Chateau Haut-Bailly dinner in London

[Comte Flaneur]

Last night ten of us sat down at the Medlar restaurant on Chelsea's Kings Road for a vertical tasting dinner of Chateau Haut-Bailly. Nothing younger than 2004 was allowed.

With canapés

1999 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart

Very fine, very refined, beautifully poised. A treat to have a couple of refills from the magnum. 95

Flight one

1970 Château Haut-Bailly

Taut, lean, stern and austere, a modicum of dark fruits, earth and tobacco notes. Old school. Still very much a going concern, but will not reward keeping. 88

1978 Château Haut-Bailly

Tobacco and weed with some menthol notes. It is a little more generous than the 1970 but still resolutely old school. A bit high-toned but nicely resolved and finishes well. 89

1985 Château Haut-Bailly

I have read rave reviews about this wine, so I suspect this bottle was below par. It was austere and curmudgeonly especially for a 1985. 87

No fireworks in this flight

Flight two

1988 Château Haut-Bailly

This is more like it. More rounded and giving than any of the first flight, more density and power on the mid-palate and a medium finish. A very satisfying claret but not quite out of the very top drawer when it comes to 1988s. 92

1995 Château Haut-Bailly - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

Quite austere initially but wonderful trademark gravelly notes with a dense and powerful mid-palate. Good fruit and texture. This is drinking very well and should continue to do so for another couple of decades. 93

1996 Château Haut-Bailly

Similar to the 1995, perhaps a little more exuberant fruit, but without quite the same persistence. 91

Flight three

1998 Château Haut-Bailly

I have enjoyed the lion's share of a case of this generous medium-full bodied Graves. This particularly bottle looked and tasted young and primary with its inky opaque hue. On this showing could use more time. 91+

2000 Château Haut-Bailly

Not showing much now, dense and powerful. Revisit in a decade. 91 ++

2001 Château Haut-Bailly

A little bit more accessible than the 2000 and a bit of heat too. Not in a great place right now. 90+

2004 Château Haut-Bailly

This tastes every young for a wine than has given great pleasure on the couple of previous occasions I have tried it. Notes of piped tobacco, rocky minerality, dense and long. Wine of the flight. 93+

With dessert

1988 Château Raymond-Lafon

Nicely balanced and resolved and gives great pleasure. 92

An interesting and enlightening dinner. No duds but no 'holy cow!' moments either. The wine of the night was the Billecart. Which vintages of Haut-Bailly would I buy? Probably the 1995 and the 2004 from this lot.

[jckba]

A friend opened up the 2004 about a year ago and it really impressed for its elegance and purity. I also think that this is another property (along with Pichon Baron and Pontet Canet) that has really shifted gears and is consistently producing great wines now in almost every vintage without really crossing over to the dark side.

[JonathanP]

This is an interesting tasting. I had a number of bottles from the late 70s and early 80s a number of years ago, which I recall were pretty traditional Graves/Passaic (leather/smoke/cedar) and good but rather four square. It seems they have raised their game somewhat. Has the style itself changed?

[Racer Chris]

I had a bottle of the 1981 last year which I thought was quite nice and not past peak as far as I could tell.

[JimHow]

The 2002 and 2006 that I have had in recent years have both been quite stunning.

[Comte Flaneur]

I think 2004 was an inflexion point for Haut-Bailly when the quality ratcheted up. I also have a case of the 2006, I hanker after the 2008 and I dream of owning the 2009.

The older wines are pretty trad, and slow evolving. Almost hard work at tines.

[jckba]

I own the 05, 06, 10 and 12 and also have a penchant for the 2008 but in my eyes the ship has sailed on the 09 and I refuse to pay a $50 premium for 2 measily Parker points over the 10 which will likely be the better of the 2 wines for my palate anyways.

[AKR]

The 1990 is one of their better ones from the older years, a shade better than the 1998.