Château Haut-Brion () is a French
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
estate of
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
wine, rated a ''Premier Grand Cru Classé'' (
First Growth), located in
Pessac
Pessac (; ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a member of the metropolis of Bordeaux, being the second-largest suburb of Bordeaux and located just southwest of it. Pessac is also home to ...
just outside the city of
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
. It differs from the other wines on the list in its geographic location in the north of the wine-growing region of
Graves. Of the five first growths, it is the only wine with the
Pessac-Léognan appellation and is in some sense the ancestor of a classification that remains the benchmark to this day.
In addition to the ''grand vin'' (
LWIN 1011247), Haut-Brion produces a red
second wine
Second wine or second label (French: ''Second vin'') is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from '' cuvee'' not selected for use in the ''Grand vin'' or first label. In some cases a third wine or e ...
. Formerly named Château Bahans Haut-Brion, beginning with the 2007 vintage, it was renamed Le Clarence de Haut Brion (
LWIN 1008153). The vineyard also produces a dry white wine named Château Haut-Brion Blanc (
LWIN 1017092), with a limited release of the second dry white wine, Les Plantiers du Haut-Brion, renamed La Clarté de Haut-Brion for the 2008 vintage.
History
Although grapes are thought to have been grown on the property since
Roman times
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingd ...
, the earliest document indicating cultivation of a parcel of land dates from 1423. The property was bought by Jean de Ségur in 1509, and in 1525 was owned by Admiral Philippe de Chabot.
The estate Château Haut-Brion dates back to April 1525, when Jean de Pontac married Jeanne de Bellon, the daughter of the mayor of
Libourne
Libourne (; ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.
It is the wine-making capital of northern Gironde and lies near Saint-Émilion and Pomerol.
Geog ...
and ''seigneur'' of Hault-Brion.
Her dowry
A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage.
Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...
was a portion of the Haut-Brion land. In 1533, Pontac acquired the Manorial rights from Jean Duhalde, a Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
merchant. He expanded and renovated the estate, turning it into what it is today, the ancestor of the Bordeaux Grands Crus.
In 1649, Lord Arnaud III de Pontac became owner of Haut-Brion, and the wine's growing popularity began in earnest. The first records of Haut-Brion wine were found in the wine cellar ledger of the English King Charles II in 1660. During the years 1660 and 1661, 169 bottles of the "wine of Hobriono" were served at the king's court. Charles Ludington states: "The re-establishment of a royal court and of court culture generally required an increase in luxury goods
In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good (economics), good for which demand (economics), demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a more significant proportion of ove ...
. This demand inspired Pontac to launch the prototype of top-growth claret in London. The wine was called Haut-Brion, after the name of the estate from which it came."
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...
wrote in his diary, having tasted the wine at Royal Oak Tavern on April 10, 1663, that he had " runka sort of French wine called Ho Bryen that hath a good and most particular taste I never met with".[winepros.com.au.] Pepys provided what Prof. Ludington called "the first tasting note of Haut-Brion".
Therefore both Charles II's cellar book and Pepys' note "provide the first mention in any language of estate-named claret and are among the many proofs that Haut-Brion was created specifically for the English market." Pontac went even further in developing the renown of his wine: "By improving and "branding" a product, ..he created and named a wine that came from a small, circumscribed area of land for the purpose of enhancing its value in the minds and on the palates of discerning English customers."
The original diary of Pepys is held in the Pepys Library at Magdalene College
Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...
, Cambridge while the 1660 Cellar Book of King Charles II is held by the British National Archives. In 1927, writer Dorothy L. Sayers, in her novel "Unnatural Death", had detective Lord Peter Wimsey
Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A amateur, dilettante who solves myst ...
joke about Pepys Anglicizing the wine's name (" . . . a bottle of what Pepys calls Ho Bryon"). In April 2013, the Magdalene College, Cambridge, displayed the Pepys Diary opened at the page of the Haut-Brion mention for the 350th Anniversary of this historical mention. Dr Jane Hughes lectured on Pepys and wine before the gala dinner hosted by the Cambridge University Wine Society and featuring tributes to Pepys. Prince Robert of Luxembourg then challenged wine historians and amateurs to find a new reference to Haut-Brion in history prior to 1660.
In 1666, after "The Great Fire", the son François-Auguste, opened a tavern in London called "L'Enseigne de Pontac", or the "Sign of Pontac's Head", which was according to André Simon, London's first fashionable eating-house.[ ]Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...
"found the wine dear at seven shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...
s a flagon
A flagon () is a large leather, metal, glass, plastic or ceramic vessel, used for storing and pouring drink, whether this be water, ale, or another liquid. They are generally not intended to be drunk from directly, like a cup. A flagon is typica ...
