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Pessac-Léognan (rouge) 2023: tasting notes

09 May 2024 By Colin Hay

Despite Pessac-Léognan suffering some substantial losses due to mildew – including from some of the leading estates – db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay finds some great wines here, even if the overall quality of the reds is uneven and yields are down.

See here for Colin’s appellation-by-appellation analysis for Pessac-Léognan for a full picture of the 2023 vintage in this appellation

A note on the ratings

This year, as is now my habit, I have again decided to provide an indicative rating for each wine alongside the published comment. All such comments and ratings are necessarily subjective (they cannot be anything else when one thinks about it). I would urge you to look at the two together and, if anything, to privilege the comment over the rating. My aim is more to describe the wine in the context of the vintage, the appellation and recent vintages of the same and similar wines, rather than to judge the wine per se.

The ratings, of course, reflect my subjective evaluations and relative preferences between wines. Your palate is likely differ from mine. I hope that my comments give you at least enough information to be able to recalibrate my ratings and, in so doing, to align them more closely to your own palate. To give an example: if the idea of the ‘new classicism’ leaves you cold, you may well wish to discount the (typically high) ratings I have given to wines described in such terms.

2023, like both of its predecessors is, of course, a far from homogeneous vintage – and, consequently, my ratings span a considerable range (from the very top of the scale downwards). I see little interest, either for the consumer or the producer, in publishing very low scores. Consequently, I have decided not to publish scores for classed growths (or equivalent wines) that I have rated below 90 (here the range 89-91) and for crus bourgeois (or equivalent wines) that I have rated below 89 (here the range 88-90). Where no rating is published, the wine would have scored below these thresholds. Where my written assessment of the wine might also have proved unflattering to the property, I have simply chosen to publish neither the commentary nor the rating.

Finally, élevage is likely to be very important in determining the quality in bottle of these wines. I am no soothsayer and cannot predict how that will turn out (another reason for the use of banded ratings). But all en primeur ratings should be treated with caution and taken with a certain pinch of salt.

See here for appellation-by-appellation reports for Margaux, St Julien, Pauillac, St Estèphe, Saint Émilion and Pomerol.

Detailed tasting notes

C de Carmes Haut-Brion (Pessac-Léognan; 60% Cabernet Sauvignon; 38% Merlot; 2% Petit Verdot; pH 3.60; 13% alcohol, with the 25% whole bunch fermentation reducing the degree of alcohol from 13.8%; tasted at Carmes Haut-Brion with Guillaume Pouthier). Wonderfully coloured, with a lovely, limpid, blue-purple rim. This has a beautiful bright, crisp, crunchy fruit. Raspberries, boysenberries, mulberries, brambles, fruits of the forest, apple skin too, and with a redder-hued feel to the fruit than Les Carmes itself. Lots of graphite too and absolutely no trace of the wood. Precise, pixilated and detailed and yet soft and with a shimmering texture. This is highly-layered in the mid-palate, like a pile of silk sheets placed one on top of another but seen first from the top, so you don’t know how far down they go. There’s a pleasing grip too from the tannins, which are ultra-finely grained and which seem to massage the fruit, shaping a lovely fantail on the saline mineral finish. 92-94+.

Carbonnieux (Pessac-Léognan; 60% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot; 5% Cabernet Franc; tasted at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). Quite deep and rich for Carbonnieux, with plums, sloes and black cherries. Quite rich, again, on the palate over a moderately broad frame accentuating the sense of density and concentration, but I find this a little ungainly in comparison with other recent vintages. Slightly tough, even if the tannins remain relatively fine-grained. Chewy. I liked the 2022 much more. 89-91.

