Wine Legend: Château Haut-Brion, Blanc 1989
The Haut-Brion wines benefited from a surge of research by estate manager Jean-Bernard Delmas in the 1970s.
Wine Legend: Château Haut-Brion, Blanc 1989
Bottles produced 8,400
Composition 54% Sémillon, 46% Sauvignon Blanc
Yield 23 hl/ha
Alcohol 13.2%
Release price N/A
Price today $2,595 at Cellaraiders (US)
A legend because…
Haut-Brion has long produced the most prestigious white Graves, although it faces strong competition from its neighbour La Mission Haut-Brion, which produced its own white wine under the label Laville Haut-Brion until 2009, when it was renamed La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc (both properties are under the same ownership).
Produced in very small quantities since its first vintage in 1916, Haut-Brion Blanc has always been a wine of considerable power and longevity; its scarcity, and the fact that it is a white wine produced by the sole first growth in the Graves, make it much sought after by collectors. The château’s first-growth status does not include the white wine, which remains unclassified.
Looking back
The Haut-Brion wines benefited from a surge of research by estate manager Jean-Bernard Delmas in the 1970s. He oversaw an intense study of the different clones and rootstocks present in the vineyards and, as a consequence, only the best were replanted (in 1977, two-thirds of the white vines were replanted). Delmas presided over production, and after his retirement in 2003 he was succeeded by his son, Jean-Philippe.
The vintage
Bordeaux has become accustomed to precocious vintages, but in 1989 it was highly unusual to be picking grapes in August. After the hottest summer since 1947, with 22 days above 30°C, the harvest was the earliest since 1893. Picking began in the Graves on 21 August, although Haut-Brion waited until 29 August. The challenge was to retain a degree of acidity in the fruit and thus avoid flabbiness.
The terroir
Of the 52 hectares planted at the estate, only 2.9ha are white: 53% Sémillon, 47% Sauvignon Blanc. (Today there are also a few rows of Sauvignon Gris, but they were not planted in 1989.) They are planted on a 27m hillock across the road from the château.
Read more at source: Decanter.com