".[
By the end of the 17th century the estate amounted to of which some were under ]vine
A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...
.[ The wine was often sold under the name Pontac, though since the Pontac family owned numerous wine estates that could use the name, it is often impossible to tell when a wine came from Haut-Brion.][ Sometimes also spelled Pontack, another Pontac estate at Blanquefort which produced white wine would also often go by this name.][
English philosopher ]John Locke
John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...
, visiting Bordeaux in 1677, spoke of Haut-Brion, "...The wine of Pontac, so revered in England, is made on a little rise of ground, lieing ic/sup> open most to the west. It is noe thing but pure white sand, mixed with a little gravel. One would imagin it scarce fit to beare anything.." On the cause of its increasing costliness, he stated, "thanks to the rich English who sent orders that it was to be got for them at any price".[ The German philosopher ]Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...
was also enchanted with the wine of Pontac, though it is unknown if his orders were for other de Pontac wines of Saint-Estèphe.
With the death of François-Auguste de Pontac, François-Joseph de Fumel, a nephew by marriage, inherited two-thirds of Haut-Brion with a third coming to Louis-Arnaud Le Comte, Lord Captal of Latresne. The de Fumel family also at one point owned Château Margaux.[
In 1787, ]Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
, then American minister to France, came to Bordeaux. On May 25 he visited to Haut-Brion, describing the ''terroir
(; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...
'', "The soil of Haut-Brion, which I examined in great detail, is made up of sand, in which there is near as much round gravel or small stone and a very little loam like the soils of the Médoc".[ His notes placed Haut-Brion among the four estates of first quality, with the entry, "3. Haut-Brion, two-thirds of which belong to the Count de Fumel who sold the harvest to a merchant called Barton. The other third belongs to the Count of Toulouse; in all, the château produces 75 barrels." Haut-Brion became the first recorded first growth wine to be imported to the United States, when Jefferson purchased six cases during the travels and had them sent back to his estate in ]Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
., as stated in his letter to his brother-in-law Francis Eppes on May 26, 1787: "(...) I cannot deny myself the pleasure of asking you to participate of a parcel of wine I have been chusing for myself. I do it the rather as it will furnish you a specimen of what is the very best Bourdeaux wine. It is of the vineyard of Obrion, one of the four established as the very best, and it is of the vintage of 1784 (...)."
As a consequence of the French Revolution, in July 1794 Joseph de Fumel was guillotined, and his holdings were divided.[ Posthumously, de Fumel's nephews obtained a pardon for him as well as the restitution of the confiscated property, but they left France. In 1801, they sold Haut-Brion to Talleyrand, Prince of ]Benevento
Benevento ( ; , ; ) is a city and (municipality) of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the Sabato (r ...
, owner of Haut-Brion for three years.[
A less prosperous period followed between 1804 and 1836 under successive ownership of various businessmen,][ until Joseph-Eugène Larrieu bought Haut-Brion when it was sold by auction. In 1841, by buying the Chai-Neuf building from the Marquis de Catellan, he brought the estate back to the former size of the estate up until the death of François-Auguste de Pontac in 1694.][ Larrieu's family owned Haut-Brion until 1923.][
In the classifications of 1855 ahead of the International Exhibition in Paris, Château Haut-Brion was classified ''Premier Grand Cru'', as the only estate from Graves among the three established First Growths of the Médoc. The prices of Haut-Brion in the 19th century were consistently higher than those of any other Bordeaux wine.][ This trend has continued into the present day, with the price of the estate's ''grand vin'' averaging $571.]
Modern history
After a series of unsuccessful owners during difficult times,[ the American banker ]Clarence Dillon
Clarence Dillon (born Clarence Lapowski; September 27, 1882 – April 14, 1979) was an American financier, and namesake of Dillon, Read & Co., an investment bank. In 1957, Fortune Magazine listed Dillon as one of the richest men in the United Stat ...
bought Château Haut-Brion on May 13, 1935 for ₣2,300,000. Several unverified anecdotes surround the acquisition, as Dillon was believed to also consider buying châteaux Cheval Blanc, Ausone or a majority share in Margaux, but did not care to make the trip on a rainy, chilly day, and chose Haut-Brion for its proximity to Bordeaux and riding facilities. One account claims Dillon never got out of the car.
Dillon made his nephew Seymour Weller president of the new company "Société Vinicole de la Gironde" (later Domaine Clarence Dillon S.A.S.), who held the position for five decades. Weller restored the park, cleaned the chais, and installed electricity along with new vinification equipment. He retained Georges Delmas, the ''régisseur'' and director of Haut-Brion since 1921, and former manager of Cos d'Estournel.
Haut-Brion first began using its distinctive bottle, emulating designs of old decanter models, from the 1958 vintage which was released in 1960.
