Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2016

This offers alluring waves of ganache-tinged plum sauce, blackberry reduction and steeped açaí fruit flavors, while tobacco and singed mesquite notes hang in the background. Shows a lovely bramble echo through the finish, with the fruit easily keeping pace. This has range, distinctive mouthfeel and serious length. There's a new player officially in the Pessac game... Best from 2023 through 2038. 3,333 cases made.

Refined, if a bit closed in at this stage, slowly revealing blackberry, juicy damson and tobacco leaf. The palate comes across with wet stone, much more ‘mineral’ in expression and less fruit-forward than the Haut-Bailly. Can stand up to venison or a zesty rack of lamb.

Really pleasant herbal aromas with incense and fruit. Vibrant and nervy, this is truly exceptional, showing a delicate profile that remains incisive and expressive, with a wonderful sense of place. Drink now or hold. 10 Years On retrospective.

Deep crimson. Attractively dusty dark fruit. Fragrant with pure cassis and a cedary mineral quality. Fine-boned and sweet-fruited on the palate. Deep, long and fresh. The tannins are rounded but need time. Already moreish. (JH)

The 2016 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is very clearly one of the wines of the vintage. Breathtaking in its beauty, the 2016 soars from the glass with stunning aromatic and flavor intensity. Red cherry jam, wild flowers, mint, blood orange and sage are some of many notes that develop. In the glass, the 2016 is a vivid, statuesque, exotic wine that takes over all the senses as it delivers tons of pure pleasure. Readers should plan on cellaring the 2016 for at least a few years, but that will be virtually impossible. The 2016 is a towering masterpiece from Les Carmes Haut-Brion and Technical Director Guillaume Pouthier. Tasted three times.

Simply put, this is what great Bordeaux is all about. Aromatically it’s packed with flowers, mint, ripe, sweet cherries, spice, oceanic influences and chocolate. The palate is even better. Texturally, it’s opulent, rich, silky and sensuous, long, intense, fresh, expansive and already thrilling to taste at 10. And the good news, it’s only going to get better and better from here. Drink from 2026-2050.

Readers looking for the next superstar in Bordeaux need to jump on the bandwagon of Les Carmes Haut-Brion, who have produced one of the wines of the vintage in 2016. The 2016 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion checks in as a blend of 41% Cabernet Franc, 39% Merlot, and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon that hit 13.8% natural alcohol and spent 22 months in 65% new French oak. Its deep purple color is followed by a complex bouquet of high-class smoke tobacco, decaying flowers, charcoal, gravelly minerality and loads of sweet black and blue fruit. Possessing full-bodied richness, flawless integration of its acidity, fruit, and ultra-fine tannins, and a blockbuster finish, this is another 2016 that possess both power and elegance. Do your best to hide bottles for 5-7 years and it will keep for 3-4 decades. Don’t miss it. Tasted twice.

41% Cabernet Franc, 39% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42 hl/ha, production: 31,000 bottles. Deep purple-garnet with a dense core and a violet rim. What a seductive, floral perfume of violet and iris, followed by blueberry and coconut, then dark chocolate notes. Medium-bodied on the palate with a creamy texture, silky-soft tannins and good freshness that gives the wine poise and length. Sweet extract and plenty of blackcurrant on the finish; it has perfect reserves and, thanks to its power, it keeps building in length, ending on intense dark-berry fruit. Already in balance and impressing with its lively, easy-drinking flow. Recommended buy!

Kunz Fassprobe 17: (41% Cabernet Franc, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 42 hl/ha) A deep, spicy, fresh, powerful bouquet with notes of cedar, tobacco, delicate damson plum, red liquorice and tea leaves. The palate is silky and elegant, tightly knit, layered and aromatic, with a dense, varied, sweetly toned aromatic profile, plenty of fine tannins, vibrant fruit, a compact, finely muscular structure, and a long, full finish.

(41% Cabernet Franc, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 42 hl/ha) Deep, spicy, fresh, powerful bouquet with cedar, tobacco, delicate damson plum, red liquorice and tea-leaf notes. Silky, elegant, tightly knit, multilayered, aromatic palate with dense, varied, sweet aromatics, plenty of fine tannin, vibrant fruit, a dense, finely muscular structure and a long, full finish. 19/20 2023 - 2045

Tasted in such a starry and impressive lineup, Carmes holds its own, and also shows how it stands apart. Still austere at the 10 year mark, with cranberry and cherry pit alongside iris and peony fragrance, a ton of cocoa bean and liquorice, less generous than perhaps I was expecting, but sculpted, powerful, full of vivid life and crushed dried herbs. Guillaume Pouthier director, 25% new oak, 5% oak casks, and 10% amphoras, with a portion of whole‑bunch vinification.

The 2016 is the most complete and brilliant wine ever produced by the estate. It shows a distinction and a finesse of tannins that place it among the elite. Smooth, precise and, above all, very long on the finish.

Bright, very ripe fruit. Fresh, dense palate, crunchy juice, creamy tannins. Superb.

Subtlety above all! Certainly closely pursued by power, but it is subtlety that calls the shots. The bouquet is of rare perfection, with an exceptional ability to impress, to shine without raising its voice. A wonderfully refined fruit, a mineral streak to counterbalance the seduction, and then freshness to tie it all together. The palate, in such a setup, doesn’t really have a choice: either it embraces this subtle cavalry—imagine horses galloping on the tips of their hooves—or it collapses. Needless to say, the armada of acidity and powerful tannins rises to the challenge, underscoring the wine’s tremendous level. It is not only fascinating but also disconcerting and moving, and for me it stands alongside the extraordinary Mouton Rothschild, the most brilliant 2016 so far.

This wine remains my favorite from this estate. It offers the finest aromatic definition, blending ripe, fresh, smoky, floral, vanilla and pure notes. The palate is remarkably precise and tactile. Highly aromatic, it delivers a formidable presence through the mid-palate, not through power, but through sheer charm and comfort. It then unfolds with length—juicy, savory and noble—without the tannins ever taking over. This second phase on the palate is what sets it apart. A very long, complex finish.