Château Haut-Bailly 2025 Pessac-Léognan Grand Cru Classé - OWC6

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
98-100 punten
Super slow and steady expansion as it goes through the palate, this absolutely makes you smile and is right up at the top of my expectations for how Haut-Bailly would perform in this often-conflicting vintage. Beautiful, crushed rose petals, wet stones, iris flowers, squid ink, shows finesse but also generosity, a wine with so many dimensions and layers to experience. Sit back, give it a good 6 to 8 years in bottle, then get ready to celebrate. 55% in first wine, 50% new oak, 3.6ph. harvest September 4 to 22.

James Suckling
98-99 punten
A beautiful fruit to this delicate and refined wine. The tannins are perfectly integrated into the wine and almost give it a pinot texture. The finest silk. It’s medium-bodied with precise and focused fruit and an endless finish. The exceptional harmony of this young wine makes you want to drink it. 55% cabernet sauvignon, 36% merlot, 5% cabernet franc and 4% petit verdot. 13.3% alcohol. pH 3.67.

Jeb Dunnuck
97-99 punten
Checking in as a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot, the 2025 Château Haut-Bailly is a sensational Haut-Bailly all about finesse and elegance. Ripe black cherries, currants, smoky tobacco, violets, spice, and flowers all define the bouquet, and on the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, with a pure, graceful mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a very long, elegant finish. It's not a blockbuster, but it's exactly what this terroir yields with its complex, nuanced, layered, graceful style. You should buy this.

Decanter
98 (-100) punten
Lovely floral aromatics with an abundance of rose petals. Supple and so smooth, silky tannins and really vibrant red cherry fruit. Quite a brilliant and energetic style. Plump but juicy with acidity that gives a clear backbone and drive. I love the slightly fuller expression, it’s not lacking in depth or attitude and fills the mouth with a fleshy grip yet still lifted, bright and so cool. Impressive. Haut Bailly has been one of the more delicate wines in recent vintages and this is a little more upfront, lively and characterful and I love it for that - while still keeping elegance and refinement. Ripe, punchy, bright, forward. A great success. 4% Petit Verdot completes the blend.

Lisa Perrotti-Brown
96-98 punten
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2025 Haut-Bailly bursts with bold notes of crushed black currants, wild blueberries, and strawberry preserves, giving way to a core of lilacs, licorice, espresso, and Sichuan pepper, with a touch of garrigue. The medium-bodied palate is tightly wound with black and blue fruit layers, framed by firm, fine-grained tannins and great tension, finishing long with red berry and floral sparks. Superb! The blend is 36% Merlot, 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. The alcohol is 13.3%.

The Wine Cellar Insider
96-98 punten
Initially, you notice a mélange of red, with black cherries, before diving into the flowers, black raspberries, tobacco, and smoke. The palate is the showstopper, with its sweetness, elegance, and gorgeous purity in the fruit. Light on its feet, long, and vibrant, it offers lift, balance, and refinement. While this is not the most powerful vintage of Haut Bailly, it could be the most elegant. With just a few years in the cellar, it will be gorgeous to savor for at least two to three decades of evolution with pleasure. The key to the vintage was the hot, dry summer, paired with the late August rains. The wine blends 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot. 13.5% ABV. pH 3.67. The harvest took place from September 4 to September 22. Yields were quite low at 26 hectoliters per hectare. 3% press wine. Drink from 2030-2060.

Neal Martin, Vinous
96-98 punten
The 2025 Haut-Bailly was picked between September 4 and 22 at 26.6 hl/ha, raised in 50% new oak. Similar to elsewhere this year, I found a distinct difference between the Grand and Deuxième Vins, this possessing greater delineation and complexity. A mixture of brambly red fruit, briar, a touch of cassis and orange rind that is beautifully delineated. The palate is exquisite: very fine tannins, tangible minéralité, very cohesive and focused, with a very complex, peppery finish that goes on and on and on. Svelte, harmonious and tender, this ranks amongst the best vintages from Haut-Bailly in recent years.

Antonio Galloni, Vinous
95-97 punten
The 2025 Haut-Bailly is fabulous. Here, too, the purity of the fruit is remarkable. Dried herbs, crushed flowers, blood orange, pomegranate, mint and star anise give the 2025 a gorgeous and palpable sense of exoticism. The 2025 impresses with its elegance and finesse. Floral and savory overtones linger on the clean, supremely polished finish. Very fine.

Falstaff
96 punten
Dark ruby garnet, deep core, violet reflections, delicate edge brightening. Delicately tobacco and herbal-spicy underlaid confit of red forest berries, a hint of ripe heart cherries, nuances of mandarin zest, fine floral notes. Complex, elegant, a hint of spices, sweet red berry fruit, fine tannins, salty nuances, good persistence, light-footed, delicate style, good length, secure ageing potential.

Jancis Robinson
17+/20 punten
Deep colour. Dark fruit and mint on the nose. Lovely palate, the fruit plush, the texture and tannins refined. Plenty of lift and freshness as well. Explodes with flavour on the long finish.