Les Carmes Haut-Brion (Pessac-Léognan; 50% Cabernet Franc/Bouchet; 30% Cabernet Sauvignon; 20% Merlot; a final yield of around 50 hl/ha, down from a potential 55 hl/ha due to shrivelling of the grapes just before harvest; pH 3.62; 13.5% alcohol – 14.3% before the 60% whole bunch fermentation; tasted at the property with Guillaume Pouthier). The impressive concentration here was achieved by creating the conditions for hydric stress within the vineyard – cutting the leaves in the form of a Christmas tree to increase transpiration. Purple rimmed and intense; radiant, unusually so for the vintage with palpably visible density, viscosity and concentration. Lilac. Violet. A little dark chocolate. Texturally, we have the sensation of silk inter-layered with cashmere, due to the entirely passive immersion maceration practiced here. Pulpy, with copious black cherries, wild blueberries, graphite as if from the nuclear reactor core. There’s cedar too, but more subtly so, iris and peony. Gloriously supple on the attack, with a plunge-pool mid-palate reminiscent texturally of Pichon Comtesse. Glacial and incredibly harmonious, an impression accentuated by the amplitude. The calcaire character of the tannins is much in evidence here. A wine that transcends the challenges of the vintage – that’s what Guillaume Pouthier does! 96-98.

La Chapelle de La Mission Haut-Brion (Pessac-Léognan; 48.3% Merlot; 39.4% Cabernet Sauvignon; 12.4% Cabernet Franc; 14.3% alcohol; tasted at Haut-Brion). Very engaging. A lovely loganberry and raspberry fruit – all perfectly ripe and highly pixilated. Already lush with lovely cedary notes. On the palate, red cherry and red berry fruits. Lots of purity. Sapid and saline in its minerality. In the style of the vintage, it’s just a little austere, but I rather like that. Chewy grape skins on the finish. 91-93+.

Le Clarence de Haut-Brion (Pessac-Léognan; 55.5% Merlot; 40.9% Cabernet Sauvignon; 3.6% Cabernet Franc; 14.2% alcohol; tasted at Haut-Brion). A little more opulent when tasted after La Chapelle, the fruit a shade darker and more stony in texture, with damsons and cherries rather than brambles and blackberries. Lush again. Gorgeous and, in fact, much more opulent and seductive than the slightly austere La Chapelle. A little rose petal. Exceptional for a ‘second wine’, with nice grippy and then chewy tannins. This is graciously poised. 93-95.

Couhins (Pessac-Léognan; 51% Merlot; 45% Cabernet Sauvignon; 4% Petit Verdot; an anomaly in a way, but a rather wonderful one, in that this is owned by INRAE, the French National Institute of Agricultural Research; tasted from a sample sent to me in Bordeaux). Earthy, loamy, with fruits of the forest, blackcurrant, mulberries, a little walnut shell, graphite and just crushed black peppercorns. Aeration reveals black stone fruit too. Very soft on the attack, with a nice sense of energy and forward momentum over the palate; decent concentration too. The tannins are fine-grained though they seem to grow in size of their granularity over the palate making this quite a chewy mouthful on the finish. It needs time, but it’s very pure, if perhaps lacking a little complexity. A little strict, but that’s the style of the vintage. 91-93.

Couhins Lurton (Pessac-Léognan; 85% Merlot; 15% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14.5% alcohol; tasted at La Louvière with Jacques Lurton and Claire Dawson). Not much mildew here or in any of the Vignobles André Lurton vineyards. Slightly closed aromatically and tight as it often is. But very attractive too. Almost all of the Cabernet Sauvignon from the vineyard is in this, bringing it up to a recent high. Cinnamon. Cinnamon toast. Speculoos (if you’ve ever had one you know what they are!). Gingerbread. Plums. Damsons. Blackberries. Brambles. Black cherries. More cassis and blackcurrant is released with aeration in the mouth. Gamey notes too. A lozenge shape in the mouth, with a dense yet limpid and crystalline core. There’s a nice freshness to this, especially as the cassis notes come through in the mid palate, picking up black cherries as they do so. A vibrant fresh fruit cocktail. Fluid and quite sinuous on the finish, this might well warrant an upgrade after élévage. 92-94+.

