2009 Haut Bailly: Reports of my death are exaggerated

[DavidG]

Reports of oxidation and/or premature aging of some 2009s, including the Haut Bailly, from Neal Martin and others at the recent Farr Vintners "2009 Bordeaux Ten Years On" tasting prompted me to pop my first of these for an early look.

• 2009 Château Haut-Bailly - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (3/24/2019)
  Cellared since release, perfect cork and fill. Dark red/opaque core, minimal lightening at the rim. Immediately forthcoming and voluptuous complex nose of cassis, dark berries, tobacco, cedar, wet earth and dusty gravels, hints of smoke and tar. Medium-full body, ripe fruit, nice balancing minerally acidity and slightly grippy tannins. On the modern side but no signs of excessive ripeness, oxidation, or volatile acidity. Medium-long finish. Amazingly good on pop and pour. Outstanding.

I’m not questioning what Neal Martin and the other gathered vinous experts experienced at the Farr Vintners tasting. I'm far less experienced than any of them. But I’m confident that if they had tasted from the bottle I’m drinking, there would have been no comments about oxidation or premature aging.

Ian, did you attend this tasting or another recent look at the 2009s? Have you had the Haut Bailly recently?

An hour later the nose is still killer, as is the attack and mid palate, though the tannins are starting to take over on the finish. Will update after following through the evening and save some for tomorrow.

[JimHow]

This is one of the great properties of Bordeaux. So classy.

[Bordhead2000]

Hahahahaha. Great post, thank you. Love this Château.

[Nicklasss]

Don't own any, but always interested on comments on the Haut Bailly. Thank David.

The 2006 is soooo good, i drank all mines in no time. I think i have only some 2005 left....

Nic

[DavidG]

At 2 and 3 hours in, and with dinner, this is still going strong. The tannins are in check. Peggy likes it too. May be tough to hold on to a glass for tomorrow.

[JimHow]

The 2006 is stunning. I have five bottles left.
As I've said here several times before, the 2002 Haut Bailly that Hound brought to my house was tremendous.
I've got single bottles of the 2012 and 2014.

[Musigny 151]

Last time I tasted it, the 2009 Haut Bailly was still going strong. It's long term, and the two magnums I own will not be opened for at least fifteen years.

I have been lucky enough to attend several verticals of Haut Bailly. For me, the sleeper was the 2008, for me one of the wines of the vintage, and very close in quality to the 2009. At half the price, a serious bargain.

I

[DavidG]

I’ll let the remaining 750s sleep another 10 years.

Haut Bailly has been a fave since the 1996. I got a call out of the blue in 1997 from Bruce Bassin, the owner of MacArthurs, who had apparently been reviewing 1996 futures orders. He said based on what I was ordering I really should get the Haut Bailly. He said it didn’t get killer scores from the critics and wasn’t very expensive but it had a killer Graves nose and he was sure I’d like it. I’d never met the man but he was so genuinely enthusiastic that I said go ahead and put me down for half a case. He was right.

[Bordhead2000]

I’ll let the remaining 750s sleep another 10 years.

Haut Bailly has been a fave since the 1996. I got a call out of the blue in 1997 from Bruce Bassin, the owner of MacArthurs, who had apparently been reviewing 1996 futures orders. He said based on what I was ordering I really should get the Haut Bailly. He said it didn’t get killer scores from the critics and wasn’t very expensive but it had a killer Graves nose and he was sure I’d like it. I’d never met the man but he was so genuinely enthusiastic that I said go ahead and put me down for half a case. He was right.

Nice! We all need friends like this. I recently had two bottles of the '81, a few weeks in between. Super tight, velvet tannins, long finish. I loved it. Looking for more of that!

[Comte Flaneur]

Reports of oxidation and/or premature aging of some 2009s, including the Haut Bailly, from Neal Martin and others at the recent Farr Vintners "2009 Bordeaux Ten Years On" tasting prompted me to pop my first of these for an early look.

