2010 Chateau Haut-Brion Pessac-Leognan Premier Grand Cru Classe 750 ml

• 2010
• France
• Pessac-Léognan

• The Story

  Robert Parker, tasting this wine young, called it “ethereal” in his 100-point review, saying it “seems to float across the palate with remarkable sweetness, harmony, and the integration of all its component parts.” Jeb Dunnuck, tasting in 2021, upped the praise, calling it “pure perfection and one of truly legendary wines out there.” Dunnuck also suggested it had the legs to go a century in the cellar.

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• Wine Facts
  • Fruit Intensity
  • Oak Intensity
  • Body
  • Acidity
  • Tannin

  • ABV 15.00%
  • 2 hours
  • Now - 2065
  • 57% Cabernet Sauvignon
    23% Merlot
    20% Cabernet Franc
  • Serving temperature - 60°
  • Cork
• Wine Access Tasting Note

  A deep, opulent purple core with a thin rim of garnet. The nose is complex and striking, offering a spectacular array of blackcurrant and blueberry liqueur, charcoal, camphor, spring flowers, truffly earth, and graphite. On the palate, the wine is ethereal and weightless despite its power, revealing layers of black forest fruits, chocolate, tobacco, and crushed minerals. The texture is silky, with perfectly integrated tannins, alcohol, and acidity creating a harmonious structure. The finish is incredibly long, with notes of pencil shavings and subtle oak spice. This phenomenal First Growth is the perfect match for a carefully prepared beef Wellington or seared duck breast with a black truffle sauce. Drink now–-2065.

• Food Pairings
  • Hard Cheese
  • Red Meat
• Critic Reviews

  100 pts

  Wine Advocate

  As for the 2010 Haut-Brion, it does not have the power of Latour’s 2010 or the intense lead pencil shavings and chocolaty component of Lafite-Rothschild, but it is extraordinary, perfect wine. It has a slightly lower pH than the 2009 (3.7 versus the 2009's 3.8), and even higher alcohol than the 2009 (14.6%). The wine is ethereal. From its dense purple color to its incredibly subtle but striking aromatics that build incrementally, offering up a spectacular smorgasbord of aromas ranging from charcoal and camphor to black currant and blueberry liqueur and spring flowers, this wine’s finesse, elegant yet noble power and authority come through in a compelling fashion. It is full-bodied, but that’s only apparent in the aftertaste, as the wine seems to float across the palate with remarkable sweetness, harmony, and the integration of all its component parts – alcohol, tannin, acidity, wood, etc. This prodigious Haut-Brion is hard to compare to another vintage, at least right now, but it should have 50 to 75 years of aging potential. Anticipated maturity: 2022-2065+.

  100 pts

  Jeb Dunnuck

  Pure perfection and one of truly legendary wines out there, the 2010 is 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc that hit a whopping 14.6% natural alcohol, with a healthy pH of 3.7. This deep rich, opulent beauty is just now at the early stages of its prime drink window and has an incredible array of blackcurrants, chocolate, truffly earth, graphite, and hints of tobacco. A massive wine in every sense, it still somehow stays weightless and graceful, with silky, building tannins, flawless balance, and just everything in the right place. It needs an hour or two in a decanter if drinking any time soon, and it's going to have upwards of 75-100 years of ultimate longevity.