De Cruzeau (Pessac-Léognan; 50% Cabernet Sauvignon; 50% Merlot; a final yield of 45 hl/ha; 13.5% alcohol; tasted at La Louvière with Jacques Lurton and Claire Dawson). Quite intense. Sweet spices. A lovely cassis fruit, quite leafy but not at all green or herbaceous; a little gamey, with nice Pessac character. Brambles too. Some cedar is released with gentle aeration. Lightly smoky. Fresh, juicy and sapid, quite saline too but this lacks a little delineation and mid-palate detail. Quite chewy on the finish. This will resolve itself into a fine wine, but it’s not at the level of the 2020 or 2022. 89-91.

Domaine de Chevalier (Pessac-Léognan; 65% Cabernet Sauvignon; 25% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot; 5% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 30 hl/ha due to some mildew losses; 13% alcohol; tasted at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). We really jump in quality when we get to this in the Pessac flight at the UGCB tasting – very much above the glass ceiling, indeed shattering it! Creamy briary fruits, mulberry and bramble, blackberry and blackcurrant, a little raspberry too, all supremely crunchy and crisp and coated in dark chocolate, a little mocha and with a parfumier’s essence of petunia too. Hedonistic. A hint of wood-smoke and a touch of nutmeg. On the palate this is full and rich, plump and charged again with fruit. Incredibly intense and very substantial. Long and chewy with the grippy tannins framing a lovely fantail. 94-96+.

De Fieuzal (Pessac-Léognan; 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot; aging in oak barrels, 35% of them new; 13.5% alcohol; Thomas Duclos is the consultant here since the 2019 vintage). A little subdued and reticent at first, but with a little coaxing and aeration it starts to open and unfurl. Herb-encrusted and quite floral, with a delicate note of wild thyme, rosemary and lavender, that essentially Pessac charcuterie, game and smoke spice element, red cherry and dark plum fruits and a little sage and bay leaf. On the palate this has quite tight frame, the tannins and the acidity working together to bind the fruit to a very well-defined and very linear spinal column. Long and rapier-like in its precision, though just a little strict, with quite grippy, angular and granular tannins on the finish. 92-94.

La Garde (Pessac-Léognan; 57% Cabernet Sauvignon; 43% Merlot; tasted at Belgrave). Svelte and soft on the attack, lithe and quite succulent but with good Pessac terroir-typicity. Saline, liquorice, a dark meatiness, a hint of oak smoke and a generous but never dominating spiciness. Plenty of white pepper too. Lovely and on a sustained upward trajectory now. 90-92.

Haut Bailly (Pessac-Léognon; 58% Cabernet Sauvignon; 34% Merlot; 4% Cabernet Franc; 4% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 40.5 hl/ha; 14.3% alcohol; 50% new oak but you wouldn’t have any idea). The Petit Verdot is, for the first time, vinified partially on its own, with some still co-fermented with the Cabernet Franc. Creamy. That macademia nut salinity and creaminess that is present also in the second wine. Darker stone fruits – damsons and black cherry, blackberry and black currant (but just a touch). Cool. Plunge-pool. A nice lift from the Petit Verdot and the Cabernet Franc, bringing both peppery notes but also a certain currant leafiness (white currant, redcurrant, blackcurrant). Cedar. Graphite. Sumptuous, quite opulent for the vintage but with a lovely up-thrust in the mid-palate – a kind of structural freshness conveyed by the Cabernets and the Petit Verdot in a sea of Merlot. Tender, even delicate, but intensely layered and highly detailed. Precise, pure, refined and texturally superb. There are some similarities here with Carmes Haut-Brion in a way in terms of the composition if not the minerality nor the fruit profile. Very long and gently tapering on the finish. Powerful but exquisite at the same time. And, crucially, terribly, terribly Haut Bailly. 95-97.

Haut Bailly II (Pessac-Léognan; 64% Merlot; 34% Cabernet Sauvignon; 2% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 40,5 hl/ha; 33% new barrels; 14.5% alcohol; tasted with Veronique Sanders at Haut Bailly). This now incorporates the fruit from Le Pape. Plump. Nutty. Quite saline in its minerality, like salted macadamia nuts – and with something of their creaminess too. Dark berry and plummy fruits, a little baked plum. Brambles, black raspberry. A touch of sage, liquorice too – with its salinity. One can feel the quality of the fine-grained tannins, which impart a lovely glossy texture. This will be ready to drink on release. Svelte, with impressive delineation and fresh and sapid. Very harmonious for a second wine. 91-93.

