Château Haut-Brion

The estate

Haut-Brion is the exception the brokers of 1855 wrote into their own list: a First Growth from the Graves in a classification of the Médoc, the only wine from outside the peninsula among the 57 reds they ranked. When the Graves were given a classification of their own in 1953, amended once in 1959, Haut-Brion went into that list too, which makes it the only estate in Bordeaux in 2 classifications. The name, taken from the ground itself, goes back to 1521. Jean de Pontac acquired it in 1533, began the present château in 1549 and died in 1589 at 101. In London in 1663, Samuel Pepys drank a French wine called Ho Bryan and wrote it down.

Of the 4 firsts, Haut-Brion is the one that lost its standing and won it back. André Jullien, the Paris wine merchant whose Topographie de tous les vignobles connus of 1816 surveyed the vineyards of the world, placed it in the first class of all French wine. William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, wrote that year that it was reckoned the equal of the 3 first growths of the Médoc but had lost some of its reputation because too much manure had been used on it. Jullien was blunter in 1832: for several years it had been quoted only among the second growths, and it took back its rank among the firsts only after the harvest of 1825. The estate was sold to Beyermann in 1824 for 525,000 francs and knocked down at public auction in 1837 to Eugène Larrieu of Paris for 277,000.

Clarence Dillon bought Haut-Brion on May 13, 1935, after a telegram reached him on his way back to America and he answered, “act fast”. Prince Robert of Luxembourg, the 4th generation, was made managing director in 2002 and has been chairman since 2008. The vines stand inside the city at Pessac, 51 hectares in all: 48 of red, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, and close to 3 of white, Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris, on small quartz pebbles from 20 centimeters to more than 3 meters deep over clay, sand, limestone and fossil shell beds, with 4 hectares of woods and a park of 3.5.

Le Clarence de Haut-Brion, named for the buyer of 1935, has been the second wine since the 2007 vintage, and La Clarté de Haut-Brion, since 2009, is a white made from the vines of both Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. The 2015 is 1 of the top wines of a great vintage. When I tasted it for the 2nd time, in April 2024, it was evolving well: firm texture, powerful tannins, dense cassis and black plum with tobacco and cedar, and a very long finish. In the difficult 2024, which I tasted with the whole range of the Dillon estates in April 2025, the work showed: 4 separate sortings, gentle pumping over and little extraction gave reds that are structured, complex and very alive, approachable young but likely to reward patience, and whites with intense aromas, fresh and vibrant.

At a glance

Appellation

Pessac-Léognan

Commune

Pessac

Classification

Premier Cru Classé 1855; Cru Classé de Graves, 1953 and 1959; MICHELIN Guide, 2 grapes (2026)

Owners

Domaine Clarence Dillon, the Dillon family, since May 13, 1935

Direction

Prince Robert of Luxembourg, chairman since 2008

Vineyard

51 hectares: 48 of red, close to 3 of white

Ground

Quartz gravel 20 centimeters to more than 3 meters deep over clay, sand, limestone and faluns, the fossil shell beds

Grapes

Red: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot. White: Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris

Wines

Château Haut-Brion, red and white; Le Clarence de Haut-Brion; La Clarté de Haut-Brion, white

The house

Jean de Pontac, from 1533; the château from 1549

In history

Quoted among the second growths for some years before 1825, then a first again

Sources: Château Haut-Brion, terroir · Château Haut-Brion, histoire · Château Haut-Brion, nos vins · Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855, Pessac · Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux, the Graves classification · Guto Assumpção on Instagram, Château Haut-Brion 2015, April 17, 2024 · Guto Assumpção on Instagram, a tasting of 7 wines, April 16, 2025