2025 Carmes Haut-Brion (Pessac-Leognan)

54% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot

With the highest proportion of Cabernet Franc anywhere on the left bank and the distinctive, unusual use of stems in the fermentations, Carmes Haut-Brion has an aromatic imprint that is far outside the Bordeaux norm. The 2025 blend is 54% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot; it was fermented across 70% new barrels, 19% eighteen-hectolitre vats and 11% clay amphorae. With small, dense grapes providing a lot of matter, Guillaume Pouthier adopted an especially gentle approach in 2025: no pumpover, no pigeage, no delestage (rack-and-return). Instead he adopted a Barolo-like submerged cap approach. That means that all the tannins in Carmes Haut-Brion come from the skins rather than the pips, which accounts for their exquisite softness. A gentle approach to extraction is also very important when you are using a whole bunch (stems and all) approach to filling the fermentation tanks, an approach which is common in Burgundy but still very unusual in Bordeaux. Guillaume specifies that while he used 95% whole bunch across the Cabernet Franc and Merlot, he used only 25% in the Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet Sauvignon has more potassium in the stems, stems lower acidity, and low acidity leads to more risk of brett - this precision of approach informs every winemaking decision Guillaume makes.

Using a whole bunch approach to fermenting Cabernet Franc has brought out some quite exotic spice: 2025 Carmes Haut-Brion is all blackberry, cardamom and rosewood. There’s a granite-in-the-sun sense to it that reminds me of the northern Rhone. It is extremely precise, not weighty but structured and intense. An exquisitely made wine of irresistible finesse. (NT 15/05/26)