Haut-Bergey (Pessac-Léognan; 53% Cabernet Sauvignon; 27% Cabernet Franc; 12% Merlot; 8% Petit Verdot; a low yield and rather more Cabernet in the final blend due to significant mildew losses here). Oddly oxidative at first on the nose, but once that clears we hone in on a very pure, very precise almost pixilated purple fruit with lovely floral notes that reappear on the soft and delicate yet quite dense, cool and fruit-charged palate. Here the sapid fresh black cherry fruit predominates. This lacks the complexity of some and is clearly not the wine they would have wished to make, but I rather like the fruit profile and the slightly more austere texture. 91-93.

Haut-Brion (Pessac-Léognan; 52.3% Merlot; 38.6% Cabernet Sauvignon; 9.1% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.7; 14.6% alcohol; tasted at Haut-Brion). Aromatically restrained and yet enticing and gorgeously tempting. A little introspective and intimate. It invites you in but only for a first visit as it’s not yet ready to share all of its multiple secrets. Texturally sublime. I love the intensely dark berry fruitedness – mulberry, bramble, fruits of the forest. There’s a peony florality too. And more wild briary fruit notes with aeration. Graphite more than La Mission’s cedar. Gorgeous texturally. Floaty and crystalline despite the concentration which is substantial. So soft and caressing. So sapid and juicy in the mid-palate. Quite exceptional and, for me, at a level above La Mission in this vintage. A wine of grace, charm and quiet authority. Beguiling and seductive. 97-99.

Larrivet Haut-Brion (Pessac-Léognan; 75% Cabernet Sauvignon; 20% Cabernet Franc; 5% Merlot, with quite a lot of mildew losses, reducing overall yields to 35 hl/ha; 13.3% alcohol; tasted at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). Spicy, salty and very pure fruited – cinnamon, nutmeg, oak smoke and crushed black stones and assorted black berry and stone fruits. A little hedgerow floral note too and a hint of cordite. On the palate, quite intense, with fine-grained tannins enrobing the predominantly stone fruits. Long and with a tight and well-defined dense central core. Needs time but with plenty of potential. 91-93+.

Latour Martillac (Pessac-Léognan; 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 14% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 33 hl/ha with mildew losses on the Merlot; 13.5% alcohol; tasted at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). A lovely intimate aromatic profile of dark berry fruits – wild blueberry and mulberry, cassis too. There’s also a very fine-grained quality to the tannins here giving this a rare clarity and luminosity, impressive given the layering and density of the fruit. Long and supple on the finish. Impressive. 92-94+.

La Louvière (Pessac-Léognan; 60% Merlot; 40% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 50 hl/ha; pH ; 13.5% alcohol; tasted at the UGCB press tasting and then at La Louvière itself with Jacques Lurton and Claire Dawson). Peppery, spicy, quite dense and rich in a way. Impressive texturally, with very fine grained tannins. Limpid and crystalline, but really only around the extremities for now as the core is so dense as to remain a little impenetrable, impressively so. A lovely gracious fruit with the Cabernet Sauvignon singing. Cassis and leafy notes rise from the dark waters of Merlot like sirens beckoning the sailors towards the rocks. Impressive but this will need a little time. 91-93+.

Malartic-Lagravière (Pessac-Léognan; 53% Cabernet Sauvignon; 42% Merlot; 4% Petit Verdot; 1% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of just under 39 hl/ha; 13.5% alcohol; tasted at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). Plump and plush, with a very pure cassis and black berry fruit, less oak that it used to have a lovely intense purity. There’s a little cedar, sandalwood and walnut oil too and a glorious florality – a little violet and lilac that carries over on to the palate. Soft and supple, really radiant and softly flowing over the palate. Delicate yet intense. Tense and thoroughly excellent. 93-95.