Georges Delmas retired in 1961, and was succeeded by his son Jean-Bernard Delmas, born at the estate, instigating a number of renovations. In the 1960s, Haut-Brion was the first of the great growths to innovate with new stainless steel fermentation vats. Clonal selection research was begun in 1972, in collaboration with INRA and the Chambre d'Agriculture. Insisting that great wine cannot be made with only one clone, Jean-Bernard Delmas has stated, "You need an assemblage of excellent clones", adding, "We know where each plant is located". At Haut-Brion, each hectare contains 10 to 15 different clonal selections.[
in 1975, at the age of 83, Seymour Weller retired as President of the company. His cousin's daughter (and granddaughter of Clarence Dillon) Joan Dillon, then Princesse Charles de Luxembourg and later Duchesse de Mouchy, replaced him. In 1976, the 1970 vintage of Haut-Brion ranked fourth among the ten French and ]California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
red wines in the historic "Judgment of Paris" wine competition.
The fierce competition that had existed between Haut-Brion and Château La Mission Haut-Brion over several years,[ which rose to a peak in the 1970s and early 1980s, ended when Domaine Clarence Dillon acquired La Mission in 1983.][
From the 2007 vintage, in connection with the 75th anniversary of Dillon family ownership, the red second wine Château Bahans Haut-Brion was released under the new name Le Clarence de Haut-Brion.] The name Château Bahans Haut-Brion had been in use for at least a century, and over a period it was sold without a declared vintage.[ Starting with the 2009 vintage, the white second wine Les Plantiers du Haut-Brion was renamed La Clarté de Haut-Brion.
Manager Jean-Bernard Delmas retired in 2003, and was succeeded by his son Jean-Philippe Delmas. Prince Robert of Luxembourg (son of Prince Charles of Luxembourg) who has acted as an administrator at Haut-Brion since the age of 18, became in 2008 Président Directeur Général of Domaine Clarence Dillon.][
]
Production
Château Haut-Brion devotes to red grape
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...
varieties, with a distribution of 45.4% Merlot
Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...
, 43.9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9.7% Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...
and 1% Petit Verdot
Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen it adds tannin, ...
, and to white grape varieties, distributed with 52.6% Sémillon
Sémillon () is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, mostly in French wine, France and Australian wine, Australia. Its thin skin and susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea, botrytis make it dominate the sweet wine region S ...
and 47.4% Sauvignon blanc.[Delmas, Jean-Philippe (January 2009)]
The vineyards are elevated, up to 27 meters, somewhat above the Bordeaux norm. The soil consists of Günzian gravel and some parcels have high contents of clay. All the vineyards are located in a cluster near the château itself and on the other side of the main road.[
The selection of optimum ]rootstock
A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to ...
s and clones has been a large task at Château Haut-Brion, pioneered by Jean-Bernard Delmas, which has greatly contributed to the quality of the plant material in the vineyard. The long-term aim has been to lower yields, not by green-harvesting but by ensuring healthy and balanced vines. The average age of the vines is approximately 35 years with the oldest parcels dating back to the 1930s, planted with an average vine density of 8000 vines/ha.[
Harvesting takes place by hand and each parcel is worked by the same team of workers to increase the teams' familiarity with the individual vines. The harvest of the white grapes takes place very early due to the proximity to the city of Bordeaux which results in a warmer ]microclimate
A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...
and thus earlier ripening. The red grapes are picked as late as possible, sorted and then pneumatically pressed in whole bunches. There is no skin contact and fermentation takes place in oak
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
barrels with indigenous yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...
.[ After sorting in the field, the red grapes are destemmed, crushed and moved to a special double-tank with fermentation taking place in the top and malolactic fermentation in the bottom, using gravity to move the wine. Previously ]ageing
Ageing (or aging in American English) is the process of becoming older until death. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi; whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biol ...
took place in 100% new oak casks lasting 18 months. This has been reduced to 35% new casks and wine destined for the second wine Le Clarence is aged in 25% new oak. The white wine is aged in 40-45% new oak for 10–12 months.[ Château Haut-Brion has its own cooperage.
The annual production ranges from of the red ''grand vin'' Château Haut-Brion, and from of Château Haut-Brion Blanc. Of the ]second wine
Second wine or second label (French: ''Second vin'') is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from '' cuvee'' not selected for use in the ''Grand vin'' or first label. In some cases a third wine or e ...
s, the red Le Clarence de Haut-Brion previously named Château Bahans Haut-Brion, has a production of , and the white La Clarté de Haut-Brion, previously named Les Plantiers du Haut-Brion, has a production of .
References
External links
Château Haut-Brion official site
Clarendelle official site
Domaine Clarence Dillon
Château La Mission Haut-Brion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haut-Brion, Chateau
Bordeaux wine producers