Château Haut-Batailley 2023 en avant-première

Attractive aromas of graphite, currants and blackberries. Medium-bodied with plenty of fruit, but then firm and chewy tannins give a nice backbone to this. Savory acidity underneath. Linear at the end. A blend of 71% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot and 4% petit verdot. Needs three or four years to come together. Try after 2028.

Soft and really quite seductive in terms of soft, smooth tannins. Velvety but also chewy, and it keeps that smile inducing almost sweet acidity which then turns salty and mineral. This has a lot going for it, I love the terroir transparency . Gravel, flint, graphite minerality on the finish. Not at all muscular, definitely more svelte but still a lot going on. Fresh and drinkable but this will improve further.

The 2023 Haut-Batailley is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot that increasingly resembles its stablemate Lynch Bages in style. Offering up aromas of dark berries, plums, pencil shavings and creamy new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with plenty of generously extracted, youthfully chewy tannin and a long, lusty finish.