/100
This is the first vintage where you see true clarity and precision in the fruit expression, and you start to feel the hum of minerality and confidence that Carmes has built up so successfully over the past decade. Drawn out raspberry and blackberry fruit on the finish, with grip and waves of violet and peony aromatics, moving on from the rose stems of the earlier vintages. A lovely wine, ready to drink but will age, and the slate scrape texture and white pepper spice gives an extra kick of interest. This was the point at which I began to fall in love with Carmes. 40% stems. 3.6ph.Drink 2022-2042jane_anson_mw, janeanson_com (Feb 2022)
Drink 2022 - 2042
Jane Anson MW, JaneAnson.com (Feb 2022)
17.25/20
Good lift, like the structure of this wine, the tannins are supple but firm, this is a medium drinker but with ambition, can feel the well fleshed out dark fruits, a real spiciness here, bitter chocolate, high acidity, a touch austere again, lean but with impact. Important investment going on at this estate currently, one to watch.
Drink 2022 - 2042
Decanter.com
Neal Martin MW 91/100
The 2014 Les Carmes Haut Brion has a very ripe, fig-tinged bouquet with red cherries, orange sorbet and faint tarry scents. This has more bravado than many of its Pessac-Lognan peers. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannin. It comes across as more modern in style than its peers, silky smooth with caressing succulent red cherry and blackberry fruit leading to a polished finish. It has very good body and density, though I find much more complexity on the 2015. I remarked that I wanted to see how well the oak integrates with this Les Carmes Haut-Brion and at this early stage, I wait to be totally convinced that all the constituent parts are singing from the same hymn sheet.Neil Martin - 31/03/2017
Drink 2022 - 2042
Neal Martin MW, (Mar 2017)

About this wine

Château les Carmes Haut-Brion

Château les Carmes Haut-Brion is a 10.3-hectare wine estate in Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank of Bordeaux. The property was established over 400 years ago. It takes its name from the Carmelites, the order of monks that tended it for almost 200 years. Once a little-known neighbour of the world-famous Châteaux Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, things have changed rapidly here in recent years and it is today one of Bordeaux’s most exciting names. In 2010, the estate was acquired by Patrice Pichet, a French property developer. He quickly enlisted the dynamic Guillaume Pouthier as winemaker and director, and this has been a truly hot property ever since.
Find out more

Need help?

Delivery and Quality Guarantee