CHATEAU HAUT-BATAILLEY 5eme Grand Cru Classe Pauillac 2023 Bottle

Description

The 2023 Château Haut-Batailley is a compelling Pauillac Fifth Growth, showcasing the elegance and precision of this renowned appellation even in its youth. Typically a blend dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon (often 70%+) with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot, it displays a profound, inky purple hue.

On the nose, it offers a classic Pauillac bouquet of cassis, black cherry, and pencil lead, interwoven with nuanced hints of cedar, graphite, and a touch of dark chocolate. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with a concentrated core of dark fruit, framed by firm yet beautifully integrated tannins and a vibrant freshness. This is a meticulously crafted wine, built for longevity, promising to evolve into a complex and majestic expression of Pauillac over decades.

THE WINE ADVOCATE (91-93)
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2023 Haut-Batailley is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot that increasingly resembles its stablemate Lynch Bages in style. Offering up aromas of dark berries, plums, pencil shavings and creamy new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with plenty of generously extracted, youthfully chewy tannin and a long, lusty finish.

JAMES SUCKLING 94-95 Points
16 Apr, 2024 – This shows structure and focus, with creamy, powdery tannins and a very pretty, silky texture. Medium to full body with a solid line of tannins running through the wine. Blackberries and currants with a hint of crushed stone. Better than 2022?

DECANTER 94
Tasted by: Georgina Hindle (at Bordeaux, 08 Apr 2024) Part of Best Pauillac 2023 wines tasted en primeur
Drinking Window: 2027 - 2038
Fragrant raspberries and blackcurrants on the nose with floral touches too. Vivid purple in the glass. Some herbal notes, liquorice and menthol/eucalyptus. Nicely structured, good bounce and flesh but cool and sleek too. I like the weight, enough tannins, well integrated, but gives structure and power. It’s not heavy, really has a clear vein of freshness that is so appealing. Lots of cool blueberry, mint, graphite and liquorice on the finish. Almost chewy, but clean and direct. Finessed but with power and depth. Really very good.