Chateau Les Carmes Haut Brion 2013

ANTONIO GALLONI: "The 2013 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is one of the riper, more opulent wines readers will come across in this vintage. Dark red cherry, plum, smoke and spices all hit the palate as the 2013 shows off its super-distinctive personality. The style is ripe and flashy, but it all works very nicely. The creamy, textured finish is a thing of pure beauty. Quite unusually, in 2013, Les Carmes is dominated by Cabernet Franc, which makes up a whopping 59% of the blend, along with 22% Merlot and 19% Cabernet Sauvignon. Tasted three times."

JAMES SUCKLING: "Aromas of blackberry, licorice and tar. Full body, firm and chewy tannins. Structured and very pretty. Structured. Excellent. Well done."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Dark cherry, tobacco and licorice create the perfume. The wine is soft, forward and polished on the palate, with ripe, dark cherries and plums in the finish, making it easy to drink on release."

THE WINEADVOCATE: "When I originally tasted the 2013 Les Carmes Haut Brion, I found it a difficult wine to assess. Having visited the property and seen the multi-million euro investment within the vineyard and Philippe Stark-designed winery, plus the reductive method of winemaker, I can understand why that might have been the case. Bottled one month prior to my visit, it has a very intense bouquet with macerated small dark cherries, crème de cassis and black olive. Frankly, you would not identify it as a 2013 due to the level of fruit concentration. The palate is medium-bodied with quite robust tannin on the entry. Crisp and pure, there is fine mineralité here in this wine, quite structured with a grip detectable at the back of the mouth, the finish quite linear and slightly saline. It is a very fine 2013 that should age for 12-18 years -- it is one of the very few 2013s that will need bottle age."

WEINWISSER: "59 % Cabernet Franc, 22 % Merlot, 19 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 21 hl/ha, 13.4 Vol %. Eine halbe Ernte mit nur 15´000 Flaschen. Extrem dunkles Purpur mit lila und violetten Reflexen. Dunkelbeeriges Bouquet, kalter Darjeelingtee, Tabaknoten und Korinthen. Im Gaumen genial, dunkles Malz, dunkle Edelhölzer, samtig fliessende Tannine, viel Lakritze und Brombeermark im Finale. Ist das wirklich ein so grosser Wein aus einem so schwierigen Jahrgang? Gehört zu den allerbesten 2013er und ist somit, in seiner Preiskategorie schon fast eine Klasse für sich. Hat mich sehr beeindruckt! Drei Mal verkostet. Das letzte Mal als letzte Fassprobe kurz bevor wir - am Ende des 15tägigen Trips- zum Flughafen Merignac fuhren. (2019 - 2042)"