2003 Chateau Haut-Bailly Pessac-Léognan
Wine — By Thomas on March 2, 2010 at 1:35 pm
I truly wish I could be locked away in utter seclusion and have the chance to taste every vintage of wine from estates such as this. The history of the vineyard site alone is practically enough to write a thesis on the development of terroir, the perfection of clonal selection, and vineyard management. I often wonder what it would be like to taste the wines of centuries ago. It's obvious that modern techniques have done wonders to insure quality standards across the board, but the vineyard is the ultimate source of energy and significance.
The 2003 Chateau Haut-Bailly has an amazingly exotic bouquet that boasts beautifully ripe cherry notes, black currant, graphite, toast, cedar, and mineral. It's a rich and truffle-like bouquet that expresses the warmth and ripeness of the vintage.
On the palate this wine is packed with dense black fruit flavors, hints of toasted oak, and an earthy-crushed stone minerality. There is firm tannin here and significant room for extended cellaring, I get the distinct feeling that this wine is only in it's mere youth at the moment. This is very well made and balanced wine that will improve over time. 91-92 points
