2025 Chateau Haut-Brion, Blanc, Pessac-Leognan

Waxy, lanolin, straw and citrus lemon notes on the nose alongside some soft vanilla and salted caramel aspects. Rich and round with a cool core and very defined detail from start to finish. A little quieter but with a lovely frame and texture – structured and slightly firm with a soft dusting of spice. Deep, layered, so complex and nuanced. Less showy and more introverted at this point but this will be excellent. Smoky, salty minerality, freshness and butteriness. A wine to sit with. 3.3pH. 14.5%. A yield of 23hl/ha.

Things are revving up here, totally humming, coming in for a strong finish, right up there as the best dry white of the vintage, layered with stone fruits, gorgeous texture, orange peel and liquorice. Well structured, muscular even as a white wine, with waves of fennel and bitter anis notes that add focus and draw out the closing minutes. Excellent quality. Harvest August 14 to 21. 45% new oak, 23hl/ha yield, 3.31ph.

A bigger, richer white in the vintage, as well as one of the most successful, the 2025 Château Haut-Brion Blanc reveals pear, stone fruits, spice, herbs, and a beautiful sense of minerality on the nose. Based on 53% Sauvignon Blanc and 47% Sémillon, it's rich, round, and full-bodied on the palate, with a concentrated, savory style that is dramatically different than its stablemate, the more floral, exotic La Mission Haut Brion. This beauty shines even today, yet it should have at least two decades of longevity. Drink 2026-2046.

The citrus notes jump from the glass, along with smoke, green apples, and herbs fill the aromatic profile. The palate focuses on its elegance, lift, and purity of fruit. You can taste and feel all of its pears, green apples, white peach, and tropical fruits that caress your palate. The wine is made from a blend of 53% Semillon with 47% Sauvignon Blanc. 14.5% ABV, 3.3. pH. Harvesting took place August 14-21. Yields were 26 hectoliters per hectare. Drink from 2027-2042.

The Haut-Brion 2025 Blanc, a blend of 53% Sauvignon Blanc and 47% Sémillon, was vinified in barrels and bottled from April 13. It reveals aromas of white fruits and pear, with subtly smoky, toasty notes and a touch of reductive nuance, complemented by delicate spice. Medium- to full-bodied, layered and crystalline, it’s tense and elegant and built around a remarkably fresh, fleshy core of fruit. Ethereal and finely detailed, it stands out for its purity and precision, with no overt thiolic expression. The finish is long, taut and particularly refined, delivering a very delicate and poised interpretation of Haut-Brion Blanc.

The 2025 Haut-Brion Blanc was picked from September 14 to 21 and in this vintage the Sémillon was picked before the Sauvignon Blanc in order to preserve the acidity at this level. Lemon thyme, fennel, touches of Conference pear and light tertiary scents form what is quite a complex bouquet. The palate is well balanced with pleasing weight and fatness, a fine bead of acidity, lightly spiced with a touch of ginger, then quite linear and strict in its final third. Very good potential here, even if I prefer the 2024 and let's face it... not the most inexpensive dry white Bordeaux in recent years.