Chateau Haut Brion 1988 (1x 3L), Bordeaux

The most famous property in the Graves district in Bordeaux producing both red and white wines, today, after years of fierce competition, run in tandem with Ch La Mission Haut-Brion. Haut-Brion has a special reputation as the first of the wines which were designated premiers crus in the famous 1855 classification of Bordeaux wines to be mentioned in extant records. The cellar records of the English King Charles II mention no fewer than 169 bottles of the 'wine of Hobriono' [sic] served to guests of the royal table. The wine was praised by Samuel Pepys. The London diarist recorded for 10 April 1663 that he 'drank a sort of French wine called Ho Bryen that hath a good and most particular taste I never met with'. Thomas Jefferson also praised it on his visit to Bordeaux in 1787 as American minister in France. The property was then owned by the Pontac family, very rich members of the noblesse de la robe, and prominent in the Parlement of Bordeaux. But when in 1694 François-Auguste de Pontac died childless, the estate was divided between two of his family, and the two parts were not reunited until 1840, by the latest of a number of owners, Eugène Larrieu, whose family held it until after the First World War. After a further series of not very successful owners in a very difficult time, the château was bought in 1935 by Mr Clarence Dillon, an American banker. Today the property is run by his grandson Prince Robert of Luxembourg with his mother, the Duchess de Mouchy. In 2004, Jean-Philippe Delmas became estate manager when his innovative father, Jean-Bernard, retired.

Partly, no doubt, owing to its historic reputation, Haut-Brion was the only non-Médoc to be included in the famous 1855 classification of the wines of Bordeaux. Enclosed in the Bordeaux suburb of Pessac, the château building dates from the 16th century, and the 45 ha/111 acres of vineyards are composed of 45 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon vines, 18 per cent Cabernet Franc, and 37 per cent Merlot. Average production is 13,000 cases, including a second wine, Ch Bahans Haut-Brion, since 1976 sold with a vintage date and rechristened Le Clarence de Haut-Brion in 2007 in honour of Clarence Dillon. About eight tonneaux a year of the property's rare dry white wine, Haut-Brion Blanc, is made from about 63 per cent Sémillon and 37 per cent Sauvignon Blanc vines planted on 2.7 ha.