• 2009 Château Haut-Bailly - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (3/24/2019)
  Cellared since release, perfect cork and fill. Dark red/opaque core, minimal lightening at the rim. Immediately forthcoming and voluptuous complex nose of cassis, dark berries, tobacco, cedar, wet earth and dusty gravels, hints of smoke and tar. Medium-full body, ripe fruit, nice balancing minerally acidity and slightly grippy tannins. On the modern side but no signs of excessive ripeness, oxidation, or volatile acidity. Medium-long finish. Amazingly good on pop and pour. Outstanding.

I’m not questioning what Neal Martin and the other gathered vinous experts experienced at the Farr Vintners tasting. I'm far less experienced than any of them. But I’m confident that if they had tasted from the bottle I’m drinking, there would have been no comments about oxidation or premature aging.

Ian, did you attend this tasting or another recent look at the 2009s? Have you had the Haut Bailly recently?

An hour later the nose is still killer, as is the attack and mid palate, though the tannins are starting to take over on the finish. Will update after following through the evening and save some for tomorrow.

Hi David

Unfortunately I was not invited to the Farr Vintners tasting but I had this wine in September off the list at a restaurant in San Sebastián. It was drinking well, on the young side and no sign of premature aging. You may remember that this wine received a 100 point Parker rating along with the SHL. I think it is an outstanding wine but I would rate it closer to 95-96, a little below the SHL. I agree with Mark that the 2008 is not far behind the 2009 and offers excellent value.

I have 2004, 2006, 2008, 2015 and 2016 Haut-Bailly. Is the 2006 ready to drink Jim and Nic? I have tne 2004 in splits and it is still on the young side for my tastes.

David you mentioned Neal Martin. I doubt he will be tasting any 2018s EP because he is going in for heart surgery in a few weeks. Quadruple bypass.

[JimHow]

Formy taste the '06 is singing ian but I'm sure it will last for years.

[jckba]

Nice note David and your title had me chuckling. I’ve been fortunate to taste the 2009 Haut Bailly twice, once at the UGC upon release and once at an exclusive TW tasting almost 2 years later and regardless of the RP scores, the 2010 that I tasted was more to my liking.

Ian, I popped a btl of the 2006 Haut Bailly in the name of science this past January and while it was very good and drinkable with a decant, I have a strong feeling that it has plenty of room for improvement and you will wish you would’ve waited another 5 years before broaching your case.

http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com/ ... lly#p70782

[DavidG]

BH2K - sadly, Bruce Bassin died of a heart attack about a year after this happened. Which in turn led to Macarthur,s Annual Heart's Delight fundraisers for the American Heart Association. That felt odd to type knowing that Neal Martin is going in for bypass surgery. Hopefully his coronary disease was diagnosed prior to any permanent damage to the heart muscle. I wish him a successful outcome and an uneventful recovery.

Ian, I bought the Haut Bailly prior to the Parker anointment. It’s a bit plush/modern, and lower in acid than the 2010, which appears to be a common theme for those two vintages. I prefer it to the SHL most years (haven’t compared the two for 2009) and it became my go-to Graves after Haut Brion got too expensive.

[robert goulet]

Had the '04 years back...seemed well made but shut down hard

[Nicklasss]

Comte, what jckba said is right. But i guess you will have no regrets if you open one now.

What I wrote on the 2006 Haut Bailly:

After, i went to the big stuff, opening a 2006 Chateau Haut Bailly. I remember my first tasting of 2006 in the past, when i did not liked any wines. 12 years after the vintage, I like them a lot, even if they can take more years. That 2006 Pessac Léognan is excellent, even more traditionnal than you can think. Dark red color, with still purple rim. Intense nose of blackcurrants, smoke, green tobacco, more blackcurrants and that light austere Cabernet minerals. In mouth, concentrated, invasive, still young but already so good Pessac. Strong black berries and black currants, tannic, fresh, long perfumed final. Convincing. Tn: 92-93.

With the main meal, we had 3 excellent to great wines. The 2006 Chateau Haut Bailly has been decanted 2 hours ahead. It showed up very very well, with that good concentration of fruit, blackcurrant, smoky mineral, with a good concentration mouth. I liked it a lot and probably one of the best 2006 I had up to now. Tn: 92-93.

Nic