La Mission Haut-Brion (Pessac-Léognan; 52.7% Merlot; 29.6% Cabernet Sauvignon; 17.7% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.7; tasted across the road at Haut-Brion). Beautiful. A subtle florality. Violets and lilac. Black cherry, damson, raspberry, loganberry. Cedar and graphite. Plump, plush, dense and multi-layered, with great depth and density in the context of the vintage. This reaches a level well above the glass ceiling for more earthly terroirs. So much grace and also considerable age-ability. Its slightly more open-textured than Haut-Brion. So elegant, with plunge-pool crystallinity in the mid-palate and so delicately balanced. Poised, harmonious and yet vibrant and energetic. 96-98.

Olivier (Pessac-Léognan; 50 % Cabernet Franc; 45% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 45 hl/ha; 14% alcohol; tasted at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). Quite a sweet aromatic profile, smoky and spicy too. Baked plums, wilted strawberries and assorted fresh redberries (including redcurrant brining its signature freshness). Quite a basket of fruits in fact. Distinctive. Lighter than some but more dynamic as a consequence. Aerial and vibrant. The acidity is a little elevated on the finish, but I like the direct fresh fruit-forward style. 91-93.

Pape Clément (Pessac-Léognan; 50% Merlot; 45% Cabernet Sauvignon; 3% Petit Verdot; 2% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 35 hl/ha; tasted at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). Heady and exotic with red cherries and kirsch alongside darker berry fruits. There’s a lovely hint of cedar already and a subtle rose petal note that if anything is stronger on the palate. Lithe and gracious, with plenty of depth and substance but a very open and crystalline mid-palate. I’ve struggled more with this in recent vintages, even if I appreciate the quality; this I really like and I detect a subtle change in directionn. Flinty in its minerality. A touch of Pessac smoke too. 94-96.

Picque Caillou (Pessac-Léognan; 60% Cabernet Sauvignon; 35% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 45 hl/ha; 13.5% alcohol; tasted at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). Salty, briny even, with fresh and baked plum and damson alongside assorted crushed predominantly dark berries – a fruit cocktail in effect. A little hint of iris too. On the palate a very pure cassis fruit presented in a tight and compact frame and well delineated over the no less well-defined central spinal column. Fresh, sapid and with impressive precision and clarity this is another fine wine from Picque Caillou. Excellent value as ever. 91-93.

De Rochemorin (Pessac-Léognan; 54% Merlot; 34% Cabernet Sauvignon; 10% Petit Verdot; 2% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.52; 14% alcohol; tasted at La Louvière with Jacques Lurton and Claire Dawson). Quite spicy and peppery from the Petit Verdot, almost all of which was used in the final blend. Quite substantial and very authentically Pessac. Fresh and lifted and with charcuterie rather than gamey notes, with a red and darker berry fruit and a little plum skin. The acidity is well distributed like the tannins over the palate. Chiselled with quite a tight and narrow frame, densely charged. More limpid than de Cruzeau. There’s a nice sapid juiciness on the finish, with little ripples of freshness alternating with the grip of the tannins producing a pulsating effect. Very good for a Merlot-dominated Pessac in 2023. The sustained improvement of recent vintages continues. 91-93.

Smith Haut-Lafitte (Pessac-Léognan; 70% Cabernet Sauvignon; 23% Merlot; 6% Cabernet Franc; 1% Petit Verdot; a final yield of just 26 hl/ha; organic and biodynamic and with a special lable to commemorate the visit of King Charles III; tasted at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). Once again, a unique wine in the context of the appellation and the vintage. Full, rich, plump and plush like no other, with a deep black cherry fruit, lashings of cedar and a very authentically smoky and gamey Pessac note. Slightly wild and uncompromising in its exuberance. I love too the way the hint of oak works to reinforce the florality. Glorious texturally, a wine that really transcends the limits of the vintage – glass ceiling shattering. Long and quite opulent in a vintage where that is rare. 95-97.