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With its 5-century-old vineyard, Château Carmes Haut Brion is a must in the Pessac-Léognan appellation.
It was in 1584 that the Catholic monks of the Grands Carmes order - who take their name from Mont Carmel, literally "God's Vineyard" - were offered land by the lord of the Haut Brion house, Jean de Potensac.
At that time, Domaine comprised only meadows, a few vines and a mill located on the Peugue river. It was only 50 years later that the monks decided to expand their vineyard by purchasing plots belonging to Haut Brion. For two centuries, they produced one of the region's most famous wines, while keeping the name Haut Brion, which became Carmes Haut Brion by custom.
Confiscated in 1791 during the French Revolution, it became Bien National and was only bought back a century later by wine merchant Léon Colin, illustrious ancestor of the Chantecaille family. The latter then had the Château we know today built and the park landscaped.
In 2010, Château was bought by Patrice Pichet, a big name in real estate and a long-time lover of the property. Anxious to do his utmost to bring Domaine to its apogee, he will have a new winery built and the vineyard redeveloped, putting oenologists Guillaume Pouthier and Stéphane Derenoncourt in charge.
Straddling... See more ...
This was a year of... Waiting. Patience. Worry. Wonder.
The vintage started quietly in the autumn, and with it the first phase of waiting. Waiting for rain.
A phase that was to be very important for what followed. On the surface, everything seemed calm.
But underground, the vine sensed from the lack of rainfall that it needed to dig deep to find water.
And to develop its root system.
The first buds burst in mid-March. All in all, this was quite “normal”.
Until May, when heat and drought set in, making it feel more like July.
At the time, we were not to know that these weather conditions would last for four months.
Respite, for the vines and for the winegrowers, came with the rains in mid-August.
The harvest went smoothly, with unlimited choice of when to pick. The bunches were superb: the stems woody, the berries ripe on all sides, the seeds perfectly mature.
In the cellar, it was time to take a step back, to adopt a light touch, because everything was there: pulp, richness, power